Brain at Work

It is reasonable that I would find the brain interesting since I am a psych nurse. A day or two ago I read on line the results of a fairly interesting study that claimed we know more than we think we do. I have always wondered how all that we are exposed to fits into the brain. All the lessons we have been taught, sermons we have heard, articles and books we have read, conversations and experiences we have had, smells, sights...what do they become? The brain is always at work learning, storing, categorizing, and much of what goes in apparently becomes "unconscious memory." Can something go in one ear and out the other? The study makes me think...not really. We learn as we experience and it all eventually settles into our brain's large body of knowledge. Our unconscious memory, often called intuition or gut feelings, is a part of it and is at the ready to be called on when we need it. And further we can choose what it is we want to learn thereby honing our "intuition." Once I was at work and observed a patient walking toward her room. Nothing odd really, but I thought I had a feeling that she was up to no good, and when I went to check, I found that I was right. But "going with my gut" was really the result of years of doing the work I do and paying attention.