It happens to all of us; under some circumstances we become ‘blind’ to specific information in front of us. This ‘blindness’ can manifest by our inability to “see” the information or that we simply twist the meaning of the information. This can have detrimental consequences for the multiple roles we play as leaders, partners, and parents, resulting in unnecessary conflict, loss of opportunities, and ultimately pain to ourselves and/or others. Commonly proposed approaches to deal with this type of conundrum are presented as ways to ‘outsmart’ the human mind by means of hacks or ways to ‘overcome’ this or that difficulty or problem. I think that developing an understanding of how our mind system operates gives us the opportunity to make revisions that are tailored to our circumstances and our unique sense of self.
Even though human beings are the most ‘rational’ beings roaming the face of the earth, most of our external and internal (thoughts) behavior occur automatically. This makes sense, it saves time and energy from pondering about circumstances and elements we’ve already encountered and “know” about. But do we? Each human being is a system that includes our mind and body. Every system is operated to carry out a function aimed at accomplishing a specific intention. From inception, the mind-body system is influenced and shaped by the interrelation of external and internal factors, including the physical environmental setup as well as the collective sets of beliefs that surround us. Therefore, the so called “blind spots” must be part of the system’s structure and therefore have a function to fulfill.
We are exposed to so much more information than we could possibly handle effectively, consequently we have evolved filters to process that information. In 1933, Alfred Korzybski observed that human beings perceive the world through our five senses: visual, auditory, kinesthetic[1], olfactory, and gustatory (VAKOG); and that we use filters (deletion, distortion, and generalization) to process the vast amount of information we are exposed to at any given time. With this filtered information we create maps or models that serve as a personal guide to function in the world. Based on these observations, Korzybski coined the phrase, “the map is not the territory”, because the map or model we create is our own and unique interpretation of reality, and not reality itself.
The function and structure of the circuitry that forms our mind is reflected through our external and internal behaviors, and it is partially communicated through our use of language. It is through our attention to language that we can review our thought processes and identify how the filters of deletion, distortion, and generalization may be hindering our perceptions. Access to this level of information gives us the opportunity to revise and update our perceptions, so that our external and internal behavioral patterns more adequately reflect our current circumstances and objectives.
[1] Kinesthetic refers to the sensations a person experiences regarding its own body.
