In this section, “Context” will be used to describe the foundational mental framework, and I might use “Mental Background” or “Mental Context” interchangeably throughout. Imagine a blank sheet of paper on which you are writing with a black pen. If I replace your blank paper with graph paper, the way you write on it, as well as the readability of the text, would change. The paper remains the same, but the lines appearing on its background change the context, and the content will manifest differently on it. For instance, when writing an essay, we often use notebooks with parallel lines. The context of these parallel lines not only facilitates writing by keeping the words aligned but also helps the reader follow the lines more easily, increasing focus. If you, like me, struggle to write neatly on a blank sheet, you’ll realize how much these lines make the task easier. Similarly, graph paper might be more suitable for various tasks.

The brain needs a context to better manage different tasks. In today’s world, where the human brain manages a wide variety of tasks and rapidly switches between them, changing contexts is crucial. The likelihood of moving from one task to another with a fixed context is quite high.

Context works like clothing; if you go to a party or work in pajamas, you’ll face issues. Going into battle requires combat gear, while attending a wedding ceremony requires attire appropriate to that culture and customs.

For example, you wake up, pick up your mobile phone, and read some alarming news that occurred while you were asleep. Reading this news creates a context in your mind, and your nervous system prepares physiological changes to confront this context. Now, with this mental context and physiological readiness, you leave your house to drive to work. If you didn’t get enough sleep the previous night and woke up multiple times due to unsettling dreams, this adds to the situation, impacting your presence in society.

The example I gave about different types of paper at the beginning, and then the example of the alarming news, both help illustrate the formation of mental context in your mind.

Context essentially directs the way we anticipate and expect things to happen. The brain’s primary function, after ensuring survival, is prediction. It can be said that prediction guarantees our survival. The brain is constantly processing events inside and outside the body to predict and decide, and these predictions occur along the lines of mental context.

Another question that arises in this discussion is whether mental context is one-dimensional or single-valued. It seems that it is not.

In the example of graph paper, imagine you can also choose the color of the paper. Now, you have choices in two dimensions: color and lines. Similarly, in mental space, when faced with alarming news, you can approach the issue optimistically or pessimistically, depending on your outlook on life and your beliefs and value systems. For instance, thoughts like “It must have been God’s will,” “It was fate,” “Everything happens for a reason,” or “Anything can happen at any time,” and many similar thoughts might appear in your mental space.

How these thoughts appear and in what pattern will be discussed in next sections.

These thoughts can either diminish or amplify the impact of the alarming news. For example, if you think, “This is a terrible event,” or “The world is heading towards decline and destruction,” or “This will lead to war and famine,” it will definitely affect how you feel and the decisions you make.

Just as lines can be categorized into infinite shapes and colors into infinite spectrums, it seems that mental context can also be categorized into various dimensions and further into limitless categories within each dimension.

In addition to value systems, which themselves can be multi-dimensional and multi-categorical, other prominent contexts include hereditary factors, climate, and lived experience. It should be noted that hereditary factors (or genetics, which I will use interchangeably depending on the text) are so significant that they could be considered a separate branch alongside context. What I intend to convey in this book is the impact that hereditary factors have on shaping the mind and mental space.

This is akin to a multi-dimensional matrix with complex, nested layers. Therefore, understanding the nature of the mind is a challenging task, especially since this understanding is itself processed by the mind, and visualizing a multi-dimensional matrix is quite difficult for the human brain.

Consider if, instead of you, your 10-year-old self were reading this book. Aside from physical differences in height, weight, facial features, and possibly a backache, what would make you different?

What distinguishes you from your past self, or even your yesterday self, is the extent of your perception. I use “perception” and “understanding” interchangeably in this book.

After sensory information enters our mental space through various experiences like seeing, hearing, or reading, a more complex process begins in our mind. In this stage, our mental context plays a crucial role. Just as graph paper or a notebook with parallel lines provides a framework for writing, our mental context also defines a framework for interpreting and understanding new information.

Every new experience, depending on the existing mental context, is interpreted and given meaning in our mental space. This context includes our prior knowledge, beliefs, values, and past experiences, all of which shape our understanding of new information. Thus, the same piece of information can be interpreted differently by different people, as each person processes it through their unique mental context.

In this process, our mental space not only serves as a storage repository for information but also acts as a dynamic environment where ideas and experiences connect, combine, and create new thoughts and innovations. Learning, in this context, goes beyond mere information retention; it involves forming meaningful connections between new information and what already exists in our mental space.

Therefore, when we learn or perceive something new, we are essentially reshaping our mental space, which is constantly evolving.