Nubor Orlando Facure

The operating systems of the mind and our skills

What makes us a particular living being, able to make choices, refuse or accept a proposal, express this or that behavior, believe or not believe in certain phenomena, experience fear, anger, and jealousy, being aggressive or loving, cursing or thanking?

Experiences within a more or less hostile and unfamiliar environment have created multiple functioning systems that have enabled living beings to meet their challenges, and these painful experiences have created varied abilities for each of us. 

The operating systems of the mind 

They are divided into:

•   Biological: related, for example, to survival, sexual behavior, and altruism.

•   Psychological: they have to do with humor, rationality, social groups,

    superstitions, etc.

•  Cultural: related to our beliefs, traditions and religion. 

The Skills are talents or abilities - using the computer metaphor, they are our "applications": we accumulate social, musical, manual, intellectual, sports, and utility skills, among others.

“Systems" are more or less permanent, with strong genetic origin, while "skills" are installed and removed with more flexibility and, by using them constantly, their permanence is reinforced. When they are not used, their competence and performance deteriorate.

This way of seeing the human being is didactic and its experimental application makes it of an easy practical use. Let us study these systems under a clinical point of view: 

1 - Biological operating systems

The behavior of animals has been studied extensively and this study confirms that each species acts within a standard operating model. We have more than enough examples in diverse Nature environments:

Let us observe the strategies of a Lionesses or a group of Lionesses organizing themselves to hunt.

The behavior of a homely kitten with all its wiles.

The dog in its owner’s company, faithfully obeying several commands, but when there is a female in heat, it shows its usual excitement.

The alpha Chimp, the leader of the bunch, imposing its sexual preferences.

The suricata playing dead to ward off the hawk.

All these examples show instinctive behaviors, typical for each of these species - the instinct in the animal is its predominant system operation.

It is said that they are instinctive behaviors, because they are a standard, and we are here using them as examples, as systems models "genetically sedimentary operation" - a standard behavior, fixed, invariable, that is, in a sense, universal, visible in each of such species and which remains repeatable in time and space. Where there is a kitten, it will react by repeating their whims precisely in the same way it has done since the nights at the time of the Pharaohs in Egypt. 

As for the humans, examples of the "fixed operating systems" are likewise abundant:

It can easily be seen, for example, in that Italian "mama", who caring for her children, makes them all eat as much as they can of the spaghetti at lunch.

The Japanese father, who teaches his son to discipline his emotions; the Arab man with almost a tribal male coexistence; the distant and cold man in Norway rarely approaching his children and his wife. The young rebel, who does not accept impositions and rules. 

2 - Psychological functioning systems

Almost every family can identify those relatives, who are unreasonable, others who spend their money with no control at all, the grumpy, the shy, the charmers, those who quarrel, the smart guys and the misers.

We are all superstitious. When certain events occur, such as having a good harvest, the birth of a child runs smoothly, one’s team wins, we say that it was all possible due to a coincidental event – it was the novena, the promise, the candle we lit, the medal that we carry or the old shirt that we wore for the football match last Sunday. 

3 - Cultural operating systems

That farm boy barely speaks to visitors, he hides in his corner when strangers come and he learnt from adults to not open his mouth without being called.

That old man who keeps all the leftovers - may be an old bolt, a bent nail or a rusty hinge - are objects that later he will give them a new utility.

That belief that Nature’s phenomena occur by divine determination – if he died it was because God wanted it that way; if she had a miscarriage, it was God’s will; if it does not rain, ask God to send us rain. 

A word more about Allan Kardec and Sigmund Freud

The hereby text is the result of neuropsychology studies produced in academia. The contribution of Kardec and Freud in this area that we are discussing, deserves much more of our attention.

Kardec reveals the spiritual world, studies the existence of Spirits, their relationship and influence with the corporeal world - noting that these Spirits have a strong interference even in our thoughts.

Freud created the psychoanalysis as a study instrument of the unconscious, thus demonstrating how our lives, our actions, our choices are driven by our unconscious.
Therefore, when we talk about the operating systems of the mind and our skills, the disembodied and the unconscious, invisible to the physical eye, they are extremely active in our behavior. Because of this, we need to study them in detail.