Lewis Thomas, an American essayist, conveys the importance of preserving the mystery of one’s mind in his essay, “The Attic of the Brain.” According to Thomas, humans produce internal conflicts because they overanalyze their choices. Internal conflicts are not only caused by overanalyzing, but also from the feeling of guilt which “repeats the same transgressive behavior in the future.” (“Why We May Feel Guilty”) Humans feel guilty after they disrupt their standards of conduct or an outsider disapproves of their choices. Even though the punitive feeling of guilt results in worriedness, Thomas mentions that overanalyzing a choice to discard “unidentifiable articles” in the attic or to preserve memories overwhelms the human mind. He uses the analogy
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Since the intricate structure of the human brain is enclosed by large, folded tissues, the old, hidden memories are stored at the crevices of the tissue while the recent memories are more apparent in the connective tissue. Likewise, the past memories are stored in the attic, situated below the pitched, slanted roof to hide the valuable collection of memories as seen during the Second Industrial Revolution. Eventually, architects did not design houses with attics; instead, they constructed flat-roofed homes to eliminate the attics as a place for storing possessions or memories. Once attics were removed, the hidden memories were open to all people, and the “tissues of the house” was unoccupied due to the lack of memories. Alarmed and stupefied, Thomas urges people to revert back to the previous styles of architecture in the Second Industrial Revolution. Nowadays, the size and shape of the attic are constructed differently, but the ultimate purpose of the attic remains. Attics “represent a type of in-between area that isn’t quite outdoors and isn’t quite indoors,” which compares to old memories that are not easily remembered, but still remain in the human mind (Holladay). The human brain preserved memories to protect humans from repeating their errors and to build on from previous mistakes, just as the …show more content…
Therefore, the “tissues of the house” are complicated by dust since the buildup of waste overshadows the valuable possessions, resulting in recent thoughts or experiences outshining the past memories. Moreover, Lewis Thomas explains that people attempt to eliminate their old possessions by “paying around fifty dollars an hour to have them carted off,” meaning that humans try to unclutter their thoughts with the help of a psychiatrist (76). Psychiatrists help people analyze their thoughts or feelings; however, the extraordinary mind should be set free to think, feel, or store
Since the intricate structure of the human brain is enclosed by large, folded tissues, the old, hidden memories are stored at the crevices of the tissue while the recent memories are more apparent in the connective tissue. Likewise, the past memories are stored in the attic, situated below the pitched, slanted roof to hide the valuable collection of memories as seen during the Second Industrial Revolution. Eventually, architects did not design houses with attics; instead, they constructed flat-roofed homes to eliminate the attics as a place for storing possessions or memories. Once attics were removed, the hidden memories were open to all people, and the “tissues of the house” was unoccupied due to the lack of memories. Alarmed and stupefied, Thomas urges people to revert back to the previous styles of architecture in the Second Industrial Revolution. Nowadays, the size and shape of the attic are constructed differently, but the ultimate purpose of the attic remains. Attics “represent a type of in-between area that isn’t quite outdoors and isn’t quite indoors,” which compares to old memories that are not easily remembered, but still remain in the human mind (Holladay). The human brain preserved memories to protect humans from repeating their errors and to build on from previous mistakes, just as the …show more content…
Therefore, the “tissues of the house” are complicated by dust since the buildup of waste overshadows the valuable possessions, resulting in recent thoughts or experiences outshining the past memories. Moreover, Lewis Thomas explains that people attempt to eliminate their old possessions by “paying around fifty dollars an hour to have them carted off,” meaning that humans try to unclutter their thoughts with the help of a psychiatrist (76). Psychiatrists help people analyze their thoughts or feelings; however, the extraordinary mind should be set free to think, feel, or store