©2014 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee    

Exploration of the Mirror of the Mind

We think we know ourselves, but to explore what really exists on the minds of men may require a complicated journey to the ends of the earth, a trek to the many hidden extremities of civility, or surprisingly, and rarely —it may involve only a simple look into, or a sneak peak behind the mirror of the mind and a revelation. One single, surprising glance into the subconscious may shatter forever the mirror that deters the examination of even the simplest, but subliminally-held, secrets in the minds of men. (And in the minds of women too, for the ever-insatiable politically-correct.) Few individuals understand themselves well enough to tolerate  the unknown or intense self-examination to that degree, so is it a dangerous exercise? Ultimately, the complete exposure of the contents of the mind is required. Essential questions must be asked, but in doing so may, in theory, alter your mind forever. Carefully decide if it is an honest answer you seek —before you step up to the looking-glass. It can, and will shatter unexpectedly.

 What is behind the mirror of the mind?

"Know thyself" comes to mind, but what did Socrates first truly intend that statement to mean? Perhaps he implied you should understand your unadorned, true nature, or was he suggesting, to remain safe, —caution, wisdom and relief should be applied in the acknowledgment and examination of the most questionable, heinous , quirky, deeply hidden and distasteful aspects of humanity? Does one really care to examine in detail all that may be harboured behind the mirror of the mind? Would one wish to know, for instance, that he is indeed capable of  sinful, heinous, vicious acts ranging from brutality to murder,  theft, treason, betrayal, lies, duplicity, and cowardice? Think about it. It is often paraphrased in simple terms "not to wish too hard for something, for to your dismay, in revelation, you may have it thrust upon you."  Curiously,  therein may also exist, in some instances, the official mechanism of absolute genius, and as just retribution; would you consider the discovery of such revelations of equal value, worthy of such risk,  desirable,  and your destiny, even the will of God himself? Would insecure young men, upon first examination, care to frankly admit what appears to be on the minds of the young and foolish? Hedonism. Adventure, entertainment, food, fun, sports, sex and the opposite sex. Irresponsibility. Lack of dedication or persistence. The daily process of having a great time with no intention of the serious dominates the immature. Little  wisdom, commitment,  or lack of character may characterize the young.  Much contemporary latitude and trust has been attributed to the phrase "boys will be boys".  The old adage "rules are made to be broken" is a modern fact of life and equally seems to be offered as weak-minded justification in explanation. As always, there are exceptional individuals that clearly do not fit snugly into that mold but instead are distinctive exceptions. Those special, intelligent individuals clearly belong in the next category. In a second form, the question may also be apparently answered simplistically, for in the minds of more mature men exist the duties and questions of true adulthood,  responsibility, economic survival, those eternal matters of procreation and family, occupation, education, character, and self-improvement. Pursuits may be evenly flavoured with positive aspects of ethics, development of relationships, faith, morality, reality and  sensible  recognition of individual mortality which tends to colour, influence the mind and accelerate change for the better. Negative factors of deception, greed, and materialism inevitably enter and taint most lives to some degree, and as a result, all of the seven sins may come to mind. Count them, line them up, and make choices, for they each clearly exist in the mind until death. Everyone can identify them; honesty suggests we can, every one of us, record clashes with temptation in spite of the human  preference not to admit personal flaws of character. Endless foolishness and repeatable errors divined in the construction of lives clearly plague the minds of all; if any individual manages atypically to avoid one or more aberrations in his lifetime, he is indeed an exception and may be offered as one more facet to the eternal puzzle called mankind. On a far deeper, subconscious, and ageless level, the amazing form and nature of a human mind may be brilliant, have unfailing curiosity and genius, but it, too, is fraught with peril and lined with devious traps and subliminal subways to the subconscious mind where primitive instinct, primal fear, courage, love, hate, eternal hope and unrevealed secrets dwell simultaneously. Knowledge and wisdom normally develop with life experience, however the basic aspects of the human mind remain structured in the same primal, but not necessarily primitive, pattern. Perhaps, just as fragments of dreams in the mind are destroyed and immediately forgotten upon waking , endlessly varying shards of knowledge and primal instinct from the dawn of the ages, including those of inherent faith, are stored permanently to be retrieved at will. Knowledge preserved in vocal history, libraries, and documents, may also be stored in man's memory; a possibility exists that the same information and more is stored subliminally in the mind, ever-present and hidden in spite of the blank tabula rasa  hypothesized by Aristotle.

Universal Knowledge?

So-called "savants" have access to information they have never had previous exposure to which suggests there is more on the minds of men than has historically been taken for granted. Did Aristotle himself truly start wondering what was being written to his own mind when he was a foolish young man, or did he wait until the onset of later maturity and wisdom —and then question and decipher the results? Something was on his mind, clearly. The question must arise, what did he perceive, and why did he become so interested in the the minds of men? Let us experiment momentarily and pretend that he was of an Alpha, of a dominant nature, perhaps in the extreme, even a clever " societal control freak", as we might label such a powerful  man today, —and he was searching for a way to control people. If that were true, and his intent was devious and manipulative, would his ideas and analysis bear the same weight and still be relevant today? Would influence be  more relevant if we were assured without doubt, that such an individual was of sterling character? What really was on his mind? Is his record pure, or did he, too, harbour undeclared secrets and intentions? Perhaps it is beneficial to society that we only speculate as to what was on his mind, and optimistically assign outstanding academic characteristics to any revered individual we choose, for even the intent of Aristotle himself could be questioned. What do we as individuals think is on our own minds at any given time? To apply reason, direction and logic further in this exploration, let us hypothesize that any question of this nature will result in a specific and instant analysis of "personal self-reality", or "self-perception.  It will most likely be the equivalent of the most recent, or a first and arbitrary memory that is quickly selected for convenience.Usually it is a self-perception that is pleasant, optimistic and perhaps upon previous recall, demonstrated a pleasing outcome. If offered a subsequent choice, upon further reflection, one may ultimately change his mind and make second, third or even endless choices more to his liking, perhaps identifying personal, hedonistic, or alternative implications and arbitrarily rejecting the first choice. If guilt is involved, choices may be quickly shunted off to the side, simply because self-deprecating personal guilt is not pleasing to the individual mind. Although it may be, guilt is not necessarily always "on the forefront of the mind", but shunted to  hidden, cloistered or segregated memory. Guilt is a poignant example of undesirable physical or emotional results representing a defined reality at a specific time in the past, and is therefore the truth, or was at that time - which can be difficult to face and must be set aside in a relative order of acceptability, the darkest and most forbidding being hidden furthest in the deepest recesses of the mind. Therein lies self-justification and the prime mechanism for constantly changing the content of the  mind. It may also be almost redundant and questionable to ask what is on the minds of men, for only a split second ago, or a split second in the future, reality may have been, or will be, utterly different in nature, both in the mind and in reality. With respect to the guilty, it is important to note that  flawed characters are candidates for a complete renewal and change regardless of how extreme the past may have been, and, astoundingly, what may have even been surreptitiously planned in the future as reality may never materialize. Similarly, all "perfect" individuals therefore have the potential for the extremes of deterioration; greed, lust, indeed for all of the potential evils if and when conditions are suitably ripened sufficiently to promote them. Let us remember that what exists precisely at any given moment is the true definition of reality— at that exact moment, and similarly a time constraint may also be applied to the true definition of what is "on the minds of men" for that same moment in time. A snapshot of the mirror of the mind records only the instantaneous —and may bear little resemblance to the past or future. Completed with all associated exterior data instantaneously true within the same frame of time, instantaneous truth is reality, equating to a complex set of facts that cannot be  questioned. In analysis, if something is on the mind and categorized , the relative consequences of the act are also usually stored in the mind, - not to justify or atone for the act itself, but may be addressed in a delusional fashion to function as a means of justification or accepting the "fact" instantaneously where the details remembered are, for example, too morally reprehensible, too extreme,  to acknowledge directly. Those facts and statistics reside in memory on a self-imposed scale of moral comparison, perhaps at times completely isolated, intentionally segregated and purposefully ignored if too extreme. They may, as a result,  be conscientiously hidden in seclusion until specifically recalled to the mind by reason of circumstance , subconscious activity,  a threat of mortality, or otherwise. Many things are thus well separated from conscious reality, hidden deeply in the recesses of the subconscious, regardless of origin, cause or potential effect. Is it then possible that fact, cause and effect in the mind must also be separated because of  time lapse involved? The past cannot be changed, but the future can be. To accept the status quo and do nothing may alter any reality in the natural order, but to plan specifically and follow through with change is to directly change the future intentionally and modify many aspects of future reality. How many individuals have that process on their minds continuously with that intention? The offer to alter facts in an attempt to deviate from the truth and make a future reality more attractive is an endless temptation. Should we admit that reality is on our minds and tell all, or on the opposite end of the spectrum of possibilities, keep both secrets and intent concealed in the darkest, most obscure corner of the mind? To our dismay, we may do so at our own peril, for at some inevitable point in absolute truth, all shall be revealed. Perhaps on the minds of men the elements of truth, reality, conscience, and imagination become distorted and convoluted in simple analysis simply by the weight of scrutiny, which tends to modify even the most chaste intent of any endeavor.  Intense scrutiny can change direction, alter the rate of change, or alter the amount of induced force necessary to effect change. Scrutiny can similarly modify whatever happens to be on the mind at any moment in time. Finally, if there is any emotional toll or derivative conclusion in protracted examination and exposure of our innermost thoughts, any revelation must inevitably be carried as a burden, for it does effect changes in the future, beneficial, appreciated or not. It becomes part of a mental and emotional data file that subsequently affects every thought, approach, or observation contemplated by the mind in the future. Revelations of the mind and the resulting influence change the future not necessarily for better or for worse, but do effect change. Regardless of effect, influence clearly exists; although it, too, may be completely hidden in the mind with other obscure variables. Change is an imprint of eternity.  Step up and challenge the mirror of the mind if you dare.   # Is that Incoming I hear? Tags:  Mirror of the mind,  revelations,  the human mind, emotions, guilt, savants, delusions, self-perception,  analysis of the mind,  Socrates