Sylvia's Journal

Multiple strands are coming together, centering around the brain. I may still understand little about what is going on in our brains but it is a lot more than I did only 2 years ago. It all started with a promotional video by an extraordinary woman named Judith E. Glaser, about her Conversational Intelligence™ program. That was my first introduction to how we think and how we converse with each other bring about chemical changes which then bring about other changes in how we relate to each other, the culture we create and thus our ability to rise to great heights and be creative together (or not). I enrolled in her course and saw it through to certification over a one year period. It changed everything.

I soon realized I was missing some critical information about the anatomy and functions of our brains – so I completed a 3 month Coursera course on neurobiology for lay people. That taught me something about the limbic system and the hippocampus and how our vision and hearing and speech work, and much more.

I started to listen to webinars on coaching and the brain and suddenly I found courses and webinars and books on neuroscience (for lay people) everywhere. Then I encountered the word epigenetics and could not grasp what that was all about, so I enrolled in another Coursera course on Epigenetics and paid the 49 dollars for the certificate. Not that a certificate is important to me but paying 49 dollars keeps me from dropping out when the going gets tough. It is forcing me to pass the quiz for each module.  The 7 module course is a huge stretch for me. Although I was good in chemistry in high school, I never learned about biochemistry and molecular biology. I have, miraculously, received a passing grade for the first four quizzes. Passing is the right word, no spectacular results. Some of my answers are guesses and some I really knew. My brain is working overtime. 

Axel wondered if I was actually learning anything or just studying for the tests. I actually do now understand at least something about DNA, gene expression, RNA and methylation and acetylation, long non-coding RNAs, enzymes and what not. I now know that saying ‘that’s just the way I am’ is nonsense. We are what we believe, what we eat, were we live, how our parents treated us, what we see, hear, touch and smell. This is the work of epigenetics. Which, incidentally, is also the essence of countless books and webinars that the internet algorithms now place on my path. And I reward these algorithms by buying the books, registering for the webinar, taking the courses. It’s the ultimate mimicry of how the brain works – more learning, more practice, more strands of neural fibers.