I’ve long considered the human mind to be a lot like a cell–> it has a powerful, raw experiential nucleus surrounded by layers of beliefs and attitudes which act as selectively permeable membranes that filter what information gets in and out.
From this point of view, what we call ‘cynicism’ is comparable to the hardening of mental membranes — so that, over time, this cell becomes relatively impermeable to the passage of healthy nutrients of thought that we call ‘optimism’, ‘empathy’ and ‘love’. So, you see, when I so often proudly proclaim that “Cynicism is undigested pain“….I’m not being metaphorical at all; I’m being literal.
Have you ever met a smug, cynical baby? I doubt it. Because babies don’t have much undigested pain yet…and, when they feel pain, they just scream their little heads off. In other words, they digest it. Until they grow up, of course. Then they blame others for it: parents, teachers, bosses, politicians. And when this happens, the real mental agita kicks in.
The simple truth is, all pain (disappointments, heartache, etc.) must be fully digested (aka ‘learning’) and excreted (aka ‘forgiveness’) from the mental system or else the whole thing gets stiff and clogged up, and mental cancer spreads — aka ‘cynicism’. And what’s the best way to digest old mental pain?
My favorite remedy has always been great conversation, raucous laughter and uncensored creativity. I particularly enjoy great conversation. It seems that talking about our beliefs and attitudes brings corrective intelligence from the animating DNA of our souls (or ‘nucleus’, as it were). This natural, innate intelligence helps us release mental toxins from the past, and regain a healthy state of mental permeability again — aka ‘optimism’, ‘happiness’ and ‘well-being’. Pretty simple, isn’t it?
Anyway, along these lines, I though you might get a kick out of this short animated snippet from our new “Advanced Empathy Training for Visionaries” course which touches on these ideas, and links them to the body-mind-spirit communication model. Enjoy!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post! I always thought of lysosomes as the “heroes” of the cell, and their function amazingly simple and benign.
This reminds me of fractal theory, which has some pretty interesting examples of how nature works similarly on various scales. Maybe social interactions themselves have a certain symmetry?
Yes, Emmy…I love that idea. I truly do believe that subjective realm of human psychology is subject to many of the same laws as the ever-evolving material realm. And my most critical influences in understanding the human mind have always been living systems theory and chaos theory. sounds like we’ve been reading the same stuff.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I have found the hardest thing in life is the process of getting to the ‘center’ of anything. Filtering problems down to their center is a process that we humans find hard to do.
We use to talk of ‘red herrings’. The process of getting to the center is hampered by things that don’t matter – these things that don’t matter are what I call red herrings. They are everywhere in life.
Another old saying, it’s hard to remember that the original job was to drain the swamp – with all the alligators trying to eat you.
My small point, you can’t say that alligators are red herrings in that they might really eat you. But they are not the center problem.
I agree with your analogy. The mind is the most complicated thing I can imagine. And the darn thing adds new layers of red herrings it’s entire life. I suspect that it is a defense mechanism it employs to protect it’s center and to continue to make life interesting for those that wonder what it’s center is like.
Then again, the center itself may be a red herring or worse yet, an alligator. Sometimes life is like that.
I’m going to buy your book and I don’t buy books spontaneously, so this is a big leap for me. Usually, if a book is not at my public library, I assume the nature of the content is commercial and not worth my time. But what’s making your book an exception is because what you’re saying, I thought I invented (or rather, theorized myself). By that I mean, for over 2 decades I’ve been reflecting on the very subject of systems: humans as systems, the mind as a system, etc. Finding someone who expresses something similar is fascinating because everyone I’ve ever spoken to thinks I’m a complete nutcase making such analogies and putting so much time into research and designing a theory. So I’m excited to read your book and discover if between you and I, we have touched upon anything that may display qualities of universal truth. Your books seems very different from my ideas, but related and from another angle. I’ve always believed that if only the world could embrace the idea of the universe as being a complex dynamic system of subsystems, humans being a part thereof (and systems themselves), perhaps there would be less unnecessary defensiveness in the world – maybe world peace isn’t an unachievable fantasy.