Expanding The Mind

When you make an observation, it leaves a mark in your mind. This is called a memory. Memories can be mental or emotional.

Memories cost time. Since time is a scarce resource, it would be wise to make meaningful and useful memories.

When you make multiple observations, you end up carrying multiple memories.

The mind typically processes the memories and builds a pattern. This pattern is called an opinion.

The mind likes economy. Instead of keeping all the memories, it is easier to keep an opinion. Therefore; memories can be forgotten, but opinions tend to linger.

When you have multiple opinions, the mind processes them and builds a macro pattern. This pattern is called a mindset.

Because the mind likes economy, it starts to automatically catch & process & evaluate the inputs based on the mindset. That’s where illusionary concepts are born; such as selective perception and stereotyping.

If you have only one mindset, you can understand and process only a small percentage of the phenomenon existing in the world. Fanatics are typical examples.

When someone shares an advice or opinion, question his/her mind span.

When you judge or conclude about something, question your own mind span.

If you take your time to make further observations in an emphatic, flexible and open minded approach, your mind can build more patterns. This will enable you to have a broader range of mindsets.

Observing foreign cultures, experimenting out of the comfort zone, facing fears and listening to alternative / opposing sources are typical examples of such expansions.

A broader range of mindsets can cover a larger percentage of the phenomenon in the world. You end up understanding the world more accurately and holistically.

You might also become more mature and understanding because you start seeing the mechanism behind things much better.

Coverage of multiple mindsets would obviously be deeper than the coverage of a single mindset.

Someone with a larger mind span will probably make more accurate conclusions and decisions.

Mind is not the last stop. Meditation can help you go beyond the mind, understand that you are not your mind, and see things more clearly.