{"id":56,"date":"2019-01-09T15:06:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T15:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adrianharris.org\/blog\/?p=56"},"modified":"2020-05-21T12:06:31","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T12:06:31","slug":"your-tiny-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adrianharris.org\/blog\/2019\/01\/09\/your-tiny-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"Your tiny mind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our thinking is like an iceberg, with everyday awareness at the tip and 95% of cognition happening out of sight (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999: 13). Most of the time we identify that tiny 5% as \u2018self\u2019, discounting the hidden cognition that actually governs much of our behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This discovery could lead to a kind of Copernican Revolution in our sense of self: You are much more<\/em> than you think you are.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Cognitive Iceberg<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018iceberg\u2019 triangle represents the body and the arrows illustrate how the \u201corganism and environment enfold into each other\u201d (Varela et al. 1991: 217). The dotted area just below the apex designates \u2018gut feelings\u2019 which are closer to the vast wisdom of what I call the \u2018deep body\u2019. At the bottom of the iceberg is the \u201ccognitive unconscious\u201d (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999: 10), which is marked out because it\u2019s normally inaccessible to intentional influence or awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our everyday \u2018tip of the iceberg\u2019 consciousness is quite narrowly focused and tends to heighten our impression that the world is made up of what\u2019s \u2018out there\u2019 and what\u2019s \u2018in here\u2019. But there are lots of ways to slide our awareness down the iceberg into the deep body, including meditation, ritual, dance and sex. This slide increasingly blurs the distinction between \u2018self\u2019 and \u2018other\u2019, as illustrated by the gaps appearing in the sides of the triangle. When our awareness is in the deep body there is no separation between \u2018self\u2019 and \u2018other\u2019 or \u2018human\u2019 and \u2018nature\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cognitive science thus confirms ancient spiritual insights: We are only as separate as we think we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n