In recent years, I have read many books on a wide variety of topics (epistemology - the science of science, positive psychology, stoicism, Buddhism, personal development, philogophy...). As time went by, I began to build a core of values that are for me the best path to a serene and enlightened life. These values are mainly based on stoicism, some recent research in positive psychology and Buddhism. I obviously find it very difficult to respect them scrupulously, but setting them as a principle guides me in my decisions and helps me to grow (I hope).
For me, the purpose of life is to become wiser. To become more detached. To this end, two points of attention are the most important for me:
- Focusing as much as possible on the present moment.
- To refine my world view based on empirical data.
When I read Brad Blanton's "Radical honnesty", it was based on these principles and worldview. But for me:
Radical Honnesty is a unified theory of my
core principles of life
It's the first book I'd recommend to anyone. It formalizes ideas that were floating around in my mind without me really understanding them. To me, the real interest of this book is the model of the human mind presented by its author. In this article, I will try to honor Brad Blanton in explaining why I think his work is fundamental to a better understanding of the human being, of society and why it provides healthy principles of living.
I. From radical honesty, what rules should we set?
None.
This book has been an eye-opener for me. In a few sentences, here is how Blanton conceives the development of the human mind (caution, if you are a psychologist, this paragraph may make your eyes bleed, I apologize and am open to any recommendation. Also, read the book 😉 ). The human being perceives his environment for the first time towards the end of his life as a fetus. He reacts to external stimuli. In this state, a human has no constructed thought. After birth, the child will gradually become aware and experience the world around it. From these experiences, the child develops a representation of the world in its mind. It is based on the ocean of suggestions present in his mind. And it is this representation of the world that will define the personality and mechanisms of a human being.
According to Blanton, the closer we get to our initial state, the fetal state, the happier we are. It's an image, of course, but it's a very eloquent one. Indeed, what makes us unhappy is the gap between our representation of the world and what it really is:
- Neurosisis complaining that the world isn't the way we want it to be.
- Social anxiety is, among other things, due to the fear that our identity (our representation of ourselves) will be harmed by what we really are.
- Stress is the anticipation of events (a representation) that are not yet...
Of course, Blanton presents a model (to be considered as such). We cannot summarize
all modern psychology to this gap between how the world is represented and what the world really is. But this model sets out edifying principles for living. To come closer to the foetal state is to experience the world as it is (a behaviour encouraged for 2500 years by Buddhists). This sentence has a multitude of consequences. It pushes us:
- to become fully aware of the world;
- to be authentic;
- to base our decisions on our experiences of the world, not on moral principles or rules.
Becoming fully aware of the world, without judgment
Buddhists have been recommending it for 2500 years, and science confirms it: mindfulness is good for mental health. When we do nothing, instead of thinking random thoughts, it is better to concentrate fully on one thing. Whether it's breathing, touch, a beautiful landscape, a math problem, or the next blog post we write.
Mindfulness is directly related to "Flow". Flow is a psychological state first discovered by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi and is the Holy Grail for sports coaches, artists and other performers. When you are "in the Flow", you are so immersed in a task (because it is a little more difficult than what you usually do and/or because you are passionate about what you do) that you lose track of time.
In full consciousness or "Flow", we focus all of our attention on a single object or task.
We then short-circuit negative thoughts, anxieties and our various attachments. This is extremely beneficial. There is a therapy based on mindfulness meditation - Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) – qui est utilisée depuis longtemps pour soigner le stress.
But beware: devoting your full attention to an object must be active. It must be done deliberately, with cognitive effort. That's why watching an episode of one's favourite TV series is not considered mindfulness. A video is a highly charged piece of information (sound, colour, script), which automatically stimulates us, without us really needing to concentrate on it. If we get used to stimulating tasks (social networks, series, games...) then we will always need them to be focused. Cinema provides us with good examples of works that actively ask us to focus. The flim "The Tree of Life", by Terrence Malick, is (for me) the ultimate example. Similarly, reading is a less stimulating activity that requires more active concentration.
I will surely come back in detail to meditation, which is a very good tool to actively develop one's mindfulness. Research on the subject has exploded in recent years (600 articles in 2000 vs. 5000 in 2018), and Daniel Goleman recently published a state of the art . Meditation is sometimes credited with miraculous virtues. What we know for sure is that it has therapeutic virtues. We know that MBSR is an effective pain reliever, antidepressant and anti-stress. Similarly, it is difficult to say for the moment whether daily meditation modifies our personality durably (even a few months after we have stopped), on the other hand, if we meditate about 20 minutes a day, our well-being is considerably improved as long as we maintain the practice.
To meditate is to train oneself in the best possible setting to become fully aware of what is. It also means developing what Blanton calls our "internal observer" (the noticer), which allows us to notice the thoughts that emerge spontaneously in our mind. When I meditate, I very frequently think about something else. And even though I devote myself entirely to trying to count my breaths, I almost never get to 10 (about 30 seconds!) without suddenly thinking about something else. Because
an initial thought in my mind ("What time is it?", "Didn't I forget to save my work today?") triggered a succession of other thoughts. To develop one's internal observer is to notice when one of these counterproductive thoughts arises, without judgment. Once you notice them, it is easier to control them and to go back on your breathing, and thus to experience the world fully as it is.
This is how the model developed by Blanton guides us to mature and improve our thought patterns. We must always go back to the actual experience of the world rather than the representation we have of the world. But this model also helps us enormously in our decision-making.
To be continued ...