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The Death of the Overvoice
nakazcid
Somewhere in Dixie, y'all Veteran
For a long time, I lived with a separate thread of consciousness (for lack of a better term) that I'll call the Overvoice. When faced with social situations or problems, it would assess the situation, predict possible outcomes and determine a solution. It was ruthlessly logical and pragmatic, presenting a cost benefit analysis of every scenario. I could disregard it, but if I did, felt fearful of trusting my instincts and being irrational. It would also remind me of things to be done, and if I forgot something, would castigate me with a singular ferocity. When I made a mistake, it would also provide stinging criticism possibly along with 'better' ways of handling the now passed situation. It wasn't psychosis, either, because I knew it was just one aspect of my personality, though it may have been approaching the borders of Multiple Personality Disorder.
This 'voice' has subsided into near non-existence in the past couple of years. Despite its absence, I've been better able to remember things and find myself responding to things more spontaneously. In spite of (or perhaps because of?) the seemingly random spontaneity, the decisions, actions and social interactions I undertake have noticeably better outcomes than when the Overvoice was with me. Not second guessing myself and analyzing every move in life also results in less stress. Is this the result of Buddhist practice? A healthier outlook on life? Is there anything in the sutras about any mental delusions remotely like this?
This 'voice' has subsided into near non-existence in the past couple of years. Despite its absence, I've been better able to remember things and find myself responding to things more spontaneously. In spite of (or perhaps because of?) the seemingly random spontaneity, the decisions, actions and social interactions I undertake have noticeably better outcomes than when the Overvoice was with me. Not second guessing myself and analyzing every move in life also results in less stress. Is this the result of Buddhist practice? A healthier outlook on life? Is there anything in the sutras about any mental delusions remotely like this?
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Comments
No man, I'm just taking a sabbatical.
joking :P
There are a few terms used for this. "Ego" is one. In psychology, it is often referred to as "the critic" but it boils down to a set of clinging notions that appears thick enough to gain its own substance.
Trungpa Rinpoche described it as negative negativity, or negative thoughts that inspire us to think more negative thoughts. That it has subsided might mean your world is absent of stimuli that invoke the critic response, or that you have penetrated the false notions that kept the pattern in your mind.
The solution is always mindfulness, which protects you from buying the bullshit the negative voice is selling.
Good luck,
Matt
I am by no means claiming authority here in this matter, but here's my two cents. I think you could consider this Overvoice to be the voice of self-doubt. However rational this voice may have been, it caused you to doubt your instincts, and therefore your intentions.
The bold part is the key. A true understanding and practice of the Noble Eightfold Path can eliminate the self-doubt that the Overvoice burdened you with. When you have right view and right intent, you don't have to second-guess yourself to know that your intentions are pure. With right intent, you know intrinsically, without the need to question and analyze, that you are taking right action, without having to let the Overvoice confirm it for you. You don't have to do the accounting in your head on every action, you have the complete confidence that your intentions are pure and thus your actions will be as well, even when you make a mistake.
As jonathan said, it is gone now; and since you seem to be better off without it, you can even let your confidence grow that its absence is an affirmation of your right view. Soo, I suppose a sort of congratulations is in order
To everyone else...I said it was nearly non-existent, not completely gone. As it caused so much havoc in my life previously, I consider it imperative to catch it immediately when it does crop up. Thus I'm interested in recognizing it and rooting it out.
Baseball Buddhist - it had started to decline before I became a Buddhist, but rapidly dwindled thereafter. And thanks for the congrats, but it may be a bit premature...there's still a long road ahead.
NEW MAMMALIAN BRAIN: MONKEY MIND. This part of our brain, the neocortex,
could be called our chatterbox, calculator, or computer brain
because it is incessantly talking to itself (fretting about the past and worrying
about the future), performing rudimentary cost-benefit analyses,
and computing the balance of favors and debts in each of Furry Li’l Mammal’s
social relationships. Monkey Mind is the nickname I shall choose
here, because that name is already in use by Buddhists, who use it to refer
to one key aspect of the mental phenomena that I listed above: it is the
condition of mentally being anywhere except in the present moment. The
story goes that our Monkey Mind is akin to a monkey who leaps from tree
to tree, taking a bite of just one fruit, before moving on to the next tree,
and the next. Similarly, our new mammalian brain has a tendency to endlessly
toss up bits of thought—leaping haphazardly, wastefully, from one
thought to the next. Our Monkey Mind will continue to ramble until (a) it
is disciplined internally by conscious focus (including meditation); (b) it
is called into service by an external situation that commands our immediate
attention; or (c) it is engaged in a creative or physically demanding
task that generates a mental state of flow.
Thank God for Evolution
Richard, I once read a science fiction novel (Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson) that used some of Jaynes' theories, though I didn't know it at the time. I didn't realize there was any scientific literature on the subject. Unfortunately, money is too tight right now to invest in another book...