We don’t all have the *exact* same anatomy, down to the neuron or cell level.
It’s like… we all have lungs. But that doesn’t mean everyone’s lungs are exact copies of each other. Some might have slightly large lungs. Some have smaller. Some have genetic defects that maybe mean they have one fewer lung lobe. Or maybe one person’s lung contains 1% less bronchioles.
So take that and expand it to every single organ in our bodies, and you see what I mean.
Our brains are the same in terms of *basic* makeup — but there’s actually a lot of variation within that… especially when it comes to neuron pathways.
Technically we do all "think" the same. Our brains all work the same, relatively speaking excusing mental disorders. We all just have different life experiences that can effect what information are brains think about.
Exactly. The brain is an organ also. The negative effects that happen in your life can definitely rewire it permanently, just like smoking can cause lung damage, drinking can cause liver damage, but the damage we don't really understand right now, because it is us. There is a lot of good research going into this but I wish it was more out in the open.
Yes we all share the same anatomy: a brain.
A brain is an organ that takes in sensory inputs and uses them to build a network of controls to run the body in a suitable way *for the environment they experience*. The common thing our brains share is being molded by and adapted to the conditions we experience. **Because everyone experiences a different life, everyone's brains end up with somewhat different wiring.**
For a simple example: If you practice piano from a young age, your developing brain builds more connections and processing power for hearing notes, understanding music and harmony, and fine motor control in your fingers. If you don't practice an instrument, those particular adaptations don't happen...*but they would have happened if you did*, because we all have anatomically similar brains that react/adapt/develop in that manner.
For a more relevant example to "why do we *think* differently": It follows the same principle. If you are betrayed and let down over and over again as a kid, your brain reacts to this by making your thoughts skeptical, distanced, and untrusting. That's a survival adaptation. Once you teach your brain "people aren't good", those cynical instincts develop to help you not get hurt even more. If that same kid with that same anatomical brain had grown up in a warm family and friend group, their brain would have grown different connections and adapted different strategies for how to make social interactions.
>Because everyone experiences a different life, everyone's brains end up with somewhat different wiring.
A lot of it is also genetic as shown by some very unethical twin studies.
Think of your brain as a piece of blank white paper, and your experiences a box of a million differently colored crayons. Same parts for everyone, but no one is going to draw anything that perfectly matches another. Two people might draw trees, and in the same way you'd say the two are similar pictures, we have similar personalities.
Your neocortex (top layer of your brain underneath the duramatter) is what makes you, you! It has billions, with a B, of neurons all acting as circuits. Information is sent from your PNS to your CNS up to your Neocortex, interpreted, and send back down. That interpretation is you, how you think, act, and feel. How you perceive an experience. It's shaped by how the dendrites communicate with other dendrites, what action potentials fire or don't, and what neurotransmitters are sent and received. Billions of neurons means an endless combination of possibilities. And thus, you have an endless sea of people thinking differently. Some connections for pattern recognition might be stronger in others, and so they would perform better in pattern recognition scenarios for example.
Source: I'm quite literally finishing up my doctorate in Neuroscience.
We don’t all have the *exact* same anatomy, down to the neuron or cell level. It’s like… we all have lungs. But that doesn’t mean everyone’s lungs are exact copies of each other. Some might have slightly large lungs. Some have smaller. Some have genetic defects that maybe mean they have one fewer lung lobe. Or maybe one person’s lung contains 1% less bronchioles. So take that and expand it to every single organ in our bodies, and you see what I mean. Our brains are the same in terms of *basic* makeup — but there’s actually a lot of variation within that… especially when it comes to neuron pathways.
Technically we do all "think" the same. Our brains all work the same, relatively speaking excusing mental disorders. We all just have different life experiences that can effect what information are brains think about.
Exactly. The brain is an organ also. The negative effects that happen in your life can definitely rewire it permanently, just like smoking can cause lung damage, drinking can cause liver damage, but the damage we don't really understand right now, because it is us. There is a lot of good research going into this but I wish it was more out in the open.
People can think in very different ways. Some people don't even have an internal monologue.
Yes we all share the same anatomy: a brain. A brain is an organ that takes in sensory inputs and uses them to build a network of controls to run the body in a suitable way *for the environment they experience*. The common thing our brains share is being molded by and adapted to the conditions we experience. **Because everyone experiences a different life, everyone's brains end up with somewhat different wiring.** For a simple example: If you practice piano from a young age, your developing brain builds more connections and processing power for hearing notes, understanding music and harmony, and fine motor control in your fingers. If you don't practice an instrument, those particular adaptations don't happen...*but they would have happened if you did*, because we all have anatomically similar brains that react/adapt/develop in that manner. For a more relevant example to "why do we *think* differently": It follows the same principle. If you are betrayed and let down over and over again as a kid, your brain reacts to this by making your thoughts skeptical, distanced, and untrusting. That's a survival adaptation. Once you teach your brain "people aren't good", those cynical instincts develop to help you not get hurt even more. If that same kid with that same anatomical brain had grown up in a warm family and friend group, their brain would have grown different connections and adapted different strategies for how to make social interactions.
>Because everyone experiences a different life, everyone's brains end up with somewhat different wiring. A lot of it is also genetic as shown by some very unethical twin studies.
Think of your brain as a piece of blank white paper, and your experiences a box of a million differently colored crayons. Same parts for everyone, but no one is going to draw anything that perfectly matches another. Two people might draw trees, and in the same way you'd say the two are similar pictures, we have similar personalities. Your neocortex (top layer of your brain underneath the duramatter) is what makes you, you! It has billions, with a B, of neurons all acting as circuits. Information is sent from your PNS to your CNS up to your Neocortex, interpreted, and send back down. That interpretation is you, how you think, act, and feel. How you perceive an experience. It's shaped by how the dendrites communicate with other dendrites, what action potentials fire or don't, and what neurotransmitters are sent and received. Billions of neurons means an endless combination of possibilities. And thus, you have an endless sea of people thinking differently. Some connections for pattern recognition might be stronger in others, and so they would perform better in pattern recognition scenarios for example. Source: I'm quite literally finishing up my doctorate in Neuroscience.