Truth and fact are two words that seem synonymous initially. However, in thinking over these words it seems they operate at different semiotic levels. At a surface level, fact is set in stone. It is not changeable, it is the reality of the situation. Truth is a little more subjective. The meaning is a little more idiosyncratic. Something can be true without being a fact.

For example, look at the scandals brewing around a few of Oprah’s book selections, mainly the latest Angel at the Fence. Author Herman Rosenblat wrote of his time in a concentration camp and of meeting his now wife from opposite sides of the fence. In truth only about 40% of his story checks out, according to the investigative reporter taking credit for the find. In fact, once news broke and he admitted to how little of his story was accurate the book was pulled from shelves and discontinued. If this book was published as fiction or even historical fiction a controversy never would have arisen. What is interesting to me about this is the reliance on truth as being fact and fiction as being imagined.

Closely related to the division between truth and fact is the subject of myth. Commonly understood to be the stories of ancient Greek gods or the mythology of some obscure people groups, myths are quite common and can relate to any set of words in which a meaning is attributed. We carry personal mythologies about our experiences and relationships, making the events we participate in more concrete and satisfying.

What is strange about myth is that it is outside the boundaries of fact and fiction. We live by myths  recognizing them as not “factual” but partially true, or culturally important. An apple a day will not keep the doctor away, but eating vegetables and fruit will go a long way towards healthy living. Working hard does not always mean you will succeed, but it is a good step in the right direction.

Roland Barthes once said, “Myth is neither a lie nor a confession: it is an inflection.” It makes me wonder, are we looking for a deeper expression of being alive by living vicariously through those who have experienced unimaginable circumstances? Is the day-to-day a dream world of repetition leaving fantastic circumstances as the only real world around us? Perhaps the experiences of a “hero” allow for the inflection of reality we crave - the hero’s story gives meaning to our personal circumstances.

According to some researchers, our brains have not evolved, or adapted to understand media such as television, and even to a lesser degree, books. For all intents and purposes what we see, read, and hear is to us real. Why do we get emotional or aroused at sights and scenes in movies? We know it isn’t real. But do we really know it isn’t real?

Why does it matter if it is factual? Isn’t the deeper meaning of a story of love and survival the love and survival of the characters? Is it, for entertainment’s sake, important to know if the details are completely true, or is the idea of the story the part that we need and are desperately looking for? If a story gives hope to people who have in many ways given up on ancient mythologies, is that hope then factual rather than fictional? If a story becomes part of a cultural consciousness, is it then true even if the details don’t match up?

In this sense religion takes a strange position. Taken more to claims of absolute inerrancy then the spirit of a text, it seems we do not want to believe something unless we can believe in it as testable and provable - even in questions of divinity. The Evangelical Christian doctrine of scriptural inerrancy is a perfect example. In order to counter claims of historical criticism and evolutionary development, a hard line approach was taken. The text has in some ways been reduced to a set of defined standards and convictions rather than a living, breathing document. How much of the mystery and meaning is lost in the pursuit of testable and provable theorems?

What we have lost in the era of investigative journalism and scientific determinism is the ability to see outside of the fact/fiction dichotomy. The myth is understood to be simply fiction  placed into categories for easy consumption by literary students and scholars. But what if we looked at Rosenblat’s story from another direction. What if the book should be published under the banner of a myth as a third category of literature? It may or may not be true yet the ideas presented are human and necessary.

What is more important - to prove something as historically inaccurate and defend the claim to the death or indugle in the very human act of experience and of finding meaning?

I know more than a few people who think I’m out of my mind for  claims at being able to feel differences in my mental activity based on the stimulants I’ve inflicted upon my brain. Honestly though, I’ve been pretty sensitive about my brain for a very long time. After a doctor prescribed too much Ritalin leaving me a shaky 10 year old for a few days, or my experimentation with spicy food before bed after discovering its connection to extremely lucid dreams, the effects of food and drugs on the brain has always been a source of fascination for me.

Over the past year and a half more than a few things have been sacrificed in effort to speed up performance in thinking and general living. The first to go was coffee. The motivation behind such an ultimately difficult decision was based primarily on the research of scientists into the effects of stimulants on the brain. Having struggled for a long time with ADD, or as researcher John J. Ratey defined it, Motivational deficiency syndrome, and wondering what caused this behavior, personal experimentation with alternative behaviors seemed completely reasonable.

The problem with coffee – the only problem as far as I’m concerned – is with the caffeine content. Caffeine is not a negative substance in moderation, but in large quantities effects the inner workings of the limbic system – the brain’s reward system. For every action you perform your brain releases a small amount of a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine, when absorbed into the brain and blood stream create a positive, happy feeling – a mild high. When someone wrestles with ADD essentially their brain is not releasing enough dopamine to keep motivated to perform the task. The brain, essentially, looks for behaviors and actions that will allow for the steady flow of dopamine. That’s why something so stupid as checking your personal email is easier to do than a simple assignment. You just need something a little more interesting to increase the flow of this happy drug.

The caffeine contained in coffee, much like the effects of nicotine and alcohol, is a stimulant, which unnaturally boosts the dopamine levels in the brain much, much more than you would naturally experience. This helps the user perform tasks they would normally find difficult to stay motivated in performing. Basically, you self medicate your problem. The body finds the easiest way to adjust. Sounds great in theory. The downside is that you can become a stimulant junky. Consuming that much caffeine and the resulting dopamine is not a good thing. Just like in physics, what goes up must come down. Even though caffeine stays in the system for 48 hours, after the initial effects wear off the user feels they need to get more to get to that level. The result is unnatural ups and downs that effect even the emotional state of the user. Why do people get moody when they quit smoking or if they don’t have coffee one morning? Dopamine effects the pleasure they feel for life in general. Being addicted to caffeine or any other stimulant hijacks the brain.

Having replaced three cups of coffee from my diet (Starbucks Grande x 3 = 540 mg of caffeine) with 6 cups of Green or White tea, two of which are caffeinated (total of 140 mg of caffeine) I am sleeping great and am feeling more consistent throughout the day. A little caffeine can be a good thing, especially in tea, as it carries GABA, an extremely positive chemical, straight to the brain where it can be used the most. I can honestly say I feel the effects deeply at work, home, and in my head. After the first few weeks I began to focus throughout the day, rather than for three hours a day. I felt more in control of my self, and with added sleep, was more rested which lead to better concentration.

I just started my second faze yesterday – running. Touted by leading researchers to be the very best way to get your brain in shape. Honestly, and perhaps strangely, this is more for my brain than anything else. After just two days I feel a little tired but pretty crisp. After years on the bench it will take time to build up to something very beneficial. For now, though, running for 30-40 minutes is enough to get my endorphins humming with production and dopamine pumping. My mood is positive and I have a good amount of energy. I walk a fair amount on a daily basis, but with the addition of a dedicated running schedule I’m hoping to get to the next step. My brain is very important to me. As many neurologists have said, the average person knows a good deal about the body – the heart, kidneys, and liver especially – but very few people know about the organ that keeps the others going. After noticing the drastic effects of removing one object from my life I am a believer. I have had one soda in 6 months and occasionally have a small cup of coffee or a beer. However, if I over do it even by just a little I notice the effects for days after. A brain is a terrible thing to waste.

PS - read A User’s Guide to the Brain as soon as possible.

True to form I’ve been splitting my time between two books. The first, How We Decide is a pop psych/neuroscience overview of the latest and greatest ideas as to how we process information. Author Jonah Lehrer, a 28 year old science writer (jealous anyone?) is an easy to read and a well thought out writer. What strikes me most so far in the book is the topic of emotions and the importance they play in the decision making process. We process an overwhelming amount of information on a regular basis. We continually evaluate the positives and negatives of every situation. It turns out, from what scientists have found, emotions actually play a critical role in the decision making process. Emotions help us decide by showing preference. To take this a step further, when people for one reason or another loose the ability to use their anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the part of the brain that is known for emotional processing, a few abilities become unavailable. First, they become unemotional and unattached. They cease to find connections between themselves and others and actually loose the ability to remember faces. The second is is the ability to make decisions. They will spend hours studying menus in deciding where to eat – scouting out the table arrangement, staffing, and location. In the end they are incapable of choosing based on preference. This has led scientists to understand the role emotion plays in the decisions we make.

For the last few years I’ve been pretty hard on emotions. I generally feel that America is a hyper- emotional culture. We purchase based on a feeling, form relationships on a sensation, and eat until we can not walk because of a desire. From movies to Hollywood romance, emotional sensation is greatly accelerated as though hyped up on steroids. But these emotions are something we can not do without. Unlike the post-apocalyptic-dystopic thriller Equilibrium, set in a world in which all humans are required to take a medication in order to control all emotional impulses, as these were seen as the origin of war, emotions and rationality are both necessary. The complexities of the brain necessitate the balance of opposing factors in the mind.

The irony in our current situation is the extreme to which emotions are carried out and trusted 100%. We listen closely and react to “what we feel”, not asking why we feel. Balance is much more difficult to obtain. Look at food consumption in the US for example. The draw towards fast food is completely biological. We have a natural propensity to consume sugar, salt, and fat whenever possible due to the limitations of these items in naturally occurring systems. Our bodies crave these foods as traditionally humans did not know when they would get it next. Now that fat and sugar are available all the time and salt is on every table, how do we keep up with the changes? Our genes have not transitioned to our lifestyle and culture, leading some researchers to suggest that 1 out of every 3 children under 20 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Heart disease is at an all time high, and cancer is a story in every household. Beyond physical biology, clothing, electronics, and other purchases are seen as satisfying to purchase. But as any one has learned, this is a momentary impulse. In face, the brain is chemically rewarded (essentially you obtain a natural high) much more for a purchase than for the owning of the product.

Is this why Buddhism is such a growing trend in American culture? The simplicity of serenity in the midst of chaos and the ability to control one’s self in an indulgent culture is irresistible. According to Progressive Policy Institute, Buddhism is the fastest growing religion among native born Americans. The irony in this situation is that the chief goal of Buddhism is the eradication of suffering. Though Americans do suffer, I think the draw towards Buddhism has more to do with “future shock”, or the inability to deal with the trappings of modern culture. The more advanced and technologically connected we become, the more susceptible it is to retreat internally. The more purchasing power we obtain the more we realize it does not satisfy basic human cravings for satisfaction. The most logical option is to find a place in which your mind can take a vacation.

More on the other book to come…