BlackEconomics.org®
This, the third of three recent essays on the mind, reveals that our minds may not exhibit strict linearity. Our minds may not move from a starting point problem directly to a solution. There may be fits and starts. We may go forward and then jump backwards before moving forward again. What we know, however, is that once we direct an “Afrikan” mind to solve a problem, it will work tirelessly to identify a solution.
In this case, our first submissions on the “mind” concerned the interplay of our minds, economics, and the need for global economic balance (“The Mind and Economics”). The second submission explored the outlook for humans if we concede power and control to a replacement of our minds with innovative substitutes (“The Human Mind and AI”). As for this essay, given that we have not identified a full solution to the Black American problem/predicament, it is expected that we might jump backwards and consider a new, critical, and closely related topic: “The Brain and Economics.” In other words, given that the brain is the human computer in and through which the mind functions, logically speaking, it could or should have been our starting point. However, the mind has a mind of its own, and as long as it enables a solution to our problem and serves as a key to unlock the lock on the gate to Black American self-sufficiency, self-reliance, self-determination, and liberty (FREEDOM), then we should be willing to let the mind “have its way.”
A starting point question of interest is: “What is the relationship between the brain and economics?” As simple or as complex as you may perceive this question to be, we invite you to formulate your answer now and then reassess it after considering what follows.
We begin with a simple set of realizations: The creation is science; the original Black people of the Earth (“Afrikans”) are the greatest scientists of all times because they performed fundamental scientific research that established the path to our current state; and every effort has been made to preclude opportunities for Black Americans to perform scientific research in recent periods and to convince us that we not only are not scientists, but that we do not enjoy science and scientific research. Yet there is clear and irrefutable evidence that we continue to contribute to global progress in the science field by performing successful and productive research. Accordingly, we can revel in our naturally developed scientific knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Continuing with simple realizations: If we know that knowledge is the most important “thing” in the universe, that the mind is the most powerful instrument in the universe, and that the mind operates in and through our brain, then why do we not begin with the mind when we “think economics.” By “thinking economics,” we intend “the conceptualization of methods and procedures that can produce a well-functioning and vibrant economy.”
Specifically, if invited to discuss how to generate a sound economy, even economists will likely begin by focusing on material principles and methods for creating an economy. In fact, Adam Smith, who Europeans say is the “Father of Economics” because of his formal treatment of economic concepts, principles, and theories during the second half of the 18th century, accounted for certain aspects of interrelations between the human mind and economic behavior. However, it was not until the 1970s (nearly two centuries later) that separate, specific, and explicit analyses of the human mind and economic behavior appeared in full bloom in the economics literature in works by Robert Lucas on “rational expectations” primarily in a macroeconomics framework, and by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, who developed “prospect theory” in a microeconomics context.(i) This is prima facie evidence that economists did not comprehend and value this essential aspect of economics until the obvious realization was confronted: The mind is a critical key to economic outcomes. If one controls the mind, then one can very well control economic behavior and the related outcomes.
Now to science, the brain, and economics. The following are a series of important, yet parsimonious points about the brain, the mind, and how they have been used to produce Black American economic outcomes. What follows naturally thereafter should usher up insights that may serve as important, if only partial, solutions to Black America’s economic problems. Please recognize that we view these points as the most important of a broader set of points that would provide a more comprehensive perspective concerning this topic.
- The brain operates using what scientists have classified as five types of electromagnetic waves (arranged here from highest to lowest) according to frequencies as defined by a Hertz (Hz) metric: (1) Gama > 27 Hz; (2) Beta 12 Hz to < 27 Hz; (3) Alpha 8 Hz to < 12 Hz; (4) Theta 3 Hz to < 8 Hz; and (5) Delta 0.2 Hz to < 3 Hz.(ii)
- A key point concerning brain waves is that they are distinguished by “frequencies” and frequencies are generated using sounds (pitches/tones): High frequencies are based on high pitched sounds while low frequencies are based on low pitched sounds.
- Inter alia, a “theta” state of consciousness is considered the most favorable state for hypnotic suggestion.
- Experts in the media and marketing sciences have long comprehended how to successfully access human minds on a subconscious level and introduce suggestions for enacting behavior (including economic-related behavior) immediately or at a point beyond the suggestion point.
- Frequencies result from sounds, and a major source of sound for humans is music. Therefore, music is a very important and readily accessible medium through which to influence mental states that can be engineered to produce behaviors.
Your overactive imagination may be running hither, thither, and yon ready to scream that the foregoing represents the mind of a mad scientist. We readily disagree on that point and counter that mad scientists are the reason for Black America’s current predicament. In the past, material/physical (analog-type) force was used to create our condition. For some time now, other (mainly digital) more technological forces have been, and are being, used to produce our outcomes. At times, successful strategic action may require matching an opponent’s actions: i.e., fight fire with fire. In this case it is critical that as many Black Americans as possible come to comprehend the foregoing, and that we decide whether it is to our benefit to leverage this information to produce improved outcomes and wellbeing for ourselves and our posterity.
The most important takeaway from this essay is that Black America’s “leadership” continues to repeat its history of guaranteeing our failure. To a fault, as we have discussed elsewhere, they have failed to:(iii) (1) Be visionary and help chart our long-term future; (2) share widely fundamental knowledge of the ilk presented above; and (3) move us persistently and diligently toward courses of action that were informed by extant knowledge. In this case, they continue to urge Black Americans to enter the field of commerce without emphasizing and ensuring that our entrepreneurs are fully equipped with tools that can make them successful. It is safe to say that without the information presented in this essay and knowledge of methods for its appropriate use, most of our entrepreneurs have been fighting a one-armed fight, while their competitors have had full access to both arms. We must create a boxing match where we are not handicapped.
We end this essay by making an especially important set of points.
- As a People, Black Americans are now reawakening to the importance of science in our lives and that we have the longest history of being great scientists.
- As a most religious People influenced by a White Supremacists version of a set of religious principles and philosophies, we have agreed to insert a wall between religion and science and have mainly remained on the side of the wall that emphasizes spirituality and religion and have largely neglected the science side.
- As a result of the two foregoing points, we have almost completely ignored a fundamental fact of life: “Self-preservation is the first law of nature,” which is easy to prove scientifically and through casual observation.
- Due to our seeming unawareness of the just-given point, coupled with long-induced fear, Black Americans have been much too generous and kind too, accepting of, and afraid to challenge our opposers who work night and day to dominate us and the world. Importantly, we should also realize, especially in an increasingly ethnically fragmented and competitive US environment, that our opposers include more than just White Americans; other racial and ethnic groups also operate as formidable opposition to Black America’s rise.
Until Black Americans confront and address the foregoing points directly, comprehend that science and religion/spirituality are not necessarily oppositional, and realize that even our physical being is a sign concerning a sound approach to living life (i.e., that our head, which is the pinnacle of our body, contains the brain in and through which our mind functions, and that every undertaking should commence with full consideration of the mind’s role in it), then we will continue to just babble about our problems and potential solutions. This realization applies especially to the relationship between the brain and economics.
B Robinson
060625
Endnotes
i Robert Lucas was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank (Nobel) Prize for Economics in 1995; Kahneman received the prize in 2002.
ii See Zen Sound. “Understanding brainwave frequencies.” Zen Sound: London. https://www.zensound.co.uk/understanding-brainwave-frequencies/?srsltid=AfmBOoqpSQXBHxAxdF_5lUFoBwWGqnq7-JETwmEfuVnM5ZGxHGIvLyu1 (Ret. 060525).
iii See Brooks Robinson (2025). “Revisiting Black American Leadership.” BlackEconomics.org; Honolulu. https://blackeconomics.org/BELit/rbal022825.pdf, (Ret. 060625).