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December 2008 
Our Human Mind
Posted on Dec 16th, 2008
by 
Ginger
Ginger
It has been suggested by some scientists and philosophers that western humanity has inherited the framework and pattern of our thought-processes from Aristotle and his peers. (One might say clumsily that, "Our minds think the way they think because of Aristotle," if we could reduce such a concept as 'evolution of the human-western mind' to one simple sentence and one individual.) The principles of the scientific method and use of education as the accumulation of knowledge are the central features of our mindful attentions and their purpose. We have developed, almost to the exclusion of all else, a problem-solving, data-focused, mind-as-computer type of consciousness that turns our brains into nothing more than calculating machines and storage receptacles, while our anima and intellect are capable of so much more.
We owe much to our mindful ancestors – for they represent a [perceived] origin of modern human thought. However, there is no need to keep pushing their point and abusing the lesson, for through creativity and invention, we now have a variety of instruments and technology to do this kind of busy-work – hence, we could have the time and mental power available to utilize our attentions on more creative and inventive work, were we to let ourselves. And many great theorists throughout our history have emphasized the importance of new and immediate ideas, appropriate for time and place: throw out old theories liberally for they will do no good when society outgrows them.
Yet for one, we have become so fixated on breaking whole things (Earth, ecosystem, human life, animal life, etc) up into analyzable bits of information, combing the universe with a magnifying glass, we fail to see the totality of all these things – or the true nature of the whole reality, as is. Instead, we have a mechanical view which focuses on the 'little things' that make up the 'big thing'; and the fundamental questions about the essence of the 'big thing' remain largely unuttered due to our occupation with naming and defining the 'little things'. Also, in clinging to old ideas and theories, as if they were real 'things' which are static and discrete in a [wrongly assumed] unchanging mind, to toss them out seems wasteful – a ludicrous assumption that, when residing in one's consciousness, will produce nothing but disorder within the mind and society alike. For if there is anything we can truly know about mind and life, it is that: they change all the time – and progress is experienced and measured through change. To attempt the opposite, to become intellectually rigid, means, in a word: failure. In a neurotic fashion that could only be considered uniquely human, we have become stuck in a loop – demanding to know if it's a wave or a particle, form or substance, god or speciation, sense or reason, and assuming that these are mutually exclusive; stuck asking the same tired questions, in the same ad nauseum debates (both academic and social, scientific and religious); holding up our own 'evolution train'. And in burying the free-forming, free-flowing [creative] nature of consciousness under stubborn theory and unchanging convention, and directing mental activity to analysis and data, we have killed direct experience and reduced our existence to the "book-keepers of the universe". And as a consequence, are becoming incapable of discerning new experiences and ideas from what has already been established.
But perhaps in changing the query/theory, we will discover the answer we weren't even looking for. If we are at a time when all of our answers sound the same, maybe we need to change the questions. And in freeing the mind from the irrelevant or incorrect assumptions which keep it inert, to roam the infinite possibilities from which innovation occurs, the disorder we perceive presently may right itself – and more comprehensible and relevant theories may emerge.
New and radical education methods are called for if mind and society are to see progress. New theories, new ways of thinking, new types of consciousness are required for the advancement of our species and longevity of the planet. We invented computers – we can stop this incessant calculating. We created methods for recording history, facts, and data – so let's stop holding information by rote and forcing our childrens' minds to become encyclopedias. Our minds should be generating ideas, not merely storing bits. Let us cease these misguided attempts to apply stubborn theory to reality; and the fetishizing of ideas to the point of indoctrination. The only coherent way to use theory is to receive the insight it offers – to discover the wisdom that will further the evolution of the human mind and the sustainability of our planet and universe – then move on. For theory must never be equated with reality (it is only an attempt to comprehend it). Theory is simply a way of looking at things – it is a point of view, one of many. There are as many 'points of view' as there are organisms; there are as many 'theories' as there are humans; there are as many 'accepted' theories as there are academic divisions. To know and understand many points of view is to encourage the mind toward wholeness. But to cling to old or non-applicable views at the expense of introducing one's consciousness to new ideas is denying that anything is whole, it is denying the self, and it is denying reality – dangerous indeed, for both human and nature, mind and life.
We owe much to our mindful ancestors – for they represent a [perceived] origin of modern human thought. However, there is no need to keep pushing their point and abusing the lesson, for through creativity and invention, we now have a variety of instruments and technology to do this kind of busy-work – hence, we could have the time and mental power available to utilize our attentions on more creative and inventive work, were we to let ourselves. And many great theorists throughout our history have emphasized the importance of new and immediate ideas, appropriate for time and place: throw out old theories liberally for they will do no good when society outgrows them.
Yet for one, we have become so fixated on breaking whole things (Earth, ecosystem, human life, animal life, etc) up into analyzable bits of information, combing the universe with a magnifying glass, we fail to see the totality of all these things – or the true nature of the whole reality, as is. Instead, we have a mechanical view which focuses on the 'little things' that make up the 'big thing'; and the fundamental questions about the essence of the 'big thing' remain largely unuttered due to our occupation with naming and defining the 'little things'. Also, in clinging to old ideas and theories, as if they were real 'things' which are static and discrete in a [wrongly assumed] unchanging mind, to toss them out seems wasteful – a ludicrous assumption that, when residing in one's consciousness, will produce nothing but disorder within the mind and society alike. For if there is anything we can truly know about mind and life, it is that: they change all the time – and progress is experienced and measured through change. To attempt the opposite, to become intellectually rigid, means, in a word: failure. In a neurotic fashion that could only be considered uniquely human, we have become stuck in a loop – demanding to know if it's a wave or a particle, form or substance, god or speciation, sense or reason, and assuming that these are mutually exclusive; stuck asking the same tired questions, in the same ad nauseum debates (both academic and social, scientific and religious); holding up our own 'evolution train'. And in burying the free-forming, free-flowing [creative] nature of consciousness under stubborn theory and unchanging convention, and directing mental activity to analysis and data, we have killed direct experience and reduced our existence to the "book-keepers of the universe". And as a consequence, are becoming incapable of discerning new experiences and ideas from what has already been established.
But perhaps in changing the query/theory, we will discover the answer we weren't even looking for. If we are at a time when all of our answers sound the same, maybe we need to change the questions. And in freeing the mind from the irrelevant or incorrect assumptions which keep it inert, to roam the infinite possibilities from which innovation occurs, the disorder we perceive presently may right itself – and more comprehensible and relevant theories may emerge.
New and radical education methods are called for if mind and society are to see progress. New theories, new ways of thinking, new types of consciousness are required for the advancement of our species and longevity of the planet. We invented computers – we can stop this incessant calculating. We created methods for recording history, facts, and data – so let's stop holding information by rote and forcing our childrens' minds to become encyclopedias. Our minds should be generating ideas, not merely storing bits. Let us cease these misguided attempts to apply stubborn theory to reality; and the fetishizing of ideas to the point of indoctrination. The only coherent way to use theory is to receive the insight it offers – to discover the wisdom that will further the evolution of the human mind and the sustainability of our planet and universe – then move on. For theory must never be equated with reality (it is only an attempt to comprehend it). Theory is simply a way of looking at things – it is a point of view, one of many. There are as many 'points of view' as there are organisms; there are as many 'theories' as there are humans; there are as many 'accepted' theories as there are academic divisions. To know and understand many points of view is to encourage the mind toward wholeness. But to cling to old or non-applicable views at the expense of introducing one's consciousness to new ideas is denying that anything is whole, it is denying the self, and it is denying reality – dangerous indeed, for both human and nature, mind and life.
Access: PublicTagged with: evolution, human, mind, attention, Aristotle, creativity, consciousness, education, ideas
