Are You The Sovereign Of Your Mind?
Are you the master of your thoughts or are you actually a mental serf? Here is how to find out.
How do most people form their opinions of the world? Parents, friends, school, and TV are a few of the most likely candidates for shaping thoughts. Most people will proudly declare that they think for themselves, when in fact they do not.
There is a huge portion of the population that cannot think logically. That doing this will lead to that which causes the other thing to happen. These people have been successfully programmed to give up their independent thought process for lazy groupthink. They have given up their mental rights, and now work the land for their masters.
Maybe you have seen or heard such people?
So few people are able to find the real facts and use their logic and reasoning to come to their own personal and independent opinion of the matter. These people have not given up their mental sovereignty and stay in control of their mind.
News
The news is the worst and most blatant programming, but many TV shows also subtly program people as well. All in all, TV is nothing more than a very successful way to program minds to think in one way. The mental serfs eat this gruel and thank their masters for it.
The news is only there to get eyeballs to make money on advertising and to create emotional reactions to sell their agenda. I suggest that you stop or reduce your consumption of this propaganda, use the time to a better purpose.
Advertising
A sovereign knows what they need or want and can see past advertising.
Society
Mental Sovereignty
Know that you do not have the ability to decrypt everything that happens in the world. In fact you need to only focus on what is happening in YOUR world and even more so what is happening there that YOU can control or change.
The ancient Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelius once said:
”You have the power over your own mind – not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength. If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
Too often people get stressed or emotional over something they cannot control. If you cannot change it, do not get stressed over it! Use your energy in a more productive way.
If you do not like something and it is within your power to change it, then either change it or accept it as it is and stress over it no longer!
Here are five steps to help you analyze that which you have deemed worthy of your time and mental energy.
- Remove all emotion. Decisions based solely off emotion are nearly always wrong.
- Use Logic to internally analyze the issue using your current knowledge and experiences. This ensures that you have a baseline that is unaltered by any bias besides your own innate one.
- Gather the facts.
- With these new facts, again go over the issue with your logic and reasoning.
- See if your opinion stands on its own and if it passes then determine your action to it.
Also, always remember that you might be wrong. So keep an open mind and be on the lookout for new facts.
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great article! Following now. As to "Remove all emotion," that could be a book in an of itself. Often I need to acknowledge and explore what I'm feeling before I can let the energy of that emotion flow and release. Then a calm clear mind can tackle the issue at hand. Another way to put it, when I'm triggered (or a friend is triggered) I focus on the feelings and present moment, not on problem-solving. Once calmness reigns again, then problem solving whatever the issue or trigger was.
It seems that you have acknowledged the emotional part of the equation and have tamed it better than most people in this world. We all have emotions and, since we are not Vulcans, will have to remind ourselves that sometimes it is the emotion doing the thinking and not the logical part of our brains.
Emotions can be part of the decision making process, but should just be listed as a 'pro' or 'con' in the decision.
Excellent post. I think being of epistemocratic nature (to steal a riff from Nassim Taleb) -- that is, calling all knowledge into question, and holding one's own biases and knowledge in utmost suspicion -- offers the best defense against a lazy mind.
I must say I had not heard of epistemocratic nature, I will have to look into it further.
I can't get rid of my emotions but I can stop feeding the negative ones...I am like the big blue sky, feelings and emotions are the weather passing by, I take refuge in the Dhamma/Dharma <3
You only have to put emotions to the side when you are delving into finding the truth about something. Emotions are still good, but glad to see you have the Dharma. :)
My teachers helped me save my life, the Dhamma is a nice boat to carry me across the sea of sensations. When I do get angry I call it surfing samsara....haha! Most of the time emotions don't rule me anymore...but getting old helps too, been there done that sorta thing.
Surfing samsara XD
Well, just remember that your mind is the most important part of you, it is what makes you... you after all. Never give up control of it. :D
I have read your post thoroughly, twice, and I am very much on your page - thank you for the time and effort - it is worth it. In me, however, you are preaching to the converted!
My angst centres around the pollination of such approaches to individual and collective responsibility.
Education encourages conformity of thought. A degree used to demand originality of thought; that is now the domain of the PhD. An MBA is a prime example of conformity. Very few holders are worth their own valuation.
To me, the secret lies in the embracing of 'unlearning', the capacity to cast off social and academic constructs before attempting to move forwards. A tainted canvas can never result in a thing of beauty!
Whilst I empathise with the ethos of Nassim Taleb, it is, in the main, a collection of 'don'ts' - these and the visions of Anarchism (which I believe is massively misunderstood and misrepresented) and their like need to develop a picture of how peoples can function in their Social Blueprint - such Blueprints are as rare as rocking-horse shit!
As long as people, including steemians, continue to prefer conspiracy theories (Insitutionalised gossip) and fake news over Truth, we will remain in denial and hence subjugated by the power elites (including on steemit).
The power elite of steemit are all too vilifying of the Washingtons of this world, yet they perpetrate and heighten the effects of a far more toxic mechanism. Where in the world is it accepted that one person is valued at several thousand times more than another when performance is a non-factor?
Namaste!
Good to see another steemian that is on the same wavelength as myself.
Universities have become a center for groupthink. Where before students could debate each side of the issue with respect for each other, in many universities of today any thought outside the the main group is shut down. This leads to students only hearing one version of the world. There are points to be made on all sides of any issue, and by silencing one side out of any discussion it only leads on a path to intolerance and dictatorship.
We are most certainly on the same page! What joy!
I am not sure where anyone is at in steemit - despite the impersonality I try to make it personal - this is after all, social media (may be a misnomer).
People copy and paste and expect glorification. I choose my own path. A whale posted a piece about the Twitter girl in Aleppo which I had exposed as fake four days earler. The whale ranted at me. I provided evidence.
Over three posts I was awarded 40 votes.
The whale was awarded 230 votes for C&P lies.
This is how the world is and it is alive, well and kicking in steemia
I am an intolerant old bastard when it comes to wilful ignorance and I make no apologies for my disposition!!
Man, I'm telling you, your posts are eye opening mind bending pools of knowledge.
You literally pour intelligence, my bro!!
Amazing job yet again!
Thank you my man! :D