Question 3 Response

Jill Bolte Taylor described the mental silence she experienced after her stroke as a peaceful kind of experience. According to Taylor, without the constant chatter she felt more connected to the world around her. Without language, the mind has no ability to classify or sort through the experiences of the day, creating a sense of "in the moment" bliss. Life can be difficult at times, and it isn't a surprise that shutting off the incessant internal monologue would sound appealing to some. In fact, there are alternative ways to experience this that are fairly popular in society. For example, the use of certain drugs or alcohol can help to dull these daily burdens. Meditation could be another option to achieve this goal. Without that voice to transcribe my thoughts I believer I would be a much happier person. As they say, ignorance is bliss. But a life without deeper thought wouldn't be much of a life at all. More like a dream, drifting between emotions and feelings in a jumbled soup of constant "now." Giving up the ability to reason, essentially humanity itself, for a perpetual stupor of happiness would be a foolish trade. All of the noise and stress of life might be unbearable at times, and a short break might be well deserved, but if that voice in my head where to go quiet forever, I might as well be dead already.