Mind – Page 2 – Thomas Cotterill

Battling Our Inner Conflicts

One of my favourite psychology books is Karen Horney’s, Our Inner Conflicts. No one explains psychological conflicts better than this German-American psychiatrist does. Horney makes the brilliant point that both sides of an inner conflict are not wanted – a real conflict that is, not just a bad case of indecision over two equally desirable alternatives. She believes a victim of conflict gets hung up on the two opposed “trends” and is thus unable to pursue the outcome they really desire.

Karen Horney explained how both sides of an inner conflict are things we do not want! (Image: public domain.)

Here is how this mechanism gets started.

The about-to-be conflicted individual represses what they truly want (for any number of reasons) and then goes looking for alternatives, all of which are, of course, less desirable than what has been pushed out of sight. The human mind being what it is, the moment we conceive one alternative its opposite immediately springs to mind. Several pairs of opposites may be generated in this way, but eventually one possibility, along with its inevitable opposite, will seem like the most probable choices.

Filter the Junk from Your Experience

The reliability of the senses, perception, and memory has long been the subject of debate. A great many thinkers have weighed in with their opinions on these essential functions of the brain. Science is currently expending enormous effort in making experimental assessments. A lot is at stake. It is vital that we know just how far we can trust our innate abilities to collect information about the world around us. We need to know how well we convert sensory data into basic concepts (tree, rock, person, and so on). We must also have some idea of how well we remember those reflexive perceptions once we have formed them.

UFO or cloud? It is foolish to be uncritical of your own experiences; you must make them a matter of conscience and knowledge. How you choose to interpret and remember the experience does matter.

The Mind’s Task Is to Produce Future

Interior of a Futuristic Rotating Space Colony

The human race depends on its ability to predict the future with reasonable accuracy. At the personal level, mind is the primary tool for “producing” future. (Photo: NASA)

French poet, essayist, and philosopher Paul Valéry said that the task of the mind is to produce future. That is to say, mind is essentially an anticipator, a generator of expectations. We all do this. Sports fans bet on hockey, baseball, football, or basketball scores, or simply on who will win the game. Bloggers guess the number of hits taking into account the day of the week and how good they think their post is. Investors anticipate stock market shifts. Business types estimate demand for their product or service. Workers gauge their energy reserves against what needs doing and pace themselves. Hunters calculate where the prey will run.

Solitude Can Generate Chaotic Thoughts and Negative Moods

Scientists believe the natural state of the human mind is chaos. Since it lacks innate order, something must happen to keep the mind in an orderly state. To put this in practical terms, it means that when people are alone, with nothing to do, their thoughts tend to become disordered and their moods negative. They suffer psychic entropy.

A little solitary time can be restful, but for most people, spending too much time alone allows a disordered mind which then generates negative moods.

The neuropsychologist George Miller said, “The mind survives by ingesting information.” When no information is available to keep it in an ordered state, the mind begins to lose control of attention (i.e. it begins to “wander”), at least temporarily. Most people instinctively understand this and deal with solitary time by taking up pastimes such as watching TV, reading, listening to music, thumbing through magazines, or surfing the net. They deliberately expose themselves to an external information source. What’s more, when faced with the prospect of solitary time away from home – with its habitual pursuits – they prepare by buying a magazine or a paperback book, or by taking their iPod or laptop with them.