A beautiful mind in Lindau

I finished reading 'Beautiful Mind', which was nothing like the movie, but still an excellent account of how to deal with the dieties of mental illness. John Nash went crazy when his ordinary thoughts gave way to the exhilaration of delusions. Delusions are not just childish fantasies ..but compulsions driven by terror and the will to survive. He believed he was receiving messages from superior beings in outer space when he read the New York Times –they told him that the US was becoming a fascist state and we were all being regimented. He became paranoid that independent thinkers like himself would be persecuted.

What I admire about Nash was his ability to counter these delusions and get out from under their influence. He accomplished this through the power of reason ..simply recognizing and rejecting the irrational beliefs that fueled his psychosis. If only my delusions were that easy to get rid of.

I put down the book and look out through the window of my Bavarian sanitarium. Tall pine trees waving in front of stormy gray skies ..not what I expected ..but definitely a break from the usual. Urges me to explore. Maybe that’s why I picked this book out of all the others in my brother’s collection. You learn a lot about things when they fall apart.

Spinoza in Lindau

Benedict De Spinoza was a philosopher living in Amsterdam during the ‘age of enlightenment’ ..around the mid-1600’s. What interests me is that his ideas pre-figured modern day neuroscience ..especially regarding the relationship between the mind and body. He talked about the ‘natural wisdom of the body ..speculating that ‘feelings’ are the mind’s ‘ideas’ about the body ..and so on. Today neuroscientists know we have an ‘interoceptive sense’ that carries messages from the body to the brain where they register as feelings and a sense of wellbeing. Feelings have the same value as other thoughts and ideas when it comes to guiding behavior. In fact, without them people would not be able to make even the most simple decision ..like what to eat or what to wear. The intellect paralyzes ..whereas feelings add weight to information, which, in turn, narrows things down, so we can act comfortably ..without undue deliberation.

Looking for Spinoza,by Antonio Damasio, is a highly readable book on the neuroscience of the mind~body relationship.

Charlotte Simmons, by Tom Wolfe, also shows the importance of feelings. The fictitious Charlotte Simmons is a super smart, high achieving honors student and valedictorian. However in college, her concerns about approval ..what other people think ..and what's 'cool' ..carry more weight than her own 'keen intellect'.

Pfänder bender

Today we launch our first assault on Mount Pfänder (pronounced fender). Jenny, Jeffrey, Cindy, Steve and I hike up to the top ..following one of Jeff’s mountain bike trails. It's a killer hike and I'm gasping for breath. I tell them that this is just like one my regular hikes ..only much, much longer and way steeper. Switch back trails take us through forests full of fir, pine and spruce trees. We hike by streams trickling out of the mountainside ..across lush alpine meadows ..back into the forest ..then out again on top of the world. And Whoaa ..! What a fantastic view of the Bodensee (Lake Constance) ..as well as the Rhine River and Swiss Alps. They tell me this is the ‘Voralsberg’ region of Austria. I repeat to myself ‘For Al’s beer’ a few times until I get it. There is a chalet-style bier garden here ..but it's closed. Bummer. Well, it's not the destination but the thrill of the climb, I say. No problem, Jeff says ..there’s another one back the other way. Treacherous descent though ..sliding down watery trails ..slipping over rocks and skree. No traction thanks to the worn-out tread on my hiking boots. The backside of my shorts are soaked and there are plenty of branching trails to lose my way ..but Jeff and Steve wait so I’d know which one to take. I imagine Jeff mountain-biking down these trails and I shudder. What massive cajones that takes, as well as 'shock absorbing' knees ..and calves the size of trees. Hey, how far is it to that other bier garden ..?

Sister Cindy, Brother Jeffand Sister Jenny