We are accustomed to living in a three dimensional world and therefore thinking in three dimensions. It’s an extremely adaptive way to be, it enables us to focus on numerous worthwhile, necessary, and often satisfying and joyous events. It is often the focus of scientific thought – although sometimes the comfortable boundaries of thee dimensions are broken by unsettling theories of relativistic physics and quantum mechanics. It helps us bring to our world a sense of control and an ability to manipulate our environment in profound and helpful ways.
However, a basic reality of mind is that our minds are profoundly four-dimensional. The fourth dimension – Time – is an intrinsic part of our conscious and unconscious mental worlds. To ignore it is to ignore a huge and basic law of human mind. As much as our society tends to ignore it and even fight it – its importance often slips out in more or less everyday discourse: The Santyana quote that he who ignores history is doomed to repeat it (or something like that) is remarkably often used. However, it is rarely related to individual history.
All of this is to give perhaps an abstract like summary of my previous and yet-to-come blogs on basic laws of mind, and of my NYU lectures.
However, a basic reality of mind is that our minds are profoundly four-dimensional. The fourth dimension – Time – is an intrinsic part of our conscious and unconscious mental worlds. To ignore it is to ignore a huge and basic law of human mind. As much as our society tends to ignore it and even fight it – its importance often slips out in more or less everyday discourse: The Santyana quote that he who ignores history is doomed to repeat it (or something like that) is remarkably often used. However, it is rarely related to individual history.
All of this is to give perhaps an abstract like summary of my previous and yet-to-come blogs on basic laws of mind, and of my NYU lectures.
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