A perspective on original action….
For a very long time it has been thought that “thought” precedes action, at least it’s the conventional wisdom, and an understanding behind making of our Institutions, therefore of our other social conventions, purposes of education, development of technology etc. But this entire view is rather inhibiting, as it does not inspire action always such as in the development of outside the box. Thought before action is efficient in inspiring actions such as array of procedures, rules & regulations etc but can this inspire something radically different, a truly new action. These mechanized approaches towards everyday action in our social, personal, political, and economic life has mostly inspired stasis of mind, emotion or anything of interest. Fundamentally thought before action is almost always in counter of the inspiration that inspired action in the first place always, any post enactment is mediocrity of mind.
There is possibly a way around it if we can learn to engage in our action almost spontaneously, by doing so we can learn to wrestle away some control from our existing thought patterns, which would otherwise are being continuously reinforced by the conscious thought. It is being widely suggested in scientific communities of neuroscience, neurophysiology, that at any given time our daily actions are determinative, therefore embedded in brain’s physiology. By this understanding the structure of our brain at any time is almost a representation of our life experiences, core beliefs, habits etc. The research is conclusive in many of its aspects, but not in its interpretation, neither in its usability. So we can assume that through mindfulness, occasionally breaking habits, our routines we can engage different parts of our brains. In practice this would mean for us the creation of different realities over time, a variety in our perceptions of our experiences etc.
Human brain over the last few thousand years has lived in a harsh environment where margins of survival were very narrow. Social conditioning, compliance were some of the most desirable attributes, essential behaviors of brain, a necessary element of our survival instincts. It made sure that we think the same things, say the same things, do the same things, hold the same beliefs, even sometime feel the same things, which was all good and necessary to make our species into social creatures, to build teams, to define societal & occupational roles for our individuals. Which if you look at seems quite essential today are in fact also the biggest source of mediocrity. The best theory is that our brains are survival devices, control centers for some super-conscious instinct, which was somehow able to fashion a brain, a living organism, a set of bio-chemical processes for itself, for its survival. Its almost paradoxical to say that our brain for all its purposes, capacity, potential usability has ended up greatly restricting itself, thus also binding this super sub-conscious within it too in its application. The great yin & yang of our physiology and superconscious, no wonder Chinese philosophy feels so real.
Survival the single most important talked about concept in out interpretation of our behaviors is also the greatest bottle neck as well in ensuring so. Whether you assume brain as our starting point (Atheistic View) or some Super Conscious (Religious view) practically and logically it means that our brain or our consciousness has totally self-limited itself, bounded its own self within its own self. Its something that we often use to describe humans that we put limit on ourselves. What we fail to realize is that its something that our medieval brain has been doing for Millenia, Thousands of years for survival, for mediocrity. Whatever & However our consciousness has survived (or been conceived), adapted, transcended over millions or possibly billions of years from one physical form to another, through all those extinctions, all that journey through space-time on some forgotten asteroid or meteor, has been effectively working & playing with handbrakes on; using a device, that is brain, a primitive device, basic in nature, seemingly complex but relatively simple in its working physiology. We may never break free from our constraints but we have begun to embrace the possibility of different, of outside the box, of diversity, of fluid sexuality, of newer philosophy, of action before thought, and if there is ever a truly survivable characteristic then its not in the norm. And when the norm is unusual, different, creative then we call it “Thriving” not merely surviving.
As I read it somewhere recently “Don’t read everything, You Believe”. Sometimes just changing the order of the same things can have beautiful insights.
Neomodern 