Hi all,

Have you ever thought about the possibility that people with epilepsy may,
in some cases, have developed their condition not because of a brain defect
as such, but because the brain is inherently inferior to the mind? In effect
I'm concerned with the possibility that epilepsy can result from a design
defect (of the brain) rather than a construction defect. This supposition
could be viewed as a logical extension to the idea that that those with
"acquired" structural damage have a mind that is superior to their impaired
brain circuitry.

The whole idea is based on the premise that the brain and the mind are two
separate entities ("dualism"). If you do not believe that dualism has merit
then it is probably best that you read no further!

I might just say that before my seizures were controlled (by Lamotrigine) I
would usually become confused while thinking about this subject. So please
proceed with caution if you choose to read on.

Could it be that the human brain, the most complex object in the known
universe, has now evolved to a point whereby further improvement is hindered
by the underlying building-blocks of the brain? Could our advanced level of
consciousness be outstripping the means that the brain can provide to
support it? Most people would say that the brain still has a long way to go
before it reaches a point where further improvement is unlikely. You might
say however that the brain can improve, but only after a great deal of
evolutionary trial and error. When you're building a house of cards, it is
possible to go higher than you first expected, but it could very well take a
number of failures beforehand.

How can I claim that the mind could be superior to the brain? After all,
isn't the mind a product of the brain? Shouldn't the brain be able to
control anything that it creates? Without going into too much detail, my
thoughts are that the brain is a vehicle for the mind. Improvements in the
brain can certainly give us a clearer focus on reality. I see the brain as
being analogous to a pair of spectacles, through which our minds "view"
their surroundings. The better the brain, the more clearly the mind comes
into its own, or expresses itself. But advances in the brain could
potentially lead to advances in the mind which the brain cannot in turn
accommodate.

I'm not going to go much further with this just yet, but I'll try to give
you an example of how epilepsy and perhaps countless other conditions could
result from the advanced brain.

I know that in my case I am more likely to have a problem when my thoughts
turn inward. I sincerely believe that since early childhood I have been what
you might call a deep thinker. Certainly a deeper thinker than most people I
know. I constantly evaluate things that I do, particularly the things that I
say, and so I clearly fall into the category of somebody who is
self-conscious, or self-aware. Most people tend to regard this as a defect
in itself, particulary those in modern capitalist society, but there are
others who see inward thought as a good thing. Some might say that people
who closely evaluate their decisions would be more likely to consider
whether or not their decisions are based on greed and/or opportunism. Of
course even those people will at least occasionally make decisions that are
opportunistic as well, but at least they've gone to the trouble of thinking
about whether or not they are achieving benefits at the expense of others.
Surely this is a good thing.

I believe that self-consciousness can be a contributing factor to epilepsy.
So how can self-consciousness contribute to epilepsy? Let me give you an
example of what my thought patterns have been in the period (usually within
2 days) leading up to a seizure.

Imagine that I have a friend named Ian. Imagine that I'm planning to see Ian
in a couple of days and also that I'm rehearsing in my mind some of the
things that I'm going to say to him when we meet. My thoughts could proceed
as follows...

<I think about Ian>

"Hi Ian, Ive been thinking about you"

<Now however the situation is slightly different to what it was before that
first thought. So my thoughts have to be re-calculated if they are going to
be accurate>

"Hi Ian, I've been thinking about thinking about you"

<I'm immediately aware that the situation has changed again>

"Hi Ian, I've been thinking about thinking about thinking about you"

<Things can also head in a slightly different direction>

"I've been thinking about thinking Hi Ian, I've been thinking..."

At about this point I begin to wish that the whole thing would stop.
Although it began as a thought that I thought I was controlling, it finished
up being a rollercoaster that I had to try hard to control. But trying
didn't help. Why? Because my thoughts *have to* turn inwards if I'm going to
try to attempt to control what I'm thinking. This is no different to the
everyday situation where I monitor my thoughts as if to understand what I am
thinking. There is an unavoidable loop between the observer and the
observed. The observer is the mind that is observing the thoughts and the
observed is the thoughts. The inevitable feedback from the observed to the
observer ensures that the decline continues. There is no effective mechanism
to prevent the feedback. If I was told at this point to not think about pink
elephants I would almost certainly not be able to get pink elephants out of
my mind. Unfortunately at the end of this process the house of cards comes
tumbling down. While I have the ability evaluate my own thoughts, it leads
to my eventual downfall because, perhaps, it was never meant to be. Turning
my thoughts inwards is the last thing I need at that time but unfortunately
self-consciousness can feed on itself, driving the thoughts ever deeper.

If there are others who can relate to any of what I've said then I would
like to take this interesting topic further one day. Unfortunately striking
up a conversation this way is a bit like dangling a hook in the ocean or
perhaps putting up a billboard in the middle of the Sahara. With a bit of
luck somebody will find it interesting though. In terms of my personal
experience, I had uncontrolled epilepsy for 20 years. Although it is now
under control I'm always open to learning more about it. In a world of
paradoxes, epilepsy might have some of its own.

djw
(dj for short)