“So you’re telling me there’s a part of my brain…that’s controlled by yours…
…to mimic you?”
I don’t know why the relatively new region of science dealing with “mirror neurons” bothers me.
But it does.
Because what it means, essentially, is that we all have specific types of brain cells whose jobs are to involuntarily be mind-controlled by those around us. Initially, they picked up on this and dubbed it “monkey see, monkey do” neurons back in the 80’s while studying (duh, what else but) monkeys. The experiment went like this: You present a monkey with three treats, he picks out one and picks it up, and a certain motor (activity related) area of his brain lights up on MRI. Standard, right? Yep. But what wasn’t so standard at the time was what happened when the scientists put out those same treats, and then picked up the monkey’s favorite themselves. That same action part of the monkey’s brain still went off like Bugs Bunny having a bright idea – even though the only actual activity he was doing was watching and scratching his ass.
Speaking of watching, these neurons can extend to emotions while watching others, too.
As they’ve come to learn that not just monkeys, but evolved monkeys like you ‘n me have this same capacity, they’ve seen how we affect the feels of peeps around us. And they’ve thus awarded it yet another moniker: “Empathy neurons”.
Ever hear hippies talk about “I can’t be here, maaan. The vibes are bad in here, maaaan”….?
Well, our earthy friends aren’t far off (which is probably why you’ve heard me saying something akin to this in my Pineapple Express voice if you’ve ever been in same place as me and my family for over fifteen minutes). Because, in a way, we do transmit vibes. I think I’ve written before about how pheromones of other people can kinda drug us unknowingly into feeling fear or anxiety if they are. But apparently, so can their experience and facial expressions. If you’ve been in pain or anguish before and you see someone else going through that, the correlating brain bit will activate in you. You’ll feel a sort of “sympathy sadness for them”. And (going back to the physical monkey-thing) a bit of actual cringe-inducing pain if you see them getting hurt.
(Thing is, I laugh when I get hurt – so I hope they never use me for this experiment). #psycho
This seems useful for reality, where we form social bonds and stuff – but it also explains why we get hooked on T.V. shows and (some’a us) sports. That same portion confuses our cognition into thinking these people chasing down outlaws, outrunning hoards of animated corpses, and having passionate sex to a great soundtrack – are somehow sharing that experience with us. The anxiety that makes you wanna nervously snack-munch during intense scenes – comes from the same place that makes you wanna text your booty call when the booty of Charming’s motorcycle club’s president comes on the screen.
(Nevermind. The upper bit does the trick too.)
Same goes for those active football fanatics.
(It’s funny ’cause I couldn’t empathize with them until learning about empathy neurons.)
Much like the scientists in the lab, when someone on screen grabs the ball like a rhesus on a treat – you’ll see some of the more zealous viewers jack-in-the-box outta their seat, cradling their infant, and prancing across the bar while hugging the sentient flesh bundle to their chest like a pigskin all the way into an imaginary end zone. I didn’t get it before. But now, I think it might be like how my mom has she-woman quadriceps on her right leg from riding shotgun with me and pressing the invisible brake pedal the whole time. Somewhere, deep down, people think if they introduce their own physical energy – they can affect the events around them.
(Unfortunately for you, this works better for stage moms whose progeny can actually see them than teleported from your favorite watering hole through a supersized plasma screen.)
When I heard about this a few months ago, and it was kinda sensory overload (I’d just been watching stuff on the Higss Field and was short circuiting. Get off me.). So I dismissed my rabbit hole exploration of the mind at nighttime after hearing that this wasn’t some supernatural theory, but actual science. And I went back to watching cartoons.
But something brought me back to it for some reason recently.
I think it’s in part because I’ve gotten so bored with the T.V. shows I was formerly addicted to (depressed, mostly) that I made the connection somewhere about these empathy cells in my head were being affected. So sick was I of “Walking Dead” (which I’d previously have mainlined into my veins), that I asked a friend to spoil the rest of the episodes for me. Unheard of.
But also, back in reality, I was starting to realize the effect of mirror neurons on others. You see, this science is only frightening if you look at it from the victim’s standpoint. If you become the “fear” itself like Bruce Wayne did, you don’t just conquer your fear. You can turn it into something positive – by being positive. And fight negativity with it. The trick is to not be fake about it. People will be able to detect when you’re fake smiling and maybe fake smile back at most. This is entirely unrewarding for me. The real reward comes after I’ve gotten myself into the zone (takes a bit, but totally doable), when I encounter some curmudgeonly stranger (with forehead frown lines she’s been spending a lifetime perfecting) at the to-go counter. And then I witness her whole face change into laughter – just by sharing a bit of the legit awesomery I’ve been cultivating from the inside out. That’s some rilllll MK-ultra shit right there.
Suddenly all the hippie shit about “being the light” starts to make an epic level of sense.
Suddenly, I feel compelled to keep researching this.
And I won’t stop till I learn how to use it to do my evil biddings as well as my loving ones.
What? No inconsistencies here. I’ve said a trillion times that humans need balance.