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Mind - The need for a new model
Project: Polytopia
Project: Polytopia
At the very core of being human, at the core of human social and cultural fabric lays the human mind, and the knowledge of the mind. Its roots are as ancient and as diverse as human civilization. It is colored by myth, folk psychology, cultural belief systems, common sense, philosophy and relatively recently by science. How do we perceive? What is there to perceive? What is consciousness? What is the nature of reality? What are thoughts and how do thoughts arise? How do we know whatever we know? Is there continuity beyond physical death (or before birth)? These are just a few of the fundamental riddles a theory of mind should answer. Whether we are aware of it or not, every perception, thought, emotion, behavioral stance, interaction or value we have is entailed by an underlying theory of mind.
Theories of mind held by individuals arise at a very early age as a consequence of interactions with the environment. They can be fairly simple or incredibly complex depending on factors such as the individual’s mental and emotional capacity, upbringing, education, life experience and cultural background. At a higher level, a theory of mind operates as cohering glue that guides human interactions and integrates human individuals into complex cultural organisms. With very few exceptions, diverse theories of mind operated by individuals are instances of the theory of mind sustained by the larger cultural organism they belong to. In this sense, both the dynamics of an individual mind and the collective dynamics of cultural organisms derive from the same theory of mind.
Due to its profound influence on the reality of being in all dimensions, a theory of mind is perhaps the single most significant and remarkable reflection of a civilization. Moreover, the fitness of a civilization to address existential problems that arise in the course of its evolution is intimately connected to what openings, opportunities and fields of interaction its underlying theory of mind allows.
Recently it is becoming overwhelmingly clear that modern civilization is experiencing change on scales and speeds never experienced in human history. In the face of such massive transformative pressures, a revision of the prevailing theory of mind, the very manner by which we perceive reality and ourselves, seems to become imperative.
In a 1970 lecture Gregory Bateson, a prominent thinker who realized the connection between mind culture and nature said:
Most remarkable in Bateson’s reflections is the connection he makes between the theory of mind and the dynamics of culture, and between this dynamics and the culture’s prospects of continuity and evolution. As we address an increasing imbalance and collapse of ecological systems verging on a disaster of a planetary scale, we still think in terms of ‘protecting nature’, ‘saving the planet’, or ‘warding off climate change’. The change in attitude is perhaps apparent, but sadly it is fundamentally constrained by a language and conceptual system belonging to the increasingly obsolete separated and separating worldview reflected in Bateson’s words. We still try to handle ‘the situation out there’ instead of addressing the Mind- our mind as the only state of affairs.
At the beginning of the 3rd millennium we witness a very wide spectrum of similar observations. More than that; it seems that much of our deeper understanding of mind which is still rooted in biblical myth and the Judeo-Christian-Islamic worldview is becoming inadequate and profoundly so. The abuse of the environment is only one extreme example of such inadequacy. Dysfunctional governance systems, fragile economy, corruption, the decline of individual mental balance and emotional fitness are additional symptoms of the dangerously decreasing fitness of human civilization on this planet. Even the immense impact of science on our understanding of the brain and human psychology do not compensate for the fact that at the root of our deepest scientific understandings lays an obsolete theory of mind.
Indeed, a civilization is a very complex organism with immense capabilities of adaptation and transformation. Adjustments are taking place at many levels with varying degrees of effectiveness. Yet, most of these adaptations are superficial. It seems that civilization is reaching a phase where an effective response to the accelerating selective pressures at play invites a profound revision of first principles: we need to augment our theory of mind. It is perhaps the first time in the history of humanity that an intense inquiry into the nature of mind is becoming a clear imperative.
The inquiry into the nature of mind does not and cannot belong to any specific field of human inquiry, not even to philosophy or religion or science that historically, each in turn, claimed a privileged authoritative status or even ownership in regards to what mind is or might be. It is my belief that the inquiry into the nature of mind should be all encompassing, multidisciplinary and multidimensional, integrating all aspects of the phenomenal and mental realms. Above all it should be open ended: there are no final truths to be uncovered, no fixated conceptions. Moreover, the inquiry into the nature of mind should become a primary challenge of every human being as hinted by the ancient aphorism ‘Know thyself’. Such inquiry holds the promise of the deepest most profound aesthetic pleasure. It seems to capture and distill the very essence and meaning of being an intelligent evolving conscious being.
Theories of mind held by individuals arise at a very early age as a consequence of interactions with the environment. They can be fairly simple or incredibly complex depending on factors such as the individual’s mental and emotional capacity, upbringing, education, life experience and cultural background. At a higher level, a theory of mind operates as cohering glue that guides human interactions and integrates human individuals into complex cultural organisms. With very few exceptions, diverse theories of mind operated by individuals are instances of the theory of mind sustained by the larger cultural organism they belong to. In this sense, both the dynamics of an individual mind and the collective dynamics of cultural organisms derive from the same theory of mind.Due to its profound influence on the reality of being in all dimensions, a theory of mind is perhaps the single most significant and remarkable reflection of a civilization. Moreover, the fitness of a civilization to address existential problems that arise in the course of its evolution is intimately connected to what openings, opportunities and fields of interaction its underlying theory of mind allows.
Recently it is becoming overwhelmingly clear that modern civilization is experiencing change on scales and speeds never experienced in human history. In the face of such massive transformative pressures, a revision of the prevailing theory of mind, the very manner by which we perceive reality and ourselves, seems to become imperative.
In a 1970 lecture Gregory Bateson, a prominent thinker who realized the connection between mind culture and nature said:
If you put God outside and set him vis-à-vis his creation and if you have the idea that you are created in his image, you will logically and naturally see yourself as outside and against the things around you. And as you arrogate all mind to yourself, you will see the world around you as mindless and therefore not entitled to moral or ethical consideration. The environment will seem to be yours to exploit. Your survival unit will be you and your folks or con-specifics against the environment of other social units, other races and the brutes and vegetables. If this is your estimate of your relation to nature and you have an advanced technology, your likelihood of survival will be that of a snowball in hell. You will die either of the toxic by-products of your own hate, or, simply, of over-population and over grazing.
Most remarkable in Bateson’s reflections is the connection he makes between the theory of mind and the dynamics of culture, and between this dynamics and the culture’s prospects of continuity and evolution. As we address an increasing imbalance and collapse of ecological systems verging on a disaster of a planetary scale, we still think in terms of ‘protecting nature’, ‘saving the planet’, or ‘warding off climate change’. The change in attitude is perhaps apparent, but sadly it is fundamentally constrained by a language and conceptual system belonging to the increasingly obsolete separated and separating worldview reflected in Bateson’s words. We still try to handle ‘the situation out there’ instead of addressing the Mind- our mind as the only state of affairs.
At the beginning of the 3rd millennium we witness a very wide spectrum of similar observations. More than that; it seems that much of our deeper understanding of mind which is still rooted in biblical myth and the Judeo-Christian-Islamic worldview is becoming inadequate and profoundly so. The abuse of the environment is only one extreme example of such inadequacy. Dysfunctional governance systems, fragile economy, corruption, the decline of individual mental balance and emotional fitness are additional symptoms of the dangerously decreasing fitness of human civilization on this planet. Even the immense impact of science on our understanding of the brain and human psychology do not compensate for the fact that at the root of our deepest scientific understandings lays an obsolete theory of mind.
Indeed, a civilization is a very complex organism with immense capabilities of adaptation and transformation. Adjustments are taking place at many levels with varying degrees of effectiveness. Yet, most of these adaptations are superficial. It seems that civilization is reaching a phase where an effective response to the accelerating selective pressures at play invites a profound revision of first principles: we need to augment our theory of mind. It is perhaps the first time in the history of humanity that an intense inquiry into the nature of mind is becoming a clear imperative.
The inquiry into the nature of mind does not and cannot belong to any specific field of human inquiry, not even to philosophy or religion or science that historically, each in turn, claimed a privileged authoritative status or even ownership in regards to what mind is or might be. It is my belief that the inquiry into the nature of mind should be all encompassing, multidisciplinary and multidimensional, integrating all aspects of the phenomenal and mental realms. Above all it should be open ended: there are no final truths to be uncovered, no fixated conceptions. Moreover, the inquiry into the nature of mind should become a primary challenge of every human being as hinted by the ancient aphorism ‘Know thyself’. Such inquiry holds the promise of the deepest most profound aesthetic pleasure. It seems to capture and distill the very essence and meaning of being an intelligent evolving conscious being.
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