Dogra Magra (14/47)

by Hisashi Yumeno

Just as a fortune teller cannot tell their own fortune, the fact that the brain cannot think about itself is something everyone takes for granted.

If this isn't the brain's tragicomedy, then what is it?

If it isn't the grand meaningless drama of brains being toyed with by the brain, then what is it?

As a more familiar and poignant example, there is what is commonly called "crying stroke" or "laughing stroke." This is a disease where, even if one gets angry or surprised, if emotions are stirred, it's the same thing... only one emotion, either crying or laughing, can be expressed. The brain tries to force through its explanation of this disease in the style of "the brain thinks," and commands scientists worldwide. Therefore, scientists who receive this command have no choice but to explain these symptoms as, "The entire brain is paralyzed due to hemorrhage. Only the parts that move emotions like 'crying' or 'laughing' have survived within it."

However, unfortunately, the results of pathological autopsies of stroke patients' brains are always unexpectedly the exact opposite. Isn't it ironic that brain hemorrhage often occurs not throughout the entire brain, but only in a limited small part? Isn't it tragic that it can only be a mischievous play of a brain that can neither cry nor laugh?

As an even more ironic and bizarre example, there is a condition called "somnambulism." This condition is shunned by scientists as an incomprehensible illness that is difficult to understand, yet patients with somnambulism sometimes perform various miracles, as if to further mock those scientists. For example, only during a somnambulistic episode, they exhibit wonderful wisdom and skills that seem impossible for a human mind, accomplishing astonishing tasks that appear beyond human capability. Moreover, when the person wakes up the next morning, they have somehow returned to their original state, with no memory of such wonderful experiences remaining in their brain, a truly mysterious phenomenon. This completely confuses the judgment of specialists who believe in superstitions such as "the brain is where we think" and "where we feel emotions."

Isn't it an astonishing situation, enough to make one scream, "It's impossible for a human brain to conceive!"?

Isn't this a horror play of the brain?

Moreover, materialists and scientists who proclaim themselves missionaries of scientific omnipotence continue, undeterred, to shout the absolute praise of the brain.

They uphold superstitions such as, "The size of the brain indicates the degree of evolution of its owner, and the number of its convolutions represents the degree of culture. In other words, humanity exists because of its large, developed brain, and that brain exists for thinking. Therefore, the brain is the god of culture, the creator of science, and the guardian deity of materialism," respecting these beliefs more than the Bible and defending the authority of their own brains. However, isn't it exhilarating that under the microscopes of such scientists, even lower animals, which have neither brains nor heads nor tails, accurately judge heat and cold, and select food? Furthermore, these lower animals, though not speaking aloud, convey through gestures,

"Even without a brain, things can think."

"We are all brain."

"We transform our entire brain and use it as limbs, torso, ears, eyes, mouth, nose, digestive organs, and so on."

"You are merely dividing that function and entrusting it to separate organs."

"Even your hands and feet are thinking properly."

"Even your backside is seeing and hearing."

"If you pinch your crotch, only your crotch hurts."

"If a flea bites, only that spot itches."

"The brain neither hurts nor itches."

"Do you still not understand?"

"Ahahahahahahaha!"

"Ohohohohohohohoho!"

"Ihihihihihihi!"

Since they are rolling with laughter, isn't it astonishing?

If this isn't a satire by the brain, what is it?

If this isn't a trick play by the brain, what is it?

On the other hand, in the midst of this materialistic culture, strange and mysterious dramas concerning the mind and soul continue to appear as if from old times. And isn't it amusing that they appear one after another, sneering at human minds?

In the golden age of materialistic capitalism, in the middle of great cities built with science and culture, the dead sometimes make phone calls or appear in photographs with strangers. It's one thing for jewels to drain the life of beautiful women, or for cursed railroad crossings to threaten trains, but there are also instances where the ghost of Napoleon caresses the walls of Amerongen Castle, letting the old Kaiser hear his sighs, or where the mummy of Tutankhamun haunts Egyptian explorers. In fact, it's astonishing that even Sherlock Holmes, a genius of scientific deduction and the founder of materialistic detective methods using fingerprints, footprints, and cigarette ash, was drawn into these kinds of strange phenomena in his later years and reportedly passed away engrossed in the study of spiritualism. It is said that he even spoke to his surviving wife and children from the afterlife without using ether waves.

Everyone says it's strange, but no one can definitively say whether such a fact is truly possible or impossible. In the end, it always devolves into a pointless argument, so it's clear from the start that they'll part ways, each suspecting the other's brain. After much deduction and imagination, they finally scream, "What does it mean for the brain to think about the brain?" and are currently repeating meaningless questions and answers like a back-alley vaudeville show.

Well, everyone... this is the situation.

The "human brain" is the first thing that should be studied as "the pathology of the human brain"—the crucial problem that should form the foundation of psychiatry—but as you can see, it's completely stalled due to the "thinking brain." All diagnoses and treatments by psychiatrists and mental hospitals worldwide are stuck in a state of incompetence and meaningless ridicule. And so, countless mentally ill people on Earth are left in a world of contempt and abuse from which they will never, ever be saved. A madman's hell born from this world is manifesting across the entire surface of the Earth.

What else could this be but the great "brain's prank"? If it's not the dead end of a grand, terrifying, nonsensical play where the "thinking brain" made the "thinking brain" act out its own drama, then what is it?

Let those who applaud, applaud.

Let those who cheer, cheer.

Let those who cry, cry. Let those who laugh, laugh.

The moment I, Anpontan Pokan, realized the current state of this brain culture, my teeth no longer met at the roots. As I became aware of the coldness of Pokan's own brain, which was secretly ridiculing the terrifying spectacle of this brain society, my knees on both sides began to rattle as if they would come undone. I had to break this brain trick, fundamentally overturn the global materialistic scientific superstition about the brain, and stop this cruel, tragic, terrifying, nonsensical play.

I... Ampon-tan Pokan stood up here. He roused himself, putting strength into his arms. Utilizing the greatest detective skills of his entire life, and searching across infinite time and space, he finally managed to thoroughly discern the true identity of this great demon called the brain... the true identity of the "cursed idol of materialistic culture." He was able to encounter the "Absolute Supreme Great Truth" to awaken humanity's greatest nightmare... the superstitions and obsessions concerning the "brain that thinks."

...Moreover... that great truth was so simple and ordinary that it was, conversely, an astonishing truth that no one had noticed. Since the brain was first discovered, extraordinary brains such as Bacon, Locke, Darwin, Spencer, and Bergson must have been unable to recognize the "brain's true activity" itself. It was nothing more than a single matchstick to burn away the "brain's great evil spell" that continues to toy with and slaughter two billion living souls on Earth.

Everyone. Rejoice, jump, stand on your hands, and do somersaults. Do the foxtrot, stomp your feet, and step.

Kick away traffic cops and safety zones.

Sing the triumphal song of liberation from the brain's ancient tyranny... humanity's last superstition.

I... Ampon-tan Pokan has finally, in this way, pursued the great demon on Earth to your very presence. He has uncovered the truth behind the tricks of the elusive, ever-changing monstrous culprit, the cruel and ruthless prankster. And now, he has the honor of slamming the true identity of that great demon... Pokan's own brain, before your eyes, and screaming. ...Namely...

...The brain is not a place for thinking...

...he said..."

×　　　　　　　　　　×　　　　　　　　　　×

Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. How about that? Isn't it exhilarating? Isn't it super express? Isn't it absolutely bravo? It's a super express detective novel, enough to make two billion brains worldwide say "Dah!"

...What? You still don't understand...? ...

Ahahaha. That's because you still haven't completely shaken off the habit of thinking with your brain. It's because the materialistic scientific superstition that "spirit is matter" is still clinging somewhere in the corner of your mind.

Listen. My young detective, Dr. Ampon-tan Pokan, is continuing his argument, pointing to the muddy brain he has just slammed onto the ground.

×　　　　　　　　　　×　　　　　　　　　　×

"...Behold...Listen...Be amazed...Be dumbfounded.

The truth behind this brain's trick...the deviousness of a devil beyond devils...

Since Hepomenias, the first scientist to discover the brain, we humans have been continuously manipulated by this 'thinking brain.' Day in and day out, we have been made to believe that we must bow our heads before this brain, dedicating our entire bodies and spirits to it. And the head of this very Ampon-tan Pokan was one such head.

...However...the time has come for that illusion to be shattered. The opportunity has arrived for the illusion of Mr. Hepomenias, the first scientist to discover the brain, to be rectified. The time has come for Pokan's brain, lying at Pokan's feet, to end up covered in mud."

Pokan stood at the crossroads and made a grand declaration. He had the honor of announcing the most advanced academic discipline and the ultimate scientific religion, namely, "Pokan's Theory of the Brain for Idiots."

"I, Pokan, declare that 'a brain that thinks cannot think about a brain that thinks' should be an eternal truth, just like the principles of physics," he continued. "Therefore, the 'brain that thinks' about the 'brain that thinks' has been tormented by the 'ghost of the brain,' which the scientist Hepomenias, who first discovered the brain, mistook for the function of his own brain. And now, he is on the verge of being killed by that ghost."

Pokan boldly challenged this.

“The brain is not where one thinks. The brain is not where one feels. The brain is merely a lump of protein, devoid of nerves and sensation.”

He looked around and asked the laughing people, “What is so funny? Why are you laughing so hard? Why are you rolling around in the street? Crawling into police boxes, hugging utility poles, kissing red mailboxes—have you all gone mad?”

“‘If not with the brain, where do we think?’ ‘If not with the brain, where do we feel?’ ‘Where is our mental consciousness? Why are we alive?’”

Pokan continued, “This is not a funny question at all. It’s not eccentric; it’s an extremely ordinary question.”

He straightened his posture and said to the audience, “Our spirit, or life consciousness, does not exist in any single place. It permeates every part of our entire body. It’s the same as lower animals that don’t have brains.”

“If you pinch your bottom, your bottom hurts. If you’re hungry, your stomach feels hungry. This is very simple and clear. However, it might be too simple to understand, so I will explain it in a bit more detail.”

“The desires, emotions, will, memories, judgments, and beliefs that we are constantly aware of exist equally in each of the thirty trillion cells throughout our body. And the brain is merely a collection of cells that reflect and mediate the consciousness of those cells throughout the body.”

“Red ideologues call their party members ‘cells.’ In the same way, if you consider each cell as an individual human being, and liken the entire human body to a large city, you will understand that the brain corresponds to the central telephone exchange.”

“If you still don’t understand, I invite you to come with me, Pokan. Let’s traverse time and space, and retrace the arduous path of my efforts to uncover the true nature of the brain.”

"First, to explore how and from where the brain originated, I want you to board the super-speed aircraft 'Inference,' exclusive to Atama Airlines. It will take off from Atama Airfield with a roar, soaring through infinite space-time in one go, and we will trace back the great evolutionary current of the universe unfolding beneath your eyes for about 600 million years."

"Look. The world currently dominated by humanity will instantly become a dream of the future, and you will see giant beasts like mammoths, elephants, and stegodons living serenely in the elephant world of a million years ago."

"Furthermore, we will return to the world of dragons a million years before that, then the world of birds even earlier, and then the world of fish, the world of shellfish, and the world of sponges much, much earlier, gradually going back to the worlds of smaller organisms with lower degrees of evolution, until we finally reach the Paleozoic era 600 million years ago... How about it? What do you think of this youthful world where great eruptions, great thunderstorms, great tsunamis, and great earthquakes are swirling one after another, covering the sun and moon? How about the vitality of the Earth?"

"There, I want you to collect a drop of the slightly saline seawater, maintained at a temperature of around 40 degrees Celsius, floating on the surface of this Earth, and examine it under a microscope. You will discover magnified images of countless single-celled organisms floating around. You will be able to see a vast multitude of primordial cells that are destined to become the common ancestors of all future life."

"These primordial cells were the most complex things created last, amidst the various compounds being formed on the Earth's surface, and they were delicate organisms capable of fully expressing the vitality of the elements. This was the first cluster of life on Earth."

"Therefore, each and every one of these primordial cells possessed infinite spiritual abilities to express all kinds of consciousness, emotions, and judgment in response to environmental changes. They had the spiritual ability to assimilate inorganic and organic matter other than themselves, to grow and divide, and simultaneously to reflect and mutually exchange sensations and consciousness between the divided cells."

“As proof, look. The primordial cells are now actively dividing and multiplying, beginning to evolve their forms and capabilities, aren't they? Growing through spiritual power, dividing, combining, reflexively interacting, resonating as one body, and while active, manifesting communist spiritual power on Earth, gradually beginning to evolve into higher and more complex forms, aren't they?”

“And... 'Now that it has evolved this far, it must be invincible. There can't be anyone more evolved than me.'”

As those who were completely at ease and conceited passed on the forms of their proud era to their respective descendants—sponges, shellfish, fish, birds, and beasts—the complex, diverse, and ever-changing biological world we see today has, before you know it, spread out before your eyes.

Now, I want you to look.

Among such diverse animals, creatures with an extremely low degree of evolution, such as jellyfish and below, as you can see, do not possess advanced organs like brains or nerves. They live as they did in ancient times, thinking, moving, eating, sleeping, and experiencing all sensations simultaneously through the reflexive actions of their entire body's cells.

However, when it comes to animals that have undergone higher and more complex evolution, like us, the content of consciousness becomes extremely intricate. The distance between cells also gradually increases, becoming such a vast existence that one might wonder, "Is that far part of my body?" Therefore, just as hands, feet, eyes, and nose specialize and divide labor, within consciousness, there is an automatic and complex reflexive function called the "brain," which reflects the sensations and consciousness of all thirty trillion cells throughout the body in every direction, making us feel, "I am me," and "This is how I live."

The thirty trillion cells throughout our body, from the circulating red and white blood cells to the hard bones and the tips of our hair, each simultaneously feel and are conscious of the content of the consciousness we experience.

We cannot see things with our eyes alone, nor can we hear sounds with our ears alone. Behind these actions, the judgment and sensation of all the body's cells are always necessary.

Similarly, it is impossible for the brain to think or feel things by itself. Behind it, there must always be the subjectivity and objectivity of the cells throughout the body. Otherwise, the human brain would become as meaningless as a movie camera that has lost its screen and audience.

Furthermore, the reflexive action of the body's consciousness, mediated by the brain, is truly astonishing. It is far beyond what any human social organization connected by telegraph, telephone, or radio could ever achieve. It is so quick and sensitive that one's spine tingles and the whole body shivers simultaneously... and one can jump up with an "Ah!" the instant one feels a prick on the bottom.

The thirty trillion cells that form the various organs of our entire body thus divide their specialized tasks, and using the reflexive function of the brain, they simultaneously see, hear, smell, and taste things. Centered around the brain, they simultaneously become conscious, feel emotion, fight, sing, dance, and shout.

...When you're happy, your appetite increases because your stomach is also celebrating.

...When you eat, you feel energized even before digestion because all the cells in your body feel full simultaneously.

Therefore, it should now be clear beyond doubt that what we perceive as our life and spirit is merely us seeing through the overlapping of the subjectivity and objectivity depicted by countless cells throughout the body, mediated by the reflexive action of the brain. At the same time, it will be understood without any doubt that the great content of the brain, which we have hitherto superstitiously believed in, was actually a misconception of the infinite wisdom and abilities contained within each individual cell of the body reflecting off each other there. It is like thinking that a telephone exchange dominates a city.

...Isn't it, everyone, simple and clear?

...Isn't it so astonishing that your mouth hangs open?

...The fundamental problem of life consciousness, which modern scientists consider the greatest mystery, can thus be effortlessly elucidated by reversing the idea that "the brain thinks." Doesn't the role of the brain become as clear as that of the limbs?

...If you still don't understand, please come here again. Look inside this ignorant, automatic reflex exchange station called the brain, which lies beneath your dumbfounded feet. Observe the work of the kind and intelligent nerve cells packed within this exchange station.

These vast groups of nerve cells, as you can see, transform themselves into wires, switches, cords, switchboards, relay stations, and even antennas, vacuum tubes, dials, and coils. They divide into all sorts of specialties, such as crying 담당, laughing 담당, seeing 담당, hearing 담당, memory 담당, and love 담당, each corresponding to the various types of conscious sensations contained within the body's cells. Day and night, with a detached mind, they reflect the feelings of all thirty trillion citizens throughout the entire body.