Toastmaster's Speech Project No. 4: "The Brain is Our Universe"

OBJECTIVES OF THE SPEECH:

• To be able to select the right words and sentence structure to communicate ideas clearly, accurately and vividly.
• To use rhetorical devices to enhance and emphasize ideas.
• To eliminate jargon and unnecessary words. Use correct grammar.

PURPOSE OF THE SPEECH:

At the end of my speech, I want the audience to have these different kinds of reactions:

• The speaker has imparted the idea that the brain is our universe.
• At the end of speech, the speaker made me realize that since the brain is our universe, we have all the capability to do whatever our brains is capable of imagining. He said that the universe is still expanding and our brain is the only one that put limits to what we can achieve. Free your mind and let it explore the vastness of the universe!
• The speaker said that similar to computers, the brain is just like a blank hardware or a CPU when we are born.
• The speaker imparted that our brain can be installed with any program (knowledge, skills, experiences, hobbies, attitudes etc which later becomes part of our system.)
• The speaker said that unlike computers, our brain can no longer be erased but can be re-programmed through changes in the person’s lifestyle and attitudes.
• The speaker also pointed out that similar to a computer operating system, our brain also has an operating system called “Holy Spirit”. It’s a bare-bone software which initially controls our movements, desires and thinking. But same as an ordinary software, it can be corrupted.
• At the end of the speech, the speaker pointed out what he really wants to say knowing that the brain is our universe.
• 3 Billion Chinese, 85 million Filipinos, it’s not about population, it’s about expanding our brains to reach the very end of the cosmos. Why can’t Filipinos explore space? Why do we just watch the Americans conquer the moon, the planet Mars, and setup their beyond this world explorations?
• If you want to raise a culture of new Filipinos, we must isolate the children from unnecessary programs and applications which may get installed to their brain.
• There are only limits on what we can do but there are no limits on what we can think. What the Philippines need right now is a new generation of people who contains the best programs and applications.
• At the end of the speech, my audience will be satisfied that my speech is:
• For the Ear – simple and repetition (expanding universe)
• Used specific words (instead of OS, use operating system)
• Used vivid words (“As I entered the airplane, it’s like as if I can smell the winter breeze in the US.)
• Incorporated Rhetorical Devices
• Simile – Our brain is like a blank computer hardware.
• Metaphor – Our brain is just an electronic circuitry which needs to learn proper logic and operation through a human software and applications.
• Alliteration – “Brain and Bioelectronics”
• Triads - Our brain is a supercomputer, it learns, it adapts, and evolves as time passes by.
• Removed jargons
• At the end of the speech, the audience was able to visualize what I am saying by using vivid and descriptive words.
• The speaker used short and simple words.

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THE BRAIN IS OUR UNIVERSE

By Edwin D. Viñas
Competent Toastmasters Speech Project No.4 (How to Say It)
Edwin D. Viñas
April 05, 2006
1.01B San Carlos, MSE Bldg.
6:00 – 8:00PM

My dear fellow toastmasters, will you agree with me if I say that our brain is our universe? Our brain resembles the universe – its immeasurable vastness can be compared to the brain’s 100 billion nerve cells, which no scientist as of now has ever reverse engineered the functions of these billions of neurons and synapses that made up the most complex and fastest supercomputer in the universe called brain. Throughout the 2000 years of recorded human history, the relationship between brain, universe or God is still a big mystery until now.

As we continue our journeys in this vast universe, we will realize that all human beings are the same in terms of the brain’s compositions – we all have 100 billion nerve cells! Americans, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese or Iraqi’s were all made up of the same type of brains. No doctor has ever said that your brain only consists of 10 billion nerve cells and the brain of your seatmate contains 50 billion nerve cells.

Our brain is similar to a computer’s central processing unit (CPU) -- a bio-electronic wiring of interoperating devices which interacts with the different inputs and outputs in our human body. When you see your friend’s new computer, you might say, “What a beautiful and high-tech computer you have!” But when you open it, “Oh we’re just the same!” We just differ on external appearances which are caused by the environment and the way we live. But, the reality is that, we are all the same.

Our brain can be installed with any program through the accumulation of knowledge and experiences which later become stored in a 100 petabyte of storage in our brain. But, unlike computers, our brain has natural intelligence. Seeing your mother and father showing their love and care for each other is one type of program that may be installed in your brain. Hearing your favorite music, watching telenovelas, going to X-rated movies, reading books, browsing the Internet are examples of how your brain gets installed with different programs. But be careful with Trojans, viruses and spywares which may corrupt your operating system which eventually kills the spirit.

Yes, the spirit! Similar to a computer operating system, our brain also has a basic operating system called the spirit – another common basic characteristics in all humans. The spirit, similar to computer BIOS, controls our movements, desires and thinking. Same as a BIOS software in the computer, it makes sure that we breathe exactly 86,400 times a day, wakes up every 7am in the morning, twinkles our eyes every second unconsciously or restart or sleep when we get tired.

Since, the brain is our universe, we have all the capability to do whatever our central brain is capable of imagining. We will soon realize that all of us is just part of a bigger whole that makes up the universe. We will soon realize that the universe is still expanding and the growing population is just natural. While the universe is not yet saturated, let us therefore free our minds and let it explore the vastness of the universe! There are no reasons why we people should fight each other. Same as how electrons and netrons make up an atom, the universe is made up of individual brains. Hence, the brain is our universe!

Right now, there have been 10 billion people who have lived in this world, which roughly 10 percent of the 100 billion nerve cells in our brain. Our universe is still very large for us to conquer and explore!

But, why can’t Filipinos explore space? Why do we just watch the Americans conquer the moon, the planet Mars, and setup their space explorations?

If you want to raise a culture of new Filipinos, we must isolate the children from unnecessary programs and applications which may get installed to their brain.

There are only limits on what we can do but there are no limits on what we can think. What the Philippines need right now is a new generation of people who contains the best programs and applications.