Have you thought about what you’re going to wear today? What about your morning meal, did you think about that too? We all have. Those are the thoughts we encounter every day, and such thoughts of, “how are we going to live the day today,” perhaps helped us to exist for thousands of years. A human being, on average, executes an incredible number of 2000 to 3000 thoughts per hour. That makes you incredibly special, because there are only a few animals that have such cognitive powers, and only humankind can manipulate their thoughts. Nonetheless, as cool as our brain may seem to be, it has far more limitations.

The human brain is the most powerful tool know to the mankind. We evolved an ability to think roughly 60,000 years ago, and ever since, the evolution of our powerful brain has ceased. For decades people were using their intellect to outwit nature, and use it for their own benefit. Technological advancements have been on the rise for the past 200 years, but our brain hasn’t. If we follow the Darwin’s theory of evolution, an animal would naturally compete among each other for survival, and if one has any advantage over the other, that species is bound to win in a battle of survival. However, if that same species has been prevailing for generations, then the probability of evolution would stop, because of the constant successful (in terms of survival) of the population. A similar story is happening to humankind. As we evolved, our brain’s ability to have cognitive thoughts, has caused its evolution to cease. The knowledge that we retain from the world has been on the rise, however that knowledge is not instinctual, and could only be obtained through learning. We became wiser but not smarter. 

Going back to the main point, since we have an outdated brain in relation to the very early generations, the type of thoughts that we have are thematically similar to what a man would think 60,000 years ago. It is evident that having far more complex thoughts is a difficult thing. Simply because our brain has limitations and cannot handle a complex thought, just like a smartphone is not capable of running a high graphic 3D model, because it’s processor is not powerful enough. As we discover new things about the world, that knowledge is followed up by more questions. Such questions, however, get more complex than the previous ones. A great example is a set of dimensional plains. Our brain has no problem understanding and comprehending space up to a 3rd dimension. However, when it comes to imagining the 4th dimension, we simply cannot fit it in to our imagination even though we have mathematical models. Another great example is time. People don’t have a strong intuitive sense of how much bigger 1 billion is than 1 million. 1 million seconds is about 11 days, while 1 billion seconds is 31.5 years. Our brains were not meant to comprehend the vast numbers or the distances of space, and even attempting to understand the understanding of our understanding is not a simple task.

 Meanwhile, we will keep on inventing new formulas and computers to make the understanding and thinking easier, while thinking is what makes us, us. As René Descartes once famously wrote, Cogito Ergo Sum, I think, therefore I am.