In my clinical work with traumatized patients, I learned that alter egos have very specific and individual characteristics. And more recently, I have learned about the amazing complexity of the continual communication that occurs between the trillions of cells in the mind-body.
As I pondered the relationship between these various aspects of human existence, several things occurred to me, some of which I had encountered before but was now seeing through a different lens.
The first key is that the mind-body is the subconscious. The constant, incredible communication between all cells in us, is what makes us tick. Processing information at a rate that would overwhelm our consciousness, 11 million bits of information per second, the mind-body constantly updates critical information coming from inside and outside the system to present the best guess estimate of what is happening and how we should respond. Survival is key, and survival is more important than just being right. Moreover, neurons are at the higher end of the scale but they receive and give input to many other types of cells.
I then saw this incredible cellular communication system as the “coding” of our behavior. As cellular communication codes a particular behavior or mood state, it can become habitual and thus automatic. Each side of us has a very specific code in the form of cellular coded infrastructure.
This was the basis of my Programmed Persona Theory. This cellular coding is the basis of our different sides and moods. Unlike in severe trauma and dissociation where the alter egos remain separated from each other because of the need to protect the ego from highly damaging traumatic memories, typically we don’t need to keep secrets and are thus aware of our different sides; happy, grumpy, focused, distracted, etc.
Our incredible mind-body, consisting of trillions of cells with multiple branches in constant communication about the current state of the external and internal environment is way more sophisticated than any neural network. I believe it is the coder that programs the many aspects of our selves. Thus Programmed Persona Theory has implications for many aspects of life: health, change, science and, of course, artificial intelligence.
For example, here is some datum. The Giants beat the Broncos 34-10. If all you want to know is the score of the game that’s sufficient. But what if you wanted to understand more about the complex factors that fashioned the result? Then you need to explore the exformation, the data that was left out by giving just the score. For example, the Broncos quarterback and coach had a big feud before the game. The running back actually had a muscle injury that wasn’t divulged to anyone. The Center was seriously considering a trade away from the club. And thousands of other data points that might have contributed to the outcome of the game. You get the idea. There are tons of information that is left out when you just give the score that gives you insight into the multiple underlying factors that potentially determine the outcome of the game. That exformation is critical if you want to really understand the dynamics of the game, and particularly if you want to accurately predict future games.
Consciousness receives mostly the information, not the complex exformation, that lies below the surface. If we better understand subconscious processes, we have a better understanding of conscious processes and their likely outcomes.
This suggests that a truly powerful artificial intelligence has to mirror human intelligence, with it’s “biases” and perceptions, and that requires understanding the relationship between conscious and sub-conscious processes and integrating that into future intelligence models.
