Dirty Tricks of the Brain

Book excerpt: A politically incorrect journey into the workings of the brain that reveals the reason the mental health profession, religion and new age philosophies can do more harm than good. This book is written for you. It is about you. It is about every human being on this planet. This book is about your brain and the tricks it plays on you. Not cool party tricks of the Chris Angel Mind Freak variety, but rather the fundamental dirty tricks of the brain which represent the Big Bang Level. Their impact on humanity is comparable to the splitting of the atom - both wondrous and horrendous. These tricks underlie and impact all we know - everything that has been written about, claimed, or posted as truth. I am not a new age radical, or some political rat-bag out to undermine or push a political agenda. With thirty years of psychology practice under my belt, I want to expose the flaws in our current system and show how humanity has been duped by the brain. A word of warning - in this book I touch on many 'raw' or 'sacred' issues. Past and present, political, cultural, religious, ideological or social issues are challenged. You will wonder why I appear to take on the world and strip it bare. Why don't I just stick to exploring and explaining the brain? It is impossible to discuss the brain, and the tricks it plays, outside of the world it has allowed us to create. Stripping the world of its layers of man-created belief systems is essential. By getting back to basics we can expose the brain's dirty tricks and reveal a core characteristic we can tap for our benefit. This book will challenge much of what you hold dear. For some it will offend or shock. We will put many cherished beliefs under the microscope to illustrate some of the major tricks of the brain. These tricks are the root cause of man's history of violence towards his fellow man, and have resulted in us taking our fragile planet to the brink. They have kept us ignorant, caught up in the myth of mental illness, divided and dangerous. I feel very passionately that it is time for us to grow up and reject any doctrine that is a product of a brain stuck in neutral gear. Beliefs are a product of the brain. This book demonstrates how evolution has primed us to be seduced by the 'what' (belief) while remaining oblivious to the 'how' of the brain. The poor old brain itself is not only the source of all beliefs in the first place, but also engages us in all the related cognitive processes, including subscription to and appreciation of the products we create. It is hardwired to take action - often mindlessly - to act on our beliefs. Despite its role as the originator of beliefs, this aspect receives scant recognition. The ideas in this book threaten the established order of things. My intention is to help wake you from the nasty cognitive-intellectual coma which blankets humanity. Along the way we will use the demolition hammer on some old structures, including the mental health profession and religion. On the positive side, destruction often gives rise to new growth. I hope this book encourages you to examine in a new light everything you have read, been told or have been led to believe. Martin Camilleri, 20 November, 2013