These out-of-context associations release a torrent of emotion-producing brain-chemicals that make us react in predetermined ways. Jaws clench. Attitudes gain weight. Why, jeez: we're no better off than a dog hearing a bell, salivating, and expecting to be fed. ("Who asked you anyway, Dr. Pavlov.") But we're not dogs. Dogs have a better sense of smell than we do — and hearing too for that matter. However, we can learn to watch our brain acting habitually and then casually disregard what it concludes. Stupid brain . . . .

For example, say a young man sees a young woman with very large breasts. He will naturally think, "Hmm, I bet she'd like to discuss Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with me." So, after noting that initial cerebral comment, he could "get real" and consciously think, "She's another person whom I know nothing about. Maybe she likes Beethoven, maybe she doesn't." Real thinking reduces the Expectation Distortion Ratio (EDR) — the difference between what you want (or don't want) and what existential reality has in store for you. If he wants to construe the encounter at an even higher level, he could think, "There's a divine manifestation in human form." The truth is, he can construe it however he wants. The trick is to construe consciously. Construe, construe, construe. Consciously, consciously, consciously. This keeps your EDR within healthy limits.

We can master the brain, sort of. We can live with the fact that everything is temporary, including . . . gulp . . . our own egos. After all, the way that it is, is the way that it is — even if we deny, disbelieve, or don't like it! But this iPodian "Life-Is-Random" reality bubble could make even the most optimistic philosopher ask, "What's the use, man? Is it worth bothering to change anything?"

To which the universe might possibly consider answering with a quasi-affirmative, "Why not?"

If we can make ourselves aware of the possibility that we can change, then we have changed something. Most people, including Galileo, would agree that becoming more aware is worth it — "worth it" meaning it might do some good — "some good" meaning that someone might suffer less — "suffer less" meaning . . . . And if we can do that, then why not change or at least influence other conditions? Of course we can't change others. Actually, we can: by trying to change them, we make them resist being changed. But as part of the Great Ocean of Dance (GOD), we can reflect more of Its shimmering divine light, and others will change naturally, like it or not. And what's not to like? Beneath the flimsy layer of Le Brain consciousness, deeper beyond the oil-slick droplet of subconsciousness, there exists the Great Ocean. See Beyond the Surface.

Beyond the Surface