Mindsets

Mindset: noun

an attitude, disposition, or mood.

an intention or inclination.

Being the homemade philosopher that I am, I was waking up in bed this morning thinking about mindsets.  Btw, how lucky am I to have the uncomplicated life that affords me such a thought luxury?  Very, and I know it!  :) Anyway…

Mindsets are really interesting things to think about.  The irony is that, when you think about them, you do so under a mindset.  I suspect that’s where many-a-reasoning capabilities can and have taken some wild, illogical turns.  Conundrum: How to “see clearly” when under the influence of a particular mindset?  How to weed out fact from fiction, truth from lie, and come out on the other side with a mindset somewhat still intact?  What kind of person can do that?  Or better yet, what kind of person can’t?  Great questions, right?

We all have mindsets.  Actually, we’ve all had many.  Think about how you thought when you were a teenager.  A lot different than now, ‘eh?  Somewhere along the line of life, like the proverbial shit, “influences happen.”  Sometimes they can be like epiphanies, coming out of the blue.  What happens in the brain that triggers that moment in time?  I don’t know; probably some chemical secretion surge.  Like a flash of lucidity, a situation “meets the (your) requirements” and it, a newish mindset, happens... boom.

I was thinking about, for example, people who kill other people.  Take John Lennon’s killer, Mark David Chapman.  He was in a mindset when he approached John and robbed him of his young life.  I wonder if Chapman is NOW thinking, “What was I thinking?! A probable life in prison, for a life in the grave. Was it really worth it?” he must wonder.

Yes it’s very true.  We can mess up our life, or someone else’s, with a somewhat/relatively “momentary life-situation” mindset.  Such mindsets can involve many categories, such as crimes of passion, or revenge, or the meting out of believed justice.  Lots of reasons can put us (stick us) in a mindset; ones that we may regret later.  Your life is pretty much based on your current mindset.  So… here’s my ask:

Talk to us about mindsets.  What do you make of mindsets?  Analyze that phenomenon for us from your current mindset.  Should we be more mindful of them?  How do they affect our politics?

Take your answers to wherever your mind(set) sends you.  And if this write-up has caused you to think about your own mindset more closely, then “mission accomplished.” ;)

Thanks for recommending.