The Human-Computer Analogy

And how to optimize your brain

It recently occurred to me how much our brains are like computer hard drives. Each has a limited capacity and eventually needs to be defragmented. We can optimize a hard drive with the built-in system app, but it’s easy to forget we are capable of doing a similar process for our brains with tools like meditation and lucid dreaming.

Both meditation and lucid dreaming are two important tools we have at our disposal to help us disconnect from our overly-connected world.

Studies have shown that our ability to remember information has shortened over the century, but the advent of computers and mobile phones has accelerated the decline. Our neural pathways are being altered, cognitive abilities are declining, and attention spans are shortening.

Our social skills are deteriorating because of increased human interaction through technology. Social media is a mental health hazard, and no one seems to care enough to do anything about it. Anxiety is on the rise, and it’s pretty understandable how we got here.  Our digital addictions are hard to break since we have instant access to television, social media, podcasts, texting, etc. just about anywhere there is a wireless signal.

Since it is an election year, we can expect both parties to bombard us with political messaging intended to incite fear and anger, resulting in social media outrage. We are a society that is taking in information at such a high rate we forget our brains need a break from it all, especially the negativity.

Ironically, computer technology can also teach us something about ourselves. We have all probably experienced a phone or hard drive crash. If there is a lesson to be learned from tech storage, it’s that it needs to be cleared of junk and optimized to keep performing. Otherwise, it crashes the rest of the system.

Likewise, to prevent our brains from doing the same, we need a couple of strategies for optimizing our brains. Giving away our digital devices is not enough and, in many cases, not an option. But we can use lucid dreaming and meditation to help our noggins recuperate. Of course, we need to learn to do both, and we need to do them responsibly.

Meditation and lucid dreaming are tools that help us regain our cognitive ability, improve our attention span, and remarkably , access information that is hidden from our conscious mind.

Tool#1 Lucid Dreaming

Lucid dreaming occurs when we are sleeping and become aware we are dreaming during our dream. If you are dreaming and something bad is about to happen, and you realize you are in a dream, you can do something extraordinary, like gain superhuman strength, walk through walls, or wield a light saber like a Jedi Knight to change the outcome. We can also use lucid dreaming to purposely access information that we may be blocking ourselves from in the awakened state.

Though I can lucidly dream, I only recently discovered resources to use it to promote mental and physical health. Last Saturday morning, I actually had a lucid dream, and here is a taste of what it was like.

In the dream, I attended a business dinner with former colleagues. During the dinner, I was getting ready to talk about a set of cards I brought with me (the size of a poker deck). The cards contained a variety of topics to discuss at the table. But when I took them out of the tin container and sat them on the table, they accidentally were mixed up. As I tried to resort them in order, I was handed a glass bowl and told this is what the cards came in. At this point, I recognized that was not possible since they were in a tin. This was a signal to my brain that I was dreaming (a technique you have to learn to lucid dream). So, I began to actively move through the dream with intention, and the first thing I did was, walk through a wall, leaving the meeting to explore the rest of the building. It was a cool dream experience that abruptly ended with my husband’s alarm.

I am just starting to journal these experiences and hope to share more in future articles. That is, if I can figure out how to lucid dream long before the alarm clock sounds.

Tool#2 Meditation

While Lucid dream is done during sleep, meditation is done during the awake state. Meditation cuts through the mental clutter to gain insights, but it takes practice. It is a great tool to view any situation from the “observer” perspective, which helps defuse the thoughts that lead to anxiety and panic attacks.

My first experience with meditation started twenty years ago when I enrolled in guided meditation classes. I enjoyed the group class, at least until the shop closed. I also became busy with increasing job responsibilities and an active family. I didn’t have the self-discipline to schedule myself time to meditate daily. And when I meditated alone it didn’t have the same effect. I made the mistake of doing it right before bed, and usually just put myself to sleep.

In a guided meditation class, the instructor leads a small group of people into a relaxed state as a first step. Students are usually on a mat or sitting in a chair, or whatever feels comfortable.  Then the instructor will tell a story to help the students “visualize” a journey to a special place. The story is to give students a visual prompt, like “You're walking on the sands of a beach, you can hear the soft roar of the water...” to get the monkey mind from thinking about grocery lists, deadlines, and other daily mental clutter.  

Sometimes the intention of going to a special space is to let go of old thoughts or gain new insights. The instructor might tell you that you can meet someone in this space, perhaps a guide, an angel, or even a deceased relative. Guided meditation makes it easier to get to the “special” place (a visual creation of your own) to relax and reflect, even if the only intention is to sit alone and reflect on the day.

The hard part of a meditation experience is understanding whether the insights received are pure imagination or coming from a higher consciousness. I recently attended a guided meditation class and I had an unexpected experience. I became emotional which had never happened before. Besides being a bit embarrassed, I walked away more intrigued by the experience, at least enough to start pursuing meditation again with consistency.

It was not the first time I had a visceral experience in a meditation class, but it had been nearly twenty years since the last one. The last time I experienced something that made me curious about the higher conscious mind occurred after the meditation. One week in class, the instructor asked us to pick an individual destination— any location around the world—to go to during meditation. She guided us into the meditation, and then there was silence and each person in the class drifted off to their location of choice. My location was Arizona.

By this time, I consistently had unusual experiences during my meditation, but I had reservations about them being real or imagined. I had not been to Arizona, but we were planning to fly into Phoenix and then drive to Sedona to stay the following week. My vacation destination seemed to be the perfect choice to use in meditation practice. I could take the information I received in meditation and see if it made any sense once we got to Arizona.

Instead of the large red rocks of Sedona’s landscape, I saw a large, detailed portrait painting of a Native American chief in my meditation. The painting was square, but the image was a close-up of a chief’s head enclosed in a circle.

Despite traveling to plenty of local shops and nearby archeological Native American villages near Sedona, I found no painted chief that resembled the art in my meditation journey. On the last day of our trip, we hung around downtown Phoenix, waiting for a late flight back home.

June in Sedona was tolerable, but June in Phoenix was miserably hot.  My husband and I  decided to buy tickets to an air-conditioned museum before we became smelly tourists with no place to shower before our flight. At some point on our self-guided museum tour, I turned a corner into a low-lit hallway and saw the painting hanging on the wall. A giant portrait of a chief, enclosed in a circle on a square canvas. I was pleasantly surprised, excited, and perplexed all at once.

When we meditate it’s possible to access more than just our imagination.

Creating A Visual Sacred Space

Recently I started a new meditation routine. Some days I feel strongly connected to a higher source, and other days I feel that I am just daydreaming. Learning the difference between the two is a skill that requires practice, and something I am still working on. (Some teachers say daydreaming is a meditative state…but I’m not convinced the content is important as the process.)

My meditation always begins with a simple request for protection (we’ll talk about this in a couple of minutes). I then visualize my favorite location, which I created in my mind. It’s a forest path that goes up a gentle slope to a clearing. I visualize my dog (who crossed over seven years ago) running to me on the soft grassy path. The path leads to a cabin sitting in an open area of the forest. I see and hear a babbling stream that runs parallel to the path. Sometimes I go to the stream, sometimes I go inside the cabin, and most recently, I added the Tree of Life behind the cabin and a tire swing to sit on.

These are all visuals I have created and use repeatedly as a tool to meditate to get to a relaxed state and block out distractions. There are no rules about what your sacred space should look like, since it is up to the individual. I chose the forest and nature because this is where I would normally go to relax or to clear the mind.

To help with visualization, I usually put on headphones and play nature sounds as a way of holding that visual and creating sound memory. (Something to try if you have problems meditating.) I try to invoke all senses to generate as much detail as possible.

Visualization is a great tool to use to calm an anxious mind. If I am stuck on a problem, for example, this is a great place for me to look at the issue as an observer which usually results in seeing a problem from a new perspective.

Meditation doesn’t have to be a blank space described as the place the Yogi’s and Monks go to be “present” in nothingness. I know me. The closest I will get to a blank mind is passing out after several shots of Vodka and a glass of wine. (Neither are recommended for meditation.)

An Unexpected Connection

When meditating in my mental sacred space, there are times I will get a flow of information. Honestly, I don’t have a way of verifying if this is just imagination, higher consciousness, or some external source. However, I had an experience that seemed more than just a coincidence.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and before I got to my forest path, I heard the name Mark in my head. This is the first time this has happened. For brevity, I will skip the details of the middle where I go to my visual place. On the way out of my meditation, after I left the path, and began to wake up, I heard Mark 147 in my head. Since this has never happened, I decided to investigate further.

I haven’t been to church in many, many years except for the occasional wedding and funeral. I am not a bible scholar, nor do I spend my Saturdays knocking on strangers’ doors reciting scripture. But, being raised Catholic, Mark 147 sounded like a Gospel verse, so I Googled Mark 1:47 on my phone. It instantly returned Mark 15 1-47 at the top of the page. (It turns out, there is no Mark 1:47).

Mark 15 1-47 is the story of Jesus being delivered to Pilot through his crucifixion and death. This story sometimes referred to as the “Passion of Christ” covers the events before Jesus’s death. It might seem random if it weren’t for the fact it occurred on Holy Saturday. [Holy Saturday is the day many Christian-based faiths associate Jesus lying in the tomb. It’s the day after Good Friday, when Jesus died, and the day before Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Christ. ]

I shared this experience with my sister who belongs to a bible study group. My sister’s response was it came from the Holy Spirit. She was unaware that I started my meditation that day by asking the Holy Spirit for protection.

Is it plausible that meditation (just as prayer) is a way to connect humans to other information, just like a computer connects to the cloud? Probably the most well- documented case in the States was Edgar Cayce (March 18, 1877 - January 3, 1945), born in Hopkinsville, KY.

Cayce was a psychic healer, American mystic, and devout Christian. He was often referred to as the “Sleeping Prophet.” Cayce is perhaps best known for his purported ability to enter into a trance-like state and access information about a wide range of subjects, including health, spirituality, reincarnation, ancient civilizations, and future events. What he received was sometimes in conflict with his own Christian beliefs, but he accepted his spiritual gifts and became a healer.

Cayce's psychic readings, which he conducted while in a trance and often in front of witnesses, covered diverse topics, but he gained particular acclaim for his diagnoses and prescriptions for various ailments. He claimed to be able to tap into a universal consciousness, which he referred to as the "Akashic Records," to access this information.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Cayce's readings was his holistic approach to health, which emphasized the interconnectedness of the mind, body, and spirit. He advocated for treatments that included diet, exercise, spiritual practices, and the use of natural remedies. Many people sought out Cayce's guidance for health issues when conventional medicine had failed them.

Cayce tapped into another source. Many people who have had near-death experiences also say that when they were on the other side, they had an instant knowledge of everything. Before they could finish asking a question, the answer arrived telepathically. Many reported learning a lot during their short time on the other side but could not recall the information when they returned to the body, and perhaps this speaks to the limitations of the human brain. And this brings me back to the traits humans share with computers.

The Lesson of Computers

I think we can all agree the human body is an intelligent design. Now, imagine that the human form operates like a human intelligent design, the computer. A new computer can access what it contains internally on its hard drive but is limited by its programming, size and needs a human operator.

Let’s compare computer hardware (i.e., operating instructions, hard drive, and memory processing) to the human brain. The brain has specific operating instructions (our biological protocols) that control our body’s operations.

Like a hard drive, the brain contains the ability to store information, but it has a limit. However, a computer can access additional information outside of its shell through a network path connecting to the internet, accessing cloud data, websites, etc. Cayce demonstrated this in human form, creating a wireless connection to a broader source of information.

If the human body is the hardware, and the soul is the operator, then meditation and dream states might be the network access to information outside of its shell.

This could also explain why people with near-death experiences had such an instantaneous flood of knowledge— perhaps an NDE was like a fiber-optic connection to a universal data source. Also, when people with NDEs returned to their bodies, they claim to not be able to remember all of what they learned on the other side. Maybe they didn’t forget, perhaps it was simply not possible to maintain that much data in the brain. They connected to a much larger database just like when we get online to search data stored in the cloud.

Okay, so this might sound like a crazy theory from a writer who may have spent too much time daydreaming as of late, right? Well, consider this:

Humans created artificial intelligence (AI), producing prototype robots that look and act like humans so that one day they will quickly access vast information and frankly, do some work more efficiently than humans. If humans are created in the image of God, who is to say humans are not mimicking the creator’s work with AI?  

If we could create something as sophisticated as a human cyborg that can instantly act on a library of earthly knowledge, it’s not so hard to fathom a universal creator having endowed humans with the same ability. Certainly, the human body is a far greater design than the computer, and we know what a computer is capable of doing.

So maybe the millions of people around the world who use meditation to seek internal or external guidance shouldn’t be brushed off as day dreamers or heretics. Just because their experience doesn’t fit into someone else’s personal beliefs doesn’t mean the experience is not genuine. Everyone’s reality is created from their own, different set of experiences.

Connecting Advice

If you can understand the parallels between a computer and a human, then it’s not a stretch to consider the possible implications of connecting to an unfamiliar external source via meditation. Anytime a computer connects to an external source there is a potential threat lurking to harm the computer system. Firewall protocols, anti-virus software, and common sense are there to sidestep identity thieves, cyber hijackers, and viruses. The bad players are just waiting to take advantage of those that don’t take precautions.  

Similarly, meditation is taught with lessons that demonstrate the possibility of similar risks. Before meditating, almost any teacher will explain it is important to protect the self through a grounding prayer and good intentions. Even if you don’t think it’s possible to connect to ANY energy source, why take a chance?

I went into my meditation that Holy Saturday with no expectations. I followed a simple routine, that included protection, and ended up having an unexpected experience. Even though I consider it a good experience, it was an unintended connection. And that means if the experience was real, it is better to be safe and follow a meditation protocol for protection. Besides, I still have nightmares about the movie, The Exorcist, and forever will be overly cautious.

If you want to disconnect from the world, try meditation, but follow the computer analogy: don’t connect to the dark web or go online unprotected.

The meditation and lucid dreaming benefits outweigh the risks at a time when our brains are being pushed to the limits through an overly sensory world of being connected through tech. Meditation is shown to improve our cognitive processing, memory, creativity, and other health benefits. It is a healthy remedy in a time when human technology is hijacking our brains.