Neuro VIZR: It’s Totally Illogical
Garnet Dupuis
January 16, 2020
OK, let me explain. First of all, in this case, the fact that the Neuro VIZR is “totally illogical” is a good thing. You’ll see what I mean.
It may help to be clear about what “logic” is to begin with. Logic is the systematic study of the forms of inference—the relationships that lead from a set of premises to a conclusion. More simply, logic uses structured thinking to arrive at a conclusion.
Here then is the fork in the road. The Neuro VIZR employs a design that can be described as “Knowing without Thinking.” Its Light/Sound signaling does not rely on cognitive interpretation in order to communicate its messaging to the brain.
In that sense, it is not only “illogical,” but equally “irrational.”
Of course, both of these terms carry culturally negative connotations. Even the words themselves are counter-constructs: they define something by what it is not. Illogical means “not logical,” and irrational means “not rational.”
But is there another perspective for understanding these conditions? The answer is yes, and this brings us directly to the Neuro VIZR principle called First Language and its dynamic of Knowing without Thinking.
The First, Second & Third Languages
When examining mammals, including humans, the long evolutionary development of the organism illustrates that the Central Nervous System developed in a predictable sequence. This same sequence is broadly reflected in human development from conception to maturity.
As a broad stroke, the sequence looks like this:
- First: Sensory development
- Second: Movement and motor development
- Third: Mental and cognitive development
This provides the basis for three different “languages”:
- The First Language: Sensory
- The Second Language: Movement / Motor
- The Third Language: Mental / Cognition
Logic and rational thinking primarily manifest within this Third Language. But the First Language operates differently. Sensory communication can occur before the need for cognitive analysis, allowing us to experience or recognize something directly without first having to think our way through it.
Knowing Without Thinking
To better understand the “illogical” nature of the First Language, consider one of its most familiar expressions: music.
Music is nearly endless in form and style, yet it can communicate powerfully without requiring logical thought or cognitive analysis. A crafted song or a complete orchestral symphony can tell remarkable “stories” that are directly known without demanding rational review.
In this sense, music is radically “illogical” and “irrational.” It does not communicate primarily through propositions, arguments, or logical conclusions. Instead, its meaning is experienced directly through sensory engagement.
The Neuro VIZR concept proposes that Light/Sound can operate in a similar way. The signaling does not necessarily need to be translated into words or consciously analyzed before the brain responds to the experience.
It may simply be experienced—known without first being thought.
Optical Music: The Language of Light
It is only relatively recently that our technologies have evolved to the point where light can be manipulated in ways that begin to approximate the manipulation of sound.
Music has long demonstrated the extraordinary power of sensory communication. It can create emotion, tension, release, anticipation, excitement, relaxation, and complex experiences without requiring the listener to logically analyze every element of the composition.
We are now entering an era in which similar principles can increasingly be explored through light. In this sense, we may think of dynamic visual stimulation as a form of “optical music.”
Just as sound can be composed into rhythms, harmonies, contrasts, repetitions, and surprises, light can also be organized into changing patterns and experiences. The same sensory allure that makes music such a powerful communicator may therefore have a developing counterpart in light.
The Neuro VIZR approach explores this possibility through Light/Sound compositions designed to communicate with the brain at a level that does not necessarily depend on conscious logical interpretation.
Lessons from Psychedelic Brain Research
There may also be lessons to learn from studies examining the brain during experiences induced by hallucinogenic substances such as LSD or psilocybin.
There is a long history of subjective reports describing altered or unusual qualities of conscious experience during these states. Cognition can shift radically away from normal logical associations. Novel interpretations may present themselves, sensory experiences can be modified in unique ways, and connections between otherwise common stimuli may appear to multiply in complex, almost fractal-like patterns.
Experiences may lose their normal logical and rational references while still somehow “making sense” in ways that can approach revelation.
For some users of hallucinogenic substances, these experiences appear to offer a kind of consciousness “refresh”—a movement away from older and more habitual patterns of thought and perception.
Whether such a refresh produces an enduring benefit may depend on how the experience is reinforced, interpreted, and integrated afterward. Nevertheless, the possibility of temporarily shifting away from established patterns of consciousness provides an interesting area of comparison.
Connectome Harmonics & Repertoire Expansion
A study conducted at the Center for Brain and Cognition at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona in 2018 analyzed the brains of individuals experiencing the effects of LSD.
Rather than relying only on more conventional fMRI analysis, the research team used an advanced method known as connectome-harmonic decomposition. The approach was intended to explore how LSD might influence brain activity and potentially contribute to a positive “reset” away from persistent mental patterns.
The approach was particularly interesting because research into the connectome—the theoretical map of connections within the brain—suggests that some mental difficulties may be associated, at least in part, with unusual or persistent patterns of connectivity.
One possible explanation for the reported effects of psychedelic substances is therefore that they may temporarily alter or reorganize some of these established patterns.
Connectome-harmonic decomposition examines combinations of harmonic waves within the brain. These connectome harmonics can be used to help decode patterns of brain activity.
The principle has an interesting relationship to music. Harmonic waves can be produced by a musical instrument, but in this case, the “instrument” is the brain itself.
While influenced by LSD, the brains studied produced harmonious waves of functional activity across many different regions. Importantly, these patterns were not simply random or indiscriminate.
The researchers described this phenomenon as “repertoire expansion.” Areas of the brain that do not normally communicate in the same ways appeared to become functionally connected during the psychedelic experience.
This activity suggested the possibility that the brain was undergoing a process of reorganization rather than simply producing chaotic or haphazard activity.
A Temporary Shift with Possible Lasting Effects
The study observed that this unusual pattern of activity substantially slowed down as the effects of LSD diminished. However, there appeared to be a degree of reorganization that remained after the immediate effects had passed.
This residual reorganization may have a relationship to reports of relief from pre-existing distressful mental states. The possibility is that a temporary expansion of the brain’s normal repertoire of activity may allow certain persistent patterns to become less dominant and create opportunities for alternative patterns of organization.
The important point is that the activity observed was not simply random. The harmonic patterns appeared to reflect a structured expansion in the ways different areas of the brain could functionally interact.
In musical terms, it is as if the brain temporarily gained access to a wider range of possible harmonies and combinations.
Stability, Instability & Brain Behavior
The brain does not operate in a single fixed mode. Neural activity continuously moves through different degrees of stability and instability as the brain responds to sensory information, internal conditions, attention, learning, and experience.
Highly stable patterns can be useful because they provide consistency and reliability. However, if patterns become too fixed, they may also become habitual and resistant to change.
Periods of increased instability, on the other hand, may allow the brain to explore alternative patterns of activity. The challenge is to create enough flexibility for adaptation without producing uncontrolled disorder.
This balance between stability and flexibility is central to the way Neuro VIZR Light/Sound compositions are considered within this framework.
Light/Sound as Compositional Brain Engagement
Appreciating the potential of deeply rooted sensory communication that does not rely on the higher cognitive processes associated with logical and rational thinking, the Neuro VIZR uses signaling approaches that may be considered “illogical” and “irrational” in a positive sense.
These signals can be presented as Light/Sound compositions. Rather than delivering a single, unchanging stimulus, compositional designs can include different rhythms, patterns, contrasts, changes, and relationships over time.
Such compositions may permit the brain to move in and out of different degrees of stable and unstable behavior.
This creates the possibility of engaging the brain through its First Language—the sensory language—without requiring the experience to first pass through conscious logical or rational interpretation.
Like music, the Light/Sound experience can be directly encountered rather than cognitively decoded.
Towards Repertoire Expansion
The concept of repertoire expansion provides an interesting framework for considering how novel sensory experiences may influence the brain.
As changing waves of Light/Sound stimulation move through the sensory terrain, they may encourage different patterns of neural activity and interactions between systems that do not always engage in the same ways.
The possibility is not simply one of stimulation, but of reorganization. Novel patterns of sensory engagement may encourage the brain to explore a wider range of possible functional relationships.
In this sense, the brain may be compared to an instrument capable of producing an almost unlimited range of harmonic combinations. Different forms of stimulation may influence which combinations become active and how those patterns interact over time.
The Neuro VIZR concept explores whether carefully designed Light/Sound experiences can help create conditions that support this type of adaptive flexibility.
Neuroplastic Possibilities
The ability of the brain to change and adapt is known as neuroplasticity. Novel sensory experiences, attention, reinforcement, and repeated engagement can all contribute to changes in neural patterns.
The framework presented here proposes that enjoyable and novel forms of Light/Sound Brain Engagement may have the capacity to guide the brain toward attractive positive neuroplastic experiences.
By communicating through sensory processes rather than relying exclusively on higher-order cognitive analysis, the Neuro VIZR approach explores the possibility of “Knowing without Thinking.”
The Light/Sound experience may therefore be considered neither illogical nor irrational in a negative sense. Instead, it represents another mode of communication—one that operates through the more fundamental sensory language of the nervous system.
Conclusion
The Neuro VIZR is “totally illogical” only when viewed from the perspective that meaningful communication must always pass through conscious reasoning, logic, and rational analysis.
The First Language offers another possibility: sensory communication that can be directly experienced and understood without the need for deliberate cognitive interpretation.
Music provides a familiar example of this principle. We can experience rhythm, harmony, tension, emotion, and meaning without needing to logically analyze the composition. The Neuro VIZR concept extends this possibility into Light/Sound Brain Engagement and the emerging idea of “optical music.”
Research into connectome harmonics and psychedelic brain activity offers an additional perspective on how the brain may temporarily expand its normal repertoire of functional activity and undergo periods of reorganization.
The Neuro VIZR explores whether novel, enjoyable, and compositionally designed Light/Sound experiences may similarly encourage the brain to move through different patterns of stability, instability, engagement, and adaptation—creating opportunities for positive neuroplastic experiences.