More on The Brain, The Mind, Thinking and Chess Play

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I was given another book on how the brain works and how we think and misconceptions we've had. The title is Thinking. It's a compilation of several speeches or writings by experts in the field and was edited by John Brockman. I've read the book, marked passages as being especially interesting and then went back through my notes to select specifically those points which explain how we think and how (perhaps) we should consciously try to think to get our best results.

I organized these notes, not by author (I don't even give the specific author of each statement), but by the level of brain activity which it refers to. First is neuron-level, second is brain function or organization, third is the subconscious & conscious (and related functioning), fourth is advice on how to think, fifth is how it might relate to chess or other problem solving.

I've also collected some notes from other recent reading on the subject that I've done and it is incorporated where useful.

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Each brain neuron is an independent agent with its own goals. Think of that, about one trillion independent agents with their own individual goals, operating as one massively parallel machine.

A part of the brain (which I'd never heard of before) called the claustrum  is connected with ALL parts of the brain and might be the reason we see ourselves as one being with an identity and it might also perhaps be the creator and seat of our consciousness and creator of our image or model of the world.

We are the output of a multitude of unconscious processes and we are often unaware of the real reason(s) for our actions. We are all strangers to ourselves. We're probably conscious less than 15% of the time. Conscious experience is really just a fraction of what's going on. The mind (your rational conscious) is a rider on an elephant (your subconscious), but the mind thinks he's the star of the movie while the elephant does most of the work.

The language of the mind is very similar to how the body takes in information & data.

Rational thought isn't such a central component of human life or why we do things. We're not so intellectual. More important are our interests, goals and needs, etc.

For example, the primary state of our mind is to observe and experience the world around us, to mentally wander and to notice anything which is of special interest. We're good at exploring, but we notice things on a 'need to know' basis. Uncommon or ambiguous things often go unnoticed. And, (I suppose) because early man didn't have to focus on anything for long, our short-term memories fade quickly. We must work quickly and focus to solve problems quickly.

The way our minds do this quickly and automatically is to take in a picture of our world and form a model. This model extends to our own sense of our body or to the Universe and a spiritual Heaven. In certain contexts we have known patterns and when something doesn't fit the pattern it comes to our attention. We are able to remember the past and imagine the future unlike anything else on Earth. Having knowledge of how to handle the common everyday patterns makes life easier and having a way to recognize and deal with the exceptions is the hard work.

Our automatic fast-acting mental processes (recently called System One) help us survive crises by generating almost instantaneous responses (mostly fight or flight, but others too). Our slower, more energy-consuming, conscious mental efforts (recently called System Two) helps us to deal with complex multi-issue multi-object problems requiring multiple steps and creativity and choice-making.

However, we aren't built to critique our own ideas & beliefs. That's where a social environment is useful. We're good at criticizing each other and exposing errors to better arrive at good solutions and "The Truth".

System One, our subconscious processes, doesn't remember lists very well, but it's very good with routes (and presumably stories). I would guess ancient hunters knew their hunting grounds and the routes there & home. Once they were home they told stories about the hunt. When did ancient man have to learn lists of any kind?

Ancient man knew his world and at some point developed beliefs about things beyond his personal knowledge. He never had to develop critical thinking to find flaws in his ideas & beliefs. We're not very good at it either, though we find humor in the odd beliefs our more recent ancestors had (witches, ghosts, etc.).

System One subconscious mental processes are automatically triggered and very fast to generate a response. The framing of situations to create patterns lets us also recognize the things which aren't part of those patterns and when we focus on the unusual we can infer intentions and causes, read human body language, ignore less relevant information and consider all possible responses by merely filtering out inappropriate or irrelevant information and responses. What remains, however surprising, is (probably) a reasonable response. This is one reason some people have thought the model of mind is an 'inference machine'. We complete the picture before us with a rapid automatic response.

If I say 'A', 'B', 'C', do you say 'D'? What if I say 'Z', 'Y', 'X', ... ? What's next? We do better with familiar patterns and have to work harder to get the less familiar.

Our minds also like to complete one task before beginning another. We're not built to multi-task. This implies recursion is very hard to manage.

Presumably our immediate need to survive developed earlier than conscious logical reasoning. The theory of triune mind that says there are three parts: reptilian, mamalian and primate and says sensual or visual clues of pleasure or pain or challenges to personal space, order and threats of domination would engage the reptilian brain and distract our higher thinking. This is a very fast-acting part of our mind while the primate brain is the slowest of the three.

The primate brain is used for language, goal setting, logic and complex problem solving.
We can also consciously choose to breathe slowly and deeply to send a signal to the reptilian brain to be calm.

System Two, our conscious rational thinking, lets us monitor our own behaviors, set goals and solve problems. In this way we can choose our direction and then let System One processes do most of the work to achieve that. System Two then evaluates the progress to determine when we're done with that task. It can also evaluate imagined potential solutions before we've taken the time and effort to do that work. Imagination helps free us from the sequential linear nature of routes and stories. Imagination and evaluation of imagined solutions is a powerful tool. When being creative think wordlessly. Mental images are more helpful.

For a good blending of use of parts of our brain we can visually take in information about the environment or situation and verbally describe it to ourselves, set goals and then use our conscious rational thinking to work through that. In some cases imagination to visualize a solution or talking ourselves through the problem-solving can be helpful. This part of our mind can deal with multiple objects and multi-step problem-solving and make choices, though it tires because this is very energy-consuming work.

When intuition and logic differ, try to incorporate both in your final solution!

When System Two is overloaded or tired our self-control weakens. This weakens our morality and choice-making in general. Oddly, a result of this is that when we're tired we may respond to a problem with a solution to some other task we give ourselves. We simply (and unconsciously) choose an easier task and give the solution to  that. How odd!

With his limited critical thinking he (ancient man) was (and we are) over-confident. Oddly enough, as the problems we face become more complex we tend to become even more confident. Luckily, with regular practice we can strengthen our self-control like a muscle.

A lack of experience with critical thinking also left man vulnerable to embarassment when his inconsistencies (or presumably other flaws) were revealed.

You may think reasoning was created to help us solve problems, but that is not so. Reasoning is a way of creating arguments to support the view we hold and to convince other people we're right. It's for public relations & debate!

In response to reasoning we are not directly affected by facts or logic, but indirectly by the emotional impact the reasoning makes.


Bits of advice:

"Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next." -- Jonas Salk

More information isn't always helpful. It's key information we need.

To work on a problem you can write about it for about 15 minutes for 3-4 nights a week. That focuses the mind fully. Sleep on it!

You can re-write your life story or narrative to shape and improve the future parts.

After a lot of rational thought which is tiring you should sleep to let the reptilian brain do it's work. Once Grandmaster Tony Miles was asked his hobby and he said that like many masters it was sleeping! Yes, sleeping.

To become better at something you can emulate the behavior of someone else who is already competent. This may range from personal style and manners to sports techniques of the great to mental strategies of intellectuals or anyone who is successful.

To avoid errors there are several ideas, many developed in recent years. Two simple ones are to 'think small', aiming for small goals where you are more likely to find the correct solution and do blunder-checking by reviewing your proposed solution with 'the fresh eyes of an amateur'.

Two versions of best thinking practice:

1. Observe, Imagine (solutions), Deduce
2. Wander & perceive, decide on a Goal, Observe selectively, Imagine (a solution), Deduce
There's a lot of overlap in those two.

When considering what your emotional reaction may be to a trip or some kind of planned experience it's better to NOT trust your own imagination, but to ask another person what their experience was like -- did they enjoy it. People aren't very good at predicting their own future emotional states.

The Expert Process:

1. Identify the situation pattern.
2. Classify it.
3. Categorize it.
4. Rapid impulse for response solution
5. Make adjustments for the solution to be better.
6. Consider that 'solution' and evaluate it.
7. Rinse and repeat until the evaluation is good.

That's more of a design approach than an analytical approach.

Body Language

We tend to physically hide our most valuable part (including objects).
Hands communicate like our verbal language.
Faces communicate more universally.
Clenched hands, tapping fingers & feet indicate frustration & tension.
Nodding heads indicate interest, but not always agreement.
Hands on the chin indicate the person is evaluating something.
The right eye (connected to the left brain) reflects logical work & stress.


Chess-Related Observations and Advice


Willy Hendricks, author of  Move First, Think Later

Learn what a good move looks like, so you can more easily spot them in your own games.
Look for moves and then decide which you like and what ideas they express.


Mark Dvoretsky, teacher

Explore!
Consider forcing moves first to see what can be made to happen.
Prophylactic thought is immensely valuable.
Precise calculation isn't always useful.
Register all the valuable resources for both players.

Blumenfeld

"Calculation is necessary only to verify that the ideas are correct."


Note: These three seem to be saying, explore for the moves which restrain and dominate your opponent, notice valuable resoruces for both players, consider forcing moves first, and calculate when necessary.


Use your opponent's favorite opening against him.
Destroy their position so they can never be comfortable. -- GM Rueben Fine
Don't let your opponent play *his* game.
Dictate events on the board.                             -- GM Tigran Petrosian


Note: These comments indicate it's helpful to disrupt your opponent's comfort and take him out of familiar territory.


Use continuous threats to break the (opponent's) will. -- GM Bobby Fischer
Create multiple threats to win.          -- GM Hikaru Nakamura, GM Rueben Fine
It's "useful to have a number of strategic threats at the same time."
But, most often "play logical, precise moves one after the other."  -- GM Dolmatov


Note: These comments say threats, continuous and of a strategic nature are valuable.


"Total domination!" "First deprive the opponent of all reasonable moves, then finish him off."                                    --  GM Dolmatov

Play all the generic moves, force a concrete reply, then plan the win.  -- GM Yefim Geller

Engage with one unit, then when the lines are drawn and weaknesses become visible, attack with a second unit.           -- Sun Tzu, in _The Art of War_

No plan survives the first battle. After that adapt.  -- Napoleon Bonaparte


Note: These comments say you should try to block all of your opponent's useful moves and plans and then plan your offense to win.


Place the board, so your opponent's face is in the sun.  -- a humorist


Finally, a bit of humor from Thinking:

A man was walking down the street when he saw a new place to eat. He went in and looked at their menu. They had five categories: brown sugars, honeys, molasses and artificials. He asked the waiter (who was the owner and only employee) what this was about and the owner/waiter told him he was a psychologist who knew people really only wanted one thing, sweetness, and he was going to give it to them. The customer asked how things were going and the owner said, "Terrible. But, better than for the chemists Salt Tasting place down the street."

[ Note he said there were 5 catetories, but only gave 4. I don't know why. ]