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The purpose of this chapter is to outline the special meaning imputed in Pleneurethics to the term mentality. Throughout previous Pleneurethical volumes, the terms mind and mentality were used nearly synonymously. Commencing with this volume the two terms will be used with greater precision in deference to their distinctly different meaning in Pleneurethical parlance.

The term “mentality” is given a special Pleneurethical meaning. Mentality is part of the mind. It is the part of the mind that is structured through the mind’s interpretation of brain performance.

In the early stages of any person’s life, brain activity in the portion of the brain destined to communicate with the conscious mind remains on a sub-mental level. This continues until the conscious part of the mind learns to identify specific brain activities and assign meaning to them. Thus, in the early life stage, the brain and mind are separated, not because of a void; but because the mind has not yet learned to interpret or transliterate the brain’s signals. In short, a mentality has not yet developed to expedite interchange between the brain and mind.

The things one sees, hears, tastes, smells, or learns are never of an unconscious nature. By the very act of knowing with the mind that the brain is transmitting a sensation of the mind, the sensation automatically becomes a conscious perception, even though the mind does not attach a mental meaning to it.

In Pleneurethics it is postulated that there is no such thing as an unconscious aspect of the mind. The brain may be thought of as being unconscious, but the mind—never. All things inscribed on the mentality of the mind remain there. True enough, the passing of years with the piling of one experience on another, and one false
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cue upon another, may contribute to forgetfulness. But this does not argue well for an unconscious aspect of mind that causes chronic illness.

Many vague sensations interpreted by the mind as anxiety and apprehension and even guilt spring from an unconscious sector of an individual’s being. This section is the brain under chronic bioductory assault—not an unconscious precinct of the mind.

Brain disturbance will definitely affect the status of one’s total being. Equally true, a normal brain experiencing a normal range of tensions from normal life experience will reflect sensations interpreted by the mind as well-being. Such feelings of well-being are virtually indestructible, because they stem from brain stability and good biological balance.

Now, if one is of a religious bent, he may interpret his inexhaustible feeling of well-being to be because of God’s good will toward him, or that Allah has him in favor’s eye. He many not recognize that his virtually irrepressible good spirits arise from a good buoyancy of brain activity.

A recapitulation is helpful to ease the drudgery of comprehension. The mind is the pure essence upon which (or within which) brain variation is impressed to eventually create mentality. The mind is the raw awareness which receives and inter-relates and integrates brain sensations to form mentality.

Mentality is a product of brain and mind interaction. Structural alteration of brain tissue, either micro or macro, influences mentality. The mind knows the world only by way of the brain. If the brain is permanently damaged through drug abuse, the mentality of the mind will also be irreversibly affected. Brain structure is altered as it receives stress either chemical or mechanical. Brain structure is also altered as it processes this stress or responds to action of mind or mentality in effect to further process brain tensions. The tragedy of the current generation of young people is that they have been decoyed into philosophical left field by their headstrong and ill-advised flirtation with so-called mind-bending drugs.

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“Mind-bending”is a misnomer because what really transpires is brain-rending from use of these drugs. Once the brain is bent by chemical abuse, the mind is horrified. It often evokes the act of suicide to abandon its lost cause on earth.

Mentality commences with the inception of fetal life and ceases in death. It is an ever-expanding mosaic of experience and belief. Here is where habits take root and where character is formed.

Mentality, once formed, often administers unreasoning influence on both the brain and the mind. Indeed, once a pattern of mentality has been formed over long years of life, its main beams are virtually indestructible—death of the individual is the only way to its clean abolition. It is the mentality that enables the mind to control the brain meaningful. It is also the mentality that eases the task of the mind in interpreting vibratory messages of the brain.

In the beginning of fetal life, the mind lays up against the brain with virtually no intelligence passing to or from either agency. As the individual matures, the mentality flowers into a structure of incredible complexity. The interplay between the brain and mind through mentality is wondrous to contemplate.

Based upon evaluation of life experience, the mind does have the ability to alter mentality. But this ability meets increasing inertia as the monument of individual mentality expands with maturation. Mentality does, indeed, impress prodigious overload on the brain at times. It is well known in certain circles that men who work successfully with words and new thoughts have shorter life expectancy than other occupations.

The mentality, structured to produce literature and which actually produces such work throughout the day, involves the brain in a massive effort. The depletion of neural energy through creative work with words, although of acute an nature, assumes destructive proportions if carried on month after month and year after year.

The price the serious author must pay for his competence is unusually demanding on his brain. The less serious and less competent writer has not yet learned to brutalize his neural organ with
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the heat of brain-frying effort required to produce worthwhile thoughts and to commit those thoughts to paper.

Mentality is the product of brain and mind inter-activity. The mind must evaluate and assign meaning to brain reports concerning  the internal and external world. As the mind establishes a pattern of evaluation for neurological activity, it becomes increasingly structured. This mind structure is the mentality of Pleneurethics.

Mentality then is the part of mind structured by life experience. The brain reports to the mind, but the mind must develop the ability to comprehend these neural sensations. As the mind becomes more adept at interpreting various sensations and relating them to other sensations through recall and memory, the mentality is slowly structured. Mentality is of the mind. But it is more that just pure mind. This pure mind is of little use to anyone until enough of it has been patterned into a responsible and responsive mentality.

Wherever the term headache is observed in Pleneurethical writing, substitute the new Pleneurethical term brainache. Brainache is a sensation in the mind which is interpreted through mentation as a painful ache in the head. It results from tension in the brain tissues due to blood toxin, bioductory problems, heavy mental stress, excessive sensory loading, cerebral metabolic disorders or a combination of these factors. In advanced stages of chronic brainache, the brain ceases to ache. This is an especially ominous sign which presages the final stages of brain deterioration and exhaustion.