Depth is Everywhere

October 7, 2022 Cognitive Insights, Mental Depth No Comments

Everywhere and nowhere. Depth is a characteristic of human mental processing.

See: What is ‘Depth’?.

Depth is how the brain works by default ― nothing special.

See, for instance, The Poetic Brain.

At the same time, we see a stark lack of depth in so many places and situations. The world is sleepwalking from crisis to crisis by lack of depth. The least one can say about this is that it’s weird.

Not culture-bound

The being and the not-being present of depth where it matters most is not bound to any culture. Looking at it from very far, it seems to be a problem of the human species.

Therefore, it’s essential to see it as such and to try to amend something about it from that angle. Anything less will only be temporary at best. I described this as three waves of attention. It can, indeed, be seen as an issue of how attention evolved from the start of life on Earth and also how it gets realized in each individual’s life.

Depth is everywhere.

Thus: you, right now. How are you reading this text? Are you jumping over the pieces, or do you let yourself be touched profoundly?

One needs to slow down in order to move in another direction. Metaphorically speaking, one needs to slow down horizontally in order to start moving vertically ― the direction of depth.

This move is always possible.

How-to?

Meditation, of course. But for those who don’t like the word or the idea, it can be put as ‘blanking the mind.’

I posted three exercises about this, called – sorry – three short meditations. You may as well look at them as something else. I think these can be done at any time. With some expertise, they can even be done while proceeding horizontally in some slow-down mode. That is also the way I am writing this text right now.

Slowing down is the same as Opening yourself.

Opening-with-capital means: towards yourself as a total person, conceptually and subconceptually. By nature, you have the brain to do so. In principle, you can do so at any moment.

IF you adequately do this, you may perceive that it also Opens you to the outside: situations, other people, the comprehension of what on Earth I am now writing about ― and you are reading it.

I write invitations to your Opening.

Have you noticed?

Depth is here. I don’t bring it to you since it’s your depth and can only ever be so. Depth never comes from the outside.

Depth is everywhere if you find it inside yourself.

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

How to Deal with Enemy

In many cases, ‘enemy breeds enemy.’ Two opposing parties, each convinced of their righteousness, defend themselves against the ‘bad ones’ ― and in doing so, reinforce the enmity. This dynamic becomes a cycle, creating further division and hostility. In politics, this is often an intentional tactic. A politician may vilify the opposing party to make Read the full article…

How Lisa Gains Depth

Depth grows through processes that are surprisingly natural. Much like in human development, Lisa’s depth emerges through experience, reflection, interaction, and the gradual organization of meaning. The question is not whether Lisa can gain depth, but how such depth comes into being inside an, euh, robot. Two directions of depth People describe depth as if Read the full article…

Human Growth Beyond Theoretical Divides

Theories often strive to explain the complexities of human development by categorizing influences into neat systems. While these frameworks offer valuable tools for understanding, they can also obscure the fluid and interconnected nature of human growth. Moving beyond rigid theoretical divisions reveals the deeper common sense of influence — one that embraces both external environments Read the full article…

Translate »