Ode to a book

Oh, my eyes! What things I have seen and the heart-clenching panic I’ve had to endure, grasping a reality that at times seemed so shallow and torn. Many different places my body and soul has lived in, crunching snow with my bare feet and braving hot pavement below sun soaked skies.

Steadiness, a word that never had much meaning in my life, not even a constant place to call home. Schools were many that I attended, cities plenty where I lived in, always trying to make new friends, just to lose them again. I remember at one point giving myself up to the bittersweet surrender of solitude. Circumstances beyond my control led me there, and brought me here.

Yet one thing has been steadfast, ever-present and unwavering, providing a joy as pure as life itself, the comfort of words on paper; books. Those written words, those stories and histories have stayed by my side, bringing relief to tear soaked sorrows and the angst of loneliness, and granting bliss when darkness lurked around the corner. In the happiest of my days, and the saddest of my moments, I always believed reading would comfort or amplify my being.

I’ve known no better companion than a book, it being the single most influential item in my entire life. Fiction, non-fiction, biographies, poetry, war stories or philosophy, I want to soak it all in. From quantum physics to history to journeys around the world, my bedroom has always had a bookcase, stories calling me out from the deepest of sleep. My mind craves to delve deep into the secrets of ancient Sumer, to read about the darkness that looms beyond our planet and the possibilities of the cosmos. I am captivated by history, to read about George Washington’s secret spies and their help in shaping the American Revolution, to dig deep into theories of human evolution and consciousness, to ponder the possibilities of life in other planets or to contemplate on the philosophy of a warrior-poet like Miyamoto Musashi.

Every time I pick up a book, or wander aimlessly through a bookstore, I still feel like that lonely, scared kid, that with the help of such a marvelous addition to humankind, felt an escape from the mundane, the reality around him vanishing away, giving room to other times, other stories and a sense of relief and adventure soaking him to the bone.

Thank you, to that inanimate object that animated my mind’s eye, projected my imagination, solidified my knowledge and helped me cope with the injustices of life. I love you dearly.

There is no such thing as a sleep-deprived morning if it was spent reading with delight.

– A. Garcia

Car-centrism

This might be an unpopular opinion, but the idea of a car-centric society has failed. Especially in deeply congested and populated city centers. It feels like complete mayhem; open spaces become parking lots, commutes become eternal, and lets not talk about the dangerous combo of cellphones and driving. More than 7,000 pedestrians die each year from car accidents. One in five children under the age of 15 killed in car crashes were pedestrians.

We've strived to this point of supposed progress, yet, its made us into a lazier, unhealthy society.

Don’t get me wrong, automobiles have obvious benefits, but why design entire communities solely around cars? The amount of usable space that could enrich culture, provide leisure or be used for community purposes is wasted to perpetuate the concrete jungle a lot of us live

– A. Garcia

Awareness

How strange it is that we, as human beings, have the capacity to think at all. To reflect and hold memories, to strategize, and manipulate; to regurgitate a stream of spell-binding words so another can absorb them, and in turn, do the same to us or others. Stringing along thoughts to form coherent, or not so coherent, interpretations of our surroundings. Even in our dreams the stream of consciousness rages, subjugating us to ethereal visions, reflections on our thoughts. How is this all coming together? What were the pieces that came together thousands of years ago that gave a relatively simple ape the capacity to grasp the concept of his mortality? To harness the power of an amazing mind, and one day build crafts that would take them to outer space. If only our ancient ancestors could see what we’ve done, all because we are aware of ourselves.

Here we are, ages into the future, driving electric cars, ordering mocha-lattes on our phones, watching humans do space-walks from the comfort of our homes, and sharing videos of a dog chasing his own tail, all in a whirl of quantum magic. We've developed the capacity to communicate our feeling with others instantaneously, even when they are thousands of miles away. What an amazing animal we are, 'Homo sapiens', the "Wise Man". Much research has gone into coming up with a concrete answer on the origins of our consciousness. The process behind our thoughts and being is an everyday fact that we take for granted. It all comes so naturally, the ability to contemplate our evolution through time and space. Many scientists argue that our stream of consciousness is merely electric circuits firing away, powering our neurons in order to deliver messages throughout our nervous system, therefore enabling us to function day-to-day. Simple and to the point, yet, many questions still arise. Why us in particular?

 Here goes a short story:

 100,000 years ago.

A tribe of bipedal apes makes their way down the lower slopes of the Ural Mountains. The valley ahead looks much more fertile than the upper regions, with rich moss and grass covering the ground, groupings of pine trees scattered around, and herds of reindeer, peacefully enjoying the sun-soaked valley.

A bit further, past a cluster of towering oaks, a column of smoke is seen rising above the horizon. It is next to a medium-sized body of water, which was being fed by a river that flowed from high above in the mountains. The tribe hurries along, famished and tired, they longed for shelter and fresh meat; and up ahead was a site unlike anything they’ve ever experienced. The long journey had been arduous, many of their own perished along the way, either to other apex predators, or fallen to their death along the icy cliffs atop. Hunger and sickness had taken their toll.

As the group descends further, they make out several small dwellings along the lake, unnatural looking, seemingly out of place among the majestic, rocky mountains that surround them. Grunts and expressions can be heard from the small tribe, clearly confused and astounded by what they see.

Their approach caught the attention of others; from out of the dwellings emerged another animal, very similar to this lost tribe. They stood straighter, with leaner bodies and less hair covering their forms. Their clothing was ornamental and useful for the surroundings. They had open fires in several areas, all raging powerfully while the intense smell of burnt meat perfumed the air. Their gait was different, smoother, and with purpose; this tribe definitely had some differences from the group that came down from the mountains. It's as if both groups recognized each other, picking out features that are familiar, long-lost cousins, lost in an obscure past.

 Both groups passed insurmountable odds to survive, braving through a vicious environment that seemed to constantly threaten life. Surprisingly, perhaps caused by the fear governing both herds of human-like creatures, and constant battles to survive, the two different tribes assimilated rather peacefully, a rare occurrence in an otherwise brutal environment. The Valley tribe had plenty of food offerings for this strange group that descended from the mountains. They had a rather strange technique of cracking open the bones of animals in order to consume the essence within.

They also participated in many strange rituals involving their dead ones, they communicated efficiently with each other, and could somehow easily convey their own feelings or thoughts to the mountain group.They made special use of many herbs and were particularly fond of consuming a type of fungi, which shortly after would have them engulfed in a strange trance, dances would ensue, while chanting and hollering up at the sky.

As time passed, days became weeks, months, and later on, entire generations. The two tribes conjoined, adopting techniques from each other, learning, advancing through time. Eventually mating and multiplying and evolving into something else, or, someone else.

Back to our reality…

 Many ages ago, there were other 'humans', other animals that belonged to the same group of bipedal apes that we are in. They shared many of our physical characteristics, and some of our social dynamics. Take for example, 'Homo Neanderthals', one of our closest relatives. Evidence exists of these early humans' manipulation of fire, and semi-complex social structures. They were skilled hunters, wore clothing, and evidence even suggests they buried their dead and had offerings for them. The data goes as far as to suggest that they were able to use their environment to fabricate living quarters, dwellings, not always relying on finding shelter in caves or other natural formations. Some Neanderthals even had the insight to fabricate jewelry and ornate objects. This level of sophisticated use of tools was a first amongst our ancestors, the stepping stones to eventually reach what we are now, and surely this won't be the end of our evolution.

 Homo Neanderthals are not the only human species that existed. Throughout our tumultuous evolution many have roamed the Earth. We have Homo Floresiensis, our human ancestor from the island of Flores in Indonesia, a diminutive figure, standing at just over 3 feet tall. These dwarf-like humans (Let's get real, they were hobbits), were known to also make use of tools, hunting, and foraging, their small size due in part to their isolation on an island with scarce resources and food. There are the Denisovans, a recent discovery, that were believed to have commingled with Neanderthals, Sapiens, and Homo Erectus, yet another species of human to add to an expanding list. I guess, at least on this particular planet, we are not so unique after all.

 So what is this awareness? This consciousness that afflicts us daily. Is it an illusion? A carefully crafted projection, implanted from the moment of inception. Could we have been giving a gentle push in brain evolution by a certain plant or substance? Terrence McKenna, a famed ethnobotanist and modern-age philosopher, was a deep proponent of his much discussed idea, The Stoned Ape Theory. In this concept, McKenna claimed that our early ancestors had help in the evolution of our awareness by psilocybin mushrooms. He strongly believed these mushrooms were a strong force in stimulating our developing brains, therefore giving way to an expanded consciousness, which gave rise to philosophy, religion, science, arts and much of human culture. Sounds crazy? Is it really so insane? It doesn’t sound any crazier than our evolutionary process starting from single cell-organisms to what we are today. And after all this whole evolutionary process, we still ponder the riddle of that majestic spark.

To break it down to the very beginning of it all, and to how it all seems borderline magical, Carl Sagan once famously stated, “The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.” And that my friends sums it all up, we are made of star-stuff, star-dust, a sum of it all, broken down to the simple fact that we are made of the very essence that started our universe. Cosmic particles flow in us and through us; and in the majestic order in which the universe flows, we ended up here. Breathing, eating, laughing and loving, most of us deeply aware of it, our brains firing away, chemicals flowing throughout. The most basic of rules set us up to be where we are, as humanity, with an eternal mystery hanging over our heads; we are aware. Do not let it go to waste.

- A. Garcia

The Cynics

Don’t believe the hype and bustle,the force so strong it pulls you under. Cynicism is running rampant through our minds, hearts and souls. The need to force upon others a jaded viewpoint, rough and burred around the edges, the know-it-all arrogance that accompanies a cynic. I’ve been there, felt it, and stomped on dreams others had by pointing out their hopeful banter as silly and childish. It eats me up, it smudges my soul, to have at times been a beacon that ran dark, when I had the power to light them up like a lighthouse showing the way for an errant ship.

I can excuse it as pointing out the reality of life but who am I to define someones else’s reality? Who am I to squish with force all dash of joy that exudes from people? Who am I to project a cynical view on another’s mind?

Perhaps, and it’s a big perhaps, cynicism could come in useful from an analytical standpoint, but to live as such, to encompass entirely the need to subjugate your fellow animals into a distrustful and constant negative view of your surroundings is draining and aging. I can see the toll in the eyes of the cynics, the paranoia and distrust ravaging a soul that was once young and exuberant. “No-one is good enough, everything is tainted”, and if you base your view of the world on mass and social media, you will find yourself drowning in a small cup of water, bombarded from above with notions that people have gone mad and lost all sense of humanity.

I cannot help but feel that when cynicism grasps my heart, it is mostly out of anger and tantrum-throwing, rebelling against the randomness of life and sticking to a victim mentality, that I can often take myself so seriously that humor is lost upon my twisted views.

I have young ones in my family (friends included, they are the family I chose) and I want them to have a viewpoint on life that is not satiated by hate and a jaded existence. I do not want them to be blunted down into a dull perspective, a self-righteous smugness that radiates outward and has no effect but to sink and bury. Yes, they should be aware of the dangers of being alive, the evil that can inhabit our world and the need to be prepared but not paranoid.

I may not have children of my own, yet if anyone ever looks up to me, (I’m looking at my nephew, hopefully he reads this one day) I want him or whomever, to see hope and silliness, even through the gut-wrenching pain, I don’t want him or anyone to see despair and loss of yearning for more.

To publicly choose love, empathy and hopefulness can be seen as weak and naive, the cynics will mock it, they will try revive in you a pompous need to point out that you are wrong for choosing love, even through the pain.

I have seen things in my life that would make your blood boil and your mind explode with grief, and at times I can fall in a pit so deep it seems impossible to claw my way out. Yet, I realize that when my mind is at its weakest point, its when my cynicism explodes, there is an arrogance to that attitude, a need to be able to tell someone “I told you so” when they hit a wall for pursuing their most valued dreams.

Conclusion for me, don’t take myself so seriously, don’t be fooled into “growing up”.

We should strive for those creases around our eyes and mouths from smiling and laughing. The world hurts, it can be painful, brutal and unfair, the well to hell and despair runs deep, don’t fall into that darkness. Secure yourself to the world, tighten that noose of safety to an old, strong tree, secure it with passion and trust, so when you trip and fall, you can grab on tightly and pull yourself out once again.

My advice? Act silly often, loose yourself in curiosity, in child-like wonder, seriousness has a place but it should only be a dash of sprinkles on top of your ice-cream cone, and ice-cream is generally sweet, tasty and fun.

– A. Garcia

Future

Our ever-expanding growth technologically and scientifically has taken us to challenge many beliefs close to our heart and soul. We have, as a society, transgressed past many boundaries that were thought of as unreachable at one point. Medicine has given us hope of extending our lives, science and technology have started to hint at the possibility of living in forms that seemed impossible and ludicrous, scenarios more closely related to a science-fiction book or movie script. Lets take a look for example at the micro-world that makes up every single thing in the known universe.

At a simple and casual glance, quantum mechanics relates what happens within and around us in a way that seems magical. Quantum mechanics delves into the ‘micro-world’, trying to make sense of all the sub-atomic particles that make up everything around us. The unprecedented insight the studies into the sub-atomic world have giving us has changed our modern life, examples ranging from MRI machines in the medical field to telecommunications, computing, and space travel. All of this from a field that awakens more questions than answers. Personally, I am all here for that, a curious mind will tend to gravitate towards questions more than answers.

“Are we pushing into this infinite abyss the same way we push further out into space?”

In 1965, North-American physicist, Richard Feynman, declared, “I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics.”, a thought that probably still holds true to this day. Photons existing in two spaces at a time, the observer effect, Spooky action at a distance, Schrödinger's cat, and many more terms that each warrant pages upon pages of me trying to explain something my mind cannot possibly grasp. How can one tell me I’m mere sub-atomic energy, when I can feel it all so deeply, nothing like the plethora of atoms and empty space that make up our being. Right? Again, more questions than answers.

Renowned theoretical physicist, Michio Kaku, relates perfectly our possible future in his book, “Physics of the Future”. Kaku says, “By 2100, our destiny is to become like the gods we once worshipped and feared. But our tools will not be magic wands and potions but the science of computers, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and most of all, the quantum theory.”

Every day we realize life is not as simple as we thought, our essence emanates past the usual physical and superficial concepts of reality. Scientific advances have given us a new ambition; to reach other physical worlds, other planets we could one day call home. From this lonely spot where I stand, amongst dying leaves crinkling with every step, it seems this is highly plausible, more a question of ‘when’ will it happen, than ‘if’ it will happen. Far away solar systems seem not so distant anymore, every year we inch slowly out into the outer limits.

From the micro world, we go macro. The Cosmos.

Millions of years will go by before most stars slowly reach their end stages, finally amplifying into a fiery phenomenon. Their light expanding to its immediate universal space, the blast traveling through time at astonishing speeds, expanding outward, going on and on, perhaps indefinitely. The nuclear reactors of the universe, with a plethora of stories to tell. Their light, blazing through the universe, to us mere humans, seems like it will burn into an apparent eternal spectrum. No end in sight. A supernova can explode into an intense energy, yet it can be thousands of years before we ever catch a glimpse of its light, a vision into the past.

Some stars, few, are known to shine bright, and at their final stages dim into themselves, folding into their own matter, packed dense, until they collapse space-time around them. Its as if they leave a hole in their place. Crushed under their own dense energy, gravity wins the battle, counteracting the stars outward push, provoked by its intense gases, finally extinguishing itself, blinking out of apparent existence. This process could very well lead to the creation of blackholes, the much mystified occurrence of the universe, object of countless theories, movies and books.

Pictured above, the constellation of Orion The Hunter. Top, brightest star is Betelgeuse, who many believe may one day reach supernova. (Image Credit: NASA, shutterstock)

Image captured by the Cassini spacecraft. Pictures are Saturn’s rings, Earth and our moon. (Image credit: European Space Agency website.)

“Does our energy push outward in a magnificent blur or does it succumb to gravity and collapse into itself? ”

Staying present, in space and time, is much more difficult. As humanity learns and explores deeper, we find ourselves living out fantasies we only, at one point, held in our imagination. We have seen how far we can venture out into space. A great example are the NASA Voyager missions, currently millions of miles from earth, hurtling through interstellar space at thousands of kilometers per hour. The farthest objects we have sent out to collect information on some of the deepest questions that have arisen throughout human history. The Voyager mission spacecrafts, launched in 1977, have demonstrated, quite spectacularly, the unspeakable distances that exist outside of our world. To us, their arrival into “interstellar space” is an incredible feat of perseverance and outstanding technological capability. Yet, in the gran scheme of the universe, the spacecrafts have barely made a dent into space travel. They just left our neighborhood, and the universe after that is at a scale that our minds cannot compute. If a grain of sand within all of the world represents our known galaxy, then the Voyager spacecrafts have barely even recorded movements within the one grain of sand.

Everything we know and have ever known is contained within that pale blue dot, lost in space dust. NASA released this updated version of Voyager 1’s famous, “Pale Blue Dot” image on Feb. 13, 2020. (Image credit: NASA /JPL-Caltech)

My belief is, many of these questions are scientific in nature but they allude to profound philosophical doubts, doubts that haunt our impeccably powerful brain, and afflict our eternal gift, the gift of consciousness. To quote Michio Kaku once again, “The brain weighs only three pounds, yet it is the most complex object in the solar system.”

Finally, a question arises, the single most influential doubt we have as conscious beings; we now view the future as a place we can inhabit, could we possibly be heading in a direction where not only do we think of our immediate future in space and time, but of a future after death? Are we headed towards an explanation on death? What happens after the lights go out? Does our energy push outward in a magnificent blur or does it succumb to gravity and collapse into itself?

Sounds crazy and rhetorical, yet many past unfathomable concepts have been reached throughout history, concepts that only inhabited our imagination, like the utilization of fire, the wheel, agriculture, the manipulation of electricity, our understanding of human psychology and many more.

Famed author, inventor and scientist, Ray Kurzweil, definitely seems to think there is an answer, or a solution to death. His work into ai, life augmentation and prolongation, hint at the possibility of humans reaching scientific, technological and spiritual levels that are straight out of a Isaac Asimov novel. In Kurzweil’s vision, he imagines humans merging with machines, “spiritual machines” he calls them. Kurzweil is a huge proponent on the possibility of us reaching the Singularity, a boundary of space-time after which the normal rules of measurement no longer apply.

In an interview with wired magazine, he claims the following, “...while artificial intelligence will render biological humans obsolete, it will not make human consciousness irrelevant. The first AIs will be created, he says, as add-ons to human intelligence, modeled on our actual brains and used to extend our human reach. AIs will help us see and hear better. They will give us better memories and help us fight disease. Eventually, AIs will allow us to conquer death itself. The singularity won't destroy us, Instead, it will immortalize us.”

My brain hurts just thinking about that.

However, these theories are not without detractors, philosopher Nick Bostrom claims in his book, “Superintelligence: Paths, dangers and strategies”, that the existential dangers of toying with ai and simulations have far more dangerous implications to humans than we thought possible, maybe even reaching a point where a ‘superintelligence’ could replace humans as we exist. “We are like children playing with a bomb”, Bostrom has famously exclaimed.

Now, these questions do have deep spiritual and scientific implications, many moral and ethical quandaries pop up. We are in an age of supplements, surgeries, and body modifications, all in the pursuit of eternal youth and our hands are reaching out, barely touching the concept of an extended life, or immortality. We strive to extend our lives but at what point is enough really enough? Are we pushing into this infinite abyss the same way we push further out into space?

We advance through time and space in an ever-expanding growth, a constant mutation. Perhaps, in pursuit of the answer to one of our biggest mysteries, the fuel of much of our inspiration; a quest for immortality, to answer the question of death. The beings that will one day reach another habitable planet may be unrecognizable to what we are now. I personally, cannot grasp the concept of living forever, or if we could reach such a stage. We could conceivably conquer death in such a way that whatever state we inhabit after that could be considered as alien-like, maybe even god-like. To reference a small muse I had, maybe we were created by such god-like creatures. We are just tumbling through time as an eternal loop of creation.

I merely pose this question, not as a way to find an answer, but as a way to enhance our curiosity and to deepen our connections with who we are now. In our current state, we are already infinitely incredible, with all our quirks, manias, and all our history. Just as individuals lost in glimpses of history, we are astounding beings, our lone existence having a tremendous impact every day on anyone that surrounds us. The fact that you are sitting here, on the spaceship of earth, hurtling through space at break-neck speeds, reading these words, is a miracle of existence. Our appearance in the universe could very well be a coincidence, one that is impossible to replicate, yet here we are, breathing, laughing and crying, against all the odds of physics.

Art by US artist Steven Belledin. (Instagram @stevenbelledin)

I’ve been listening to interviews and podcasts featuring Harvard University theoretical physicist, Avi Loeb, where he discusses his upcoming book, “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.”

Now, I can write a bunch of words on the subjects he has touched, perhaps one day I will, and they will most definitely not even be close to as eloquent as Avi Loeb’s. However, I was very drawn to his views on life and the meaning of it, points he makes consistently throughout the interviews. He insists that we should strive to keep a child-like wonder on life, to rebel in curiosity, not caring for what others think or say. To act like a kid, to view the world through those eyes, and leave behind our most cynical tendencies. To pursue your passions, not for fame, likes, or money, but to do so because it fills you with joy, or a sense of purpose. To do anything for the sake of doing it, with no expectations.

We strive too quickly to “grow up”, we shed the child we once were, leaving it behind, as if it was poison, or shameful, a heavy sack to carry around forever. We start to cater to what others think of us, we mold ourselves into a world that quickly suffocates us, drowning away the essence of who we once were. We lose sight of what filled us, the simple or magnificent things we thought we could be or do, and we let this wicked society dictate how, when, and why to live.

Here, I look back at this picture, and realize the little things that filled me, and still do, even though I’ve thought, more than once, that I was a lost soul. I grasp the meaning of what I’m doing, of doing something for the sake of doing it. I’m certainly not as confident as I was, to so boldly claim that “I write good”, as a little, snotty, pedantic 7 year old kid, but hey, I guess I never knew that picture’s true purpose until now.

I will always be that nerdy, solitary kid, lost in books, and adventures that blow my mind. I’m not interested in intellect, nor boasting, or trying to prove if I’m smarter than the person next to me. I’m interested in satiating my unending curiosity, to seek wisdom, and quite frankly, to escape from the mundane and explore the pictures many authors paint with their words.

I hope this can serve as a way to make a few of you get in touch once again with that inner child, and look back at it as the person we were always meant to be.

Ruling Class No More

We find ourselves in this precarious situation politically because we pay homage to a group of geriatric, decrepit and hypocritical people who govern us as if we lived in the last century,  under antiquated traditions and constant scheming. It is assumed that wisdom advances over the years but it seems what has advanced has been the mental myopia that does not allow them to see beyond their noses buried in money.

My people, while we tear our clothes for these ruling bandits on one side or the other, they are increasingly rich and soaked in power; we, who do not even know those we defend, every day are poorer, restless and in a feverish state of mind. And, while we insult and kill each other, those in power sleep peacefully in their palaces. I am left wondering, "Divide and conquer", this old adage could never be more correct.

Exploration

There is no exploration more important and transcendental than that of our own mind, our own being.

To overcome mental barriers and the cognitive dissonance of which we suffer at the time we are presented with evidence that goes against our dogmas, beliefs, or conceptions of ourselves. Ideas which we believed were indisputable, infallible, and were planted in our subconscious from the moment of birth, perhaps from the moment of conception. Within homo sapiens this is very natural, we are an animal species with very complex social structures and we depend on these structures to realize ourselves as people.

The historian and author, Yuval Noah Harari expresses in his book, "Sapiens: from animals to gods", that this kind of indoctrination takes place for years, something very specific to homo sapiens, unlike other species. Humans at birth require a constant and special kind of attention, different from a kitten that few weeks after birth can forage for food or a foal that can trot shortly after birth. This human peculiarity, among many others, has contributed significantly to our extraordinary social abilities as well as to social problems, something very unique among species. Raising children requires constant help. A single mother would not find it easy to find food and support her children at the same time, ideally, collaboration from family or community members is preferred. This has greatly favored our ability to form strong social ties.

Apart from this, homo sapiens are born with an underdeveloped brain that lends itself easily to being molded, educated, or manipulated to certain "specifications".

Our brain at birth is like glass that has been melted in an oven, easy to handle and mold very freely. This is why it is easy to educate children from youth to be Christians or Buddhists, socialists or capitalists, to love war or peace.

However, once we reach adult life there is also a great capacity for education and learning. It will not be easy, but dogmas to which we were subjected from an early age can be changed, in many cases a cognitive dissonance can occur, which can cause much mayhem within our senses and being. There are certain thoughts that over time, and with the discovery of new evidence, can begin to produce contradictions within our brain. Leaving those thoughts can be difficult for us, there is a certain comfort in them and the dissonance is so great that we decide to ignore the subconscious. During the first years of life, the brain is in a process of neurogenesis, it is being formed and this process continues until adulthood, where the process of neurogenesis is already at almost undetectable levels. Environmental factors such as physical exercise, stress, and the consumption of antidepressants, have also shown significant effects on neurogenesis. All this influencing our way of thinking, neurons connected and assimilated into our lives.

This exploration of our cognitive reality may seem without measure or effect, without purpose, but in itself, it is an exploration of why we become who we are. The independent individual that we often think we are is usually no more than a small and delicate illusion, fragile as the first layer of ice on a lake in early winter. Our reality is made for us, we have a mental filter in place since we were born, which has its practical use during our first years, but, at the same time, it can create barriers.

It is of utmost importance to be free and independent of thought enough to be able to analyze these contradictions that can occur in our way of thinking or seeing the world. Deepening our thoughts, analyzing our mental processes, and appreciating the fact that many of our untouchable doctrines are malleable, they can be changed. We are questioning what was established for us, all the schemes and ways of thinking. It is not forgetting what has been learned, but extending our knowledge and expanding our culture with new and renewed presences.

Introducing new ideas with greater significance and importance for our lives can be the difference between full freedom of thought or remaining with a cast placed on our thinking.