Point of interest, vol 2, #1

And we’re back.  With this blog now in its second year, I am resetting the counter for points of interest, my irregularly irregular romp through all things mind, body and soul on the internets.  I waited on this oune until the weekend when I have usually put these out and as such had too many great posts to include.  Sheesh, slow down bloggers.  If only my muse were so kind.  Anyway, without further delay, I present the best I could find-

obsession, compulsion, and habit.

It is good to be back. I have just returned from the annual AAN conference, and my mind is now loaded with all the brain facts any person in their right mind should ever hope for, at least in the course of one week. Mastering the mind cannot be done in a lifetime. It is an odd paradox that the neuroscientist lives in. We try to understand why we think the way we do and thus gain the power to artificially change the way we think. But then, what is it that leads us to change the thinking if not our thinking and brains?

There is this odd and mysterious component of will that comes along, or is it just a will of the gaps? If we can understand all thinking, are we really thinking or are we executing a predetermined program? Is it environment, chaos, or some other explanation that leads us to alter thinking through thinking?