Journalism and the Brain

When I write, I find I select certain details or facts to support a viewpoint. And of course, a story needs focus; otherwise it would be random and chaotic.  But, there must be room for counterpoint, different attention to detail, and development.   In that moment of decision, of focus, does selective retention inform those choices when I write?  I actually believe it does.  As far back as childhood.

Today, I listened to Dr. Eben Alexander explain his sense of heaven after suffering from gram negative meningitis--gram negative bacteria kills 70 percent of humans it infects, e.g., watch Epidemic at the NIH on Frontline, PBS [link below] if you have time. What made me sad, was his frightful effort to place into words, a world he could not fathom on a rational level.  I'm not particularly religious, but I do believe in the mysteries of life and death--the abilities to describe those moments can be overwhelming.  What became clear is that he actually had more form and structure to these alternate realms, than he realized.  And, I also believe, he drew from fundamental beliefs from childhood.  Every time I write, I almost feel as though I'm pulling things out of the ether and forming them.  It's such hard work for me, and yet there's a joy to it as words form thoughts, sounds, pictures, smells.  Sometimes magic happens. 

PBS, Frontline:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/health-science-technology/hunting-the-nightmare-bacteria/meet-the-nightmare-bacteria/

I appreciated the article below regarding, as TS Elliot wrote, "Decisions and revisions which a moment will reverse" although he was referring to chaos, not clarity of thought and judgement as this article discusses.

How Your Brain Makes Moral Judgments, CNN, March 26th, 2014
by Elizabeth Landau
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/26/health/brain-moral-judgments/