The self-learning rhinoceros

Everyone processes thoughts, feelings and moods (TFM) which are promoted by nature, nurture and serendipity (NNS). Individuals are unique in fine detail but are like others from their particular cultures and subcultures.

Man is a social animal and individuals have evolved to worry about what group members think about them (gossip). This means that most individuals are easily made to change their minds in tune with cultural fads and fashions

Various words are used to label the process:- enculturation, brainwashing, indoctrination, training, education, and enlightenment. The process is supported by advertisements and propaganda.

In more sophisticated cultures there is also (a) facilitated self-learning and (b) the promotion of study skills in support of evidence based critical thinking. These days this involves taking account of social, evolutionary, cognitive, positive and behavioural psychology and their links to neuroscience.

Many of the above words carry a heavy emotional load. For cultures to survive they must address the psychological impacts of change. This includes (a) grappling with the implications of the illusory nature of the mind-made ‘self’ and, (b) planning beyond the elegant duplicity of stage managed heurism (ie facilitated self-learning ie enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves).

Although this is easier said than done it is do-able - especially when individuals belong to a group of like minded people - which may or may not include a specialist teacher eg an enlightened guru, a trained therapist or a wise granny.

Arguably our ancestors were accustomed to life in relatively small groups of foragers. But in recent times foraging gave way to settled agriculture and then to more sophisticated forms of cultural organisation ie city states, empires, nation states, and so to globalisation with wealth and power in the hands of transnational corporations.

Evolutionary psychology suggests that we have stone age brains struggling to survive in the internet age. There are the concepts of ME, US and THEM. There is one set of beautiful rules and regulations governing behaviour for ME and US and another belligerent set for US and THEM.

There are few absolutes and the boundaries between the categories have been and can be significantly reworked. On one side are suicide bombers, genocide, the holocaust, Hiroshima, the trenches in WW1 and consumption of commodities. On the other side is the United Nations, the trade union movement, social activists, art, music, and stamp collecting.

We now live as greedy and competitive individuals with boundaries close to a selfish ME. But this is not inevitable. We are also hard wired to be generous and cooperative amongst US but, in many people the gene has not been switched on so we demonise and slaughter THEM. But this is not inevitable. By paying attention to our TFM we can flick a variety of epigenetic switches and awaken culture patterns better suited to environmentally friendly post capitalism.

SO – how to make the changes? Change minds. Notice what you feel and let the feelings go.

AND - Let it begin with me; and with you (?)

Some form of Buddhism lite (please specify) might be preferable to the hard line approach as outlined in the Dhammapada (300 BC):

Turning your back on pleasure and pain,
as earlier with sorrow and joy,
attaining pure equanimity,
tranquillity,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.