Big Think on minding

“Most of what goes on in our heads we have no access to – we have no idea of what is going on ...
Unconscious influences, peer-pressure foremost among them, guide many of our most important decisions. Think you're thinking for yourself? Think again.” So says Richard Nisbett a cutting edge social psychologist. (see below)

I appreciate that my sense organs provide a continuous flow of inputs which are interpreted by marrying them to memories. This guides the design of a relevant reaction. The process creates a lot of churn and many possible stories could be told. But, in the African savannah, and in the local supermarket, there may not be time to methodically review all the options; so evolution has made it possible to operate with automatic biases and intuitions some of which are hard wired into my brain by nature and some of which are learned from my culture by nurture.

My mind is an iceberg of staggering complexity. Most of its activities are below the surface in the unconscious. Above the surface the conscious activities (including self consciousness) are severely limited. They are much less in control than they think they are. If you make time to sit quietly you will know that the mind has a mind of its own – a monkey mind ceaselessly swinging from one thought, feeling and mood to another.

In the past 20 years or so the academic world has embraced multi disciplinary teamwork, and new disciplines have developed. For example cognitive neuroscience, social psychology, and behavioural economics operate under the umbrella of evolutionary psychology. This puts pressure on the 'experts' for whom knowing more and more about less and less is no longer a viable option - especially for those who would be at the cutting edge of radical thinking.

I like the idea of being a lifelong learner at the cutting edge. It links to my quest to find better ways to be human and thus to make the world a better place. This of course begs the questions, “What constitutes 'better'?” ie “Why do I like this rather than that?” and, on the ineffable slow burner, “Who is the 'I' that likes?” I have three high level aspirations:

“To make the world a better place”	promote left of centre social democracy and tackle environmental issues
“To find better ways to be human”	promote mindfulness meditation and thus encourage peace loving individuals; encourage east/west dialogue and working in multidisciplinary teams
“To be a lifelong learner at the cutting edge”	spin the action/ reflection cycle with lots of time for (a) academic study so as to expand horizons and (b) stillness so as to avoid zealotry

Most of the minding processes take place under the radar of self consciousness and 'I' am not aware of them. But a new balance can be set. It is never too late to change your mind.

• Neuroscience is showing that by taking thought the mind can change the brain. 
• Social psychology is systematically listing the short cuts and rules of thumb that make fast thinking possible. 
• Behavioural economics is demonstrating that the notion of the rational economic agent is a myth. 
• Mindfulness based courses are proving effective in reducing stress and improving peace of mind in a wide range of social settings.

There is a lot of churn in my unconscious as it processes incoming data to generate appropriate fast reactions and slow responses. Life is an ongoing learning experience. The only constant thing is change. How I see 'reality' depends on the situation that I am in. But forewarned is forearmed. There is the possibility of leaving the unconscious to pull the zombie strings. That is the default mode but it is not cast in stone. By taking thought the process can be tweaked. There are other options:

Take the experimental findings of social and cognitive psychology to heart. Study the thinking about bias, intuition, stereotyping etc and therefore take account of non rational thought processes at the stages before, during and after an interaction.

Keep up to speed with the findings of the neuroscientists about the neural correlates of consciousness and the possibilities of harnessing the potential of neural plasticity. The brain changes the mind changes the brain.

Bathe in the intellectual sunshine that is evolutionary psychology. Re-construct the story of the evolution of nervous systems, their cephalisation in vertebrates, the emergence of the frontal cortex in primates, the appearance of language in humans about 100,000 years ago, and the exponential growth of culture in the last 5000 years.

Bathe in the spiritual sunshine that is mindfulness meditation. Make time to sit quietly doing nothing and know the peace that passes rational and language-based understanding. Experience the blissful mind state that is non-egoic and outside space and time. Practise everyday Zen when operating in flow.

It's never too late to change your mind.

BigThink:

http://bigthink.com/videos/richard-nisbett-on-the-influence-of-other-people