Theory of Mind, Yours and Mine

Morning Thoughts #248

Blessed with belief, the kind one cannot teach. What a gift to be born with.

The general flow, to begin with, kept far below.

Then came erosion, immersion into the greater. The opinions of the day there to wear it away. Abstract disagreeableness—in that we were comfortable following our own path—but when asked by the world’s messengers, in direct one-on-one settings, we increasingly began to learn to dismiss the feeling possessed most strongly.

I think I’ve written about this before: one must relearn the centeredness of youth but, by relearning it, truly earn it for the first time. A centeredness more flexible, more multi-faceted - one that can just as easily be placed within yourself as within another self. This is introspection that seeks the inner to understand other inners as well. A centeredness with multiple homes, as it were—the second home of another’s perspective… maybe just a rental? A well-studied theory of your own mind as a means of developing a theory of mind more generally.

Those who act within your definition of evil - do they self-identify as evil? Almost certainly not. And if you cannot realize this, you will remain incapable of developing a theory of mind for anyone outside of yourself and, most likely, an honest understanding of the one within you as well.