Last month I stopped using nervous system mastery in the title of my work. The concept of self allows for more bandwidth across multiple disciplines both in a scientific and philosophical sense. I want my work to engender ongoing curiosity about the concept of self, like the photo, viewing ‘things’ from different angles. With that ethos in mind let me introduce echoism.
True to form narcissism takes centre stage in literature, film, the news, on social media platforms and many ‘leaders’ seem to be narcissistic. Also true to form and the reason you have probably not heard of echoism is because echoists do not want to be seen or heard. Unlike narcissism, echosim sits at the other end of the spectrum. Echoists do not want attention are even fearful of it, they put the needs of others above their own and find it very difficult to ask or accept help.
All humans will find themselves sitting somewhere on this spectrum whether it be in or nearer to the narcissist camp, somewhere in the middle or in or nearer to the echoist camp. Interestingly narcissists and echoists can both be self absorbed, the former preoccupied about themselves the latter preoccupied with making sure they are not seen as selfish, arrogant or narcissistic!
But here is the fascinating thing to ponder:
We have approx 86 billion neurons in the brain. 15 billion in the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). 1 billion in the Spinal Chord. 200 -600 million in Enteric Nervous System - gut network! 40,000 neurons in Intrinsic cardiac nervous system -the heart!
Not one of these individual neurons have experienced the outside world directly. A neuron cannot think*. It does not even know who you are. It most certainly would not know whether you are an echoist or not. It fires or not. It communicates chemical information that collectively produces a 24/7 individualised reality in and out of conscious awareness.
*Now when I say a neuron cannot think I am judging by my own limited human standards of what we perceive thinking and intelligence to be. The neuron deals in voltage, to fire or not to fire. Its complexity alone is mindbloggling. We consider a neuron to be tiny even inconsequential, in isolation, but then we have to remember that each neuron has between 100 trillion to 1 quadrillion atoms! Without the correct sequence of specific atoms there would be no electricity generated… no voltage.
Delve even deeper and we enter the realm of quantum- humans best understanding of the world at the smallest level. These weird and wonderful particles can be deeply correlated, regardless of distance, a change in one impacts the other. The particles can also coexist in different states or positions but somehow know if they have been observed!
Atoms, particles, electricity, neurons, nervous systems, behaviour, emotions, memory, time, cognition, spectrums, humanity & beyond. Perhaps the concept of self is part of a transformational whole or maybe not…..