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February 17, 2005
2. How the Mind Works
ou can jump to Now, there's another way the mind works that's even more profound, but few people realize it. The mind has a kind of thermostat that keeps us sane. A thermostat tries to keep the temperature in a certain range. If the temperature goes too high, it kicks in to cool the system down. If the temperature gets too low, it kicks in to heat the system up.
The mind has a deep, innate mechanism that continually tries to make sense of the world, to keep it within a comfortable range. It's part of the subconscious mind that regulates how we see the world. It holds a certain picture of the world and of ourselves that we label as sane. Then it goes to work making sure that everything we perceive fits in with our picture of a sane world and a sane self.
But this picture is not the same for everybody. Different people have different pictures about what is sane and what is crazy. Most of us have enough of a similar picture that we can get along with each other. But people with a picture that deviates too much from our common picture begin to look insane to us. This fact often accounts for the strife between political ideologies.
Here's an example. Everybody tends to accept certain authorities as true authorities. We tend to believe in experts who tell us something about ourselves. In elementary school they have these tests that are supposed to tell us what we are good at or weak at. Usually verbal and math, right?
So suppose a student in elementary school takes one of these tests, and the teacher, an authority figure, tells her that she's weak in math. She takes that in. "I'm weak in math. Thanks for telling me. I might have tried."
For the student, that becomes the "truth," whether or not the test is accurate. Their internal picture of themselves sets the thermostat. Once that truth gets embedded, the student's mind will reaffirm that truth every time she fails a test.
And if she does well on a test? She looks at that as a mistake, or the thermostat in her mind will, and the next time she takes a test she'll do poorly. Her subconscious picture will help her correct for the mistake of success. Her mental thermostat has been set to, "I'm weak in math." Being good at math does not fit her picture of herself, and anything that contradicts that picture is seen as an error, a fluke. Even success. Success cannot possibly mean anything good.
It's the same with some poor people who win the lottery. People picture themselves as poor, get lots of money, only to throw it away on parties and extravagant purchases, rather than investing it. They see themselves as poor. They're comfortable with that picture because it's a picture that they are familiar with. They know the rules. Suddenly they have wealth. This puts them in an uncomfortable world. It's new, it's different. It's not like what they're used to. So they become spendthrifts and end up back in the lifestyle they are used to. They return to the comfort zone set by their internal thermostat.
You're probably thinking, "Well, that can't be right. There are plenty of poor people who become wealthy." Sure. But it's usually through their own efforts. They hold a picture of themselves that gets them beyond their circumstances. They daydream of a different life. They get comfortable with that daydream, grow into it, and if they work hard enough they gradually manifest that dream. They transition into the new picture quite easily.
They have managed to reset their thermostat, take on a new picture of themselves, a new self-image, and live a different life.
Lottery winners could do that as well, it's just that few ever see themselves wealthy. They see themselves as poor people with money to spend.
So do I believe that people can't be helped? That they can only get ahead as rugged individualists? People can be helped. But the best way to help them is to encourage them to adopt a new picture of themselves and their life, and then work to create it for themselves. With some help if necessary, but they have to supply their own creative efforts. They have to participate in resetting their subconscious thermostat.
Frankly, most people like where they are. Especially if they don't have to work hard for handouts. (I have a relative who is a perfect example of this. He's smoked pot from the age of 14. He's now 47. He has been collecting Social Security for years because he convinced a government psychiatrist along the way that he was mentally disturbed. "I'd look at him and say, the files, the files, they have files on me." And he'd laugh at the psychiatrist's stupidity.)
People who have an understanding how the mind works can manipulate a population. Happens all the time. Marketing companies and political consultants know how to implant images and craft group images that idolize their products and candidates and demonize the competition.
They're not always successful. It's a more complex process than I'm describing. But I think everyone should be aware that they have a subconscious mind that is programmable like a computer, to a certain degree.
But you also have the power to alter your thoughts, talk to yourself in new and positive ways to change the picture. And protect yourself from others who try to program you.
How to Quit Smoking
I used to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day. I wanted to quit. It's hard to quit, even though research shows that the physical addiction is gone after several days of non-smoking.
Why do so many go back to smoking after that? Because even though they have given up smoking, they still hold the image of themselves as smokers. They are smokers who are not smoking.
I quit smoking by becoming a non-smoker first.
I spent months visualizing myself without cigarettes, even though I still smoked. I pictured my life without smoke, without dirty ashtrays, without a cigarette between my fingers, even while I was smoking.
And I adopted the attitudes of a non-smoker. Smoking is awful, it pollutes the air, kissing smokers is like licking an ashtray. The usual stuff.
When I finally quit, I didn't crave cigarettes because non-smokers don't crave cigarettes and I was already a non-smoker.
The problem with most people who quit and still crave cigarettes is that they are still smokers who aren't smoking. The outer picture may have changed, but they still hold onto the subconscious picture of themselves as smokers. And so they still crave cigarettes.
What kind of person are you? What ways do you picture yourself that hold you back from what you want to be? There is no easy way to change, and not everything will submit to your efforts.
I know this sounds simplistic. But you have nothing to lose by becoming aware of the processes involved. And trying a few experiments. If you have the discipline.
More of this stuff to come in 3. How the Mind Works.
*** Are we having a relationship, or just doing research on each other? Ashleigh Brilliant
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Posted by witnit at February 17, 2005 8:12 AM
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