Legos of the mind

I like watching my children play with Legos. They look more focused and purposeful when they do this than with other activities.  Connecting simple pieces to produce a complex result seems to be the core human skill.  We use simple words to create sentences with rich meaning.  We use simple thoughts, connected in certain ways, to produce more complex thoughts and reach powerful conclusions that shape our lives.

Beliefs are the heavy weight champions of the thought world. First we reach some type of conclusion, then if we give it enough emphasis, it becomes a belief. Our beliefs rule our life.  I read a very insightful quote once : "You don't have strong beliefs, strong beliefs have you".

When I worked in Chicago, I'd walk through Grant Park in the spring. It was a great way of getting some fresh air after being cooped up during the winter.  The park had an awesome view of the city. My favorite building in Chicago was the John Hancock tower.  This building exists because someone reached the conclusion that it needed to be built. A massive ninety five story building comes to existence because of a ghostly, intangible thing, a thought, grabbed a hold of someones mind.  A powerful idea, followed by vigorous action is the cause of all human achievement.

Beliefs are the guiding principles of our behavior. For instance, if we believe we are bad at handling conflict, then avoiding conflict becomes a rule to live by.  All rules of behavior make sense under the light of the belief that caused them, but some are truly toxic to their users. Stomachs have a way of rejecting bad food, brains don't reject bad thoughts, on the contrary, they seem to become infatuated by them.

Beliefs also help us "predict" the future. If we think we are bad at something we will see ourselves failing at it in the future. Since the belief was created in the past, we magically evaluate the new in light of the old and get trapped in the past. You notice the lack of flexibility of behavior in adults versus children. Inflexible beliefs become the barrier that prevents us from interacting effectively with the new.

My kids would asses if a Lego model was stable by shaking it a little bit and feeling if the connections where strong.  The same way, we can look at the connections we make in our mind with a critical eye. Is there any factual evidence that A is true, that B is true and that they logically follow each other? Is A true still now, even if it was true twenty years ago, is it still relevant?  Would accepting A harm me or others?  Does A actually mean anything or is a vague concept subject to interpretation?

Evaluating each piece objectively and testing the connections between its components is a required check before we accept a new thought.  Over time, is good to question if some of these conclusions have lost their relevance with the passing of time.

In the Middle Ages, fear, hunger and the threat of violence controlled populations at a physical level. Nowadays things are more subtle. No doubt marketeers and politicians want to control your behavior.  They do this by getting you to think in a way that will lead you to behave how they want you to behave. This reminds me of another quote: "if you don't have a plan for yourself, somebody else does". Of course, their plan will not be in your best interest. Once you are under the spell of a virus-like thought, your behavior benefits mainly someone else.

Seduction is the new form of dominance in the connected world and the process of winning you over is becoming more scientific. People that want to influence you know your values and those of your friends.  We leave a digital footprints on everything we do.  Rather than becoming paranoid about this, just be aware that this is the way it is.

Nowadays we wouldn't dare surfing the web without an anti virus software.  How about turning on a good firewall for our minds?  In this free society, your level of self awareness will determine whether your beliefs are truly your own.