Perception sees the world not us

It’s known that human beings are very efficient beings, always looking for ways to minimize energy through the automation of tasks. As we feel comfortable and safe about something we have learned, our minds switch processors and let the unconscious part take control over the task. Since we do this from the day we born, and who knows even before that, until the day we die, we have been automating a lot of stuff in our lives.

Science suggests that by the age of 35, most of us, will be 90% unconsciously driven and consciously the remaining 10%. This means that if we want to change something in our lives, we can only change the 10% of the time we are conscious. But since the change can only impact the future, I would conclude that we have a window of only 10% every day to influence and change the 90% part that was and will be automated. But because we have no control over our thoughts, even those 10% are not effectively 10% of pure change, is just a window through which change could happen via learning new information that can be impactful. If we plant useful “seeds” in our gardens (unconscious mind) we might be lucky and see something growing out of that.

Little can be done, but sometimes, little insights can led to massive changes in behavior because thought operates through concepts and all those automated concepts are somehow interconnected and interdependent. If I listen or read a video and or book that simplifies my understanding about something, that learning during my 10% of consciously “awake” can be very helpful the next time I deal with that same event and something new to do might occur to me as a result.

Is this entirely true?

I actually don’t know, but I can relate with the fact that I seem to be doing a lot of things in an automated way, very unconsciously, not questioning, not slowing down to benefit from seeing better what is actually behind everything I do. What I’ve seen for myself when learning how the mind works, was a simpler understanding about Life and reality and how it all gets created. Seeing things simpler normally means we are also seeing at a more general level, closer to the essence of what they are made of, and that is Key.

When life looks complicated, we don’t want to fall into another complicated reason, we want to have it simplified as much as possible, being the maximum simplification the source of the experience. In fact what is complicated is the perception of the thing and not the thing itself, because the thing itself can’t be experienced directly. So if we can’t perceive the World directly and our experience looks complicated, it has to be due to perception.

Planting helpful “seeds” in our “gardens”, contributes more realistically to developing perceptions closer to the essence of things, the source of all our experiences, and that is made of thought. Useful thoughts will lead to useful actions, coherent to what is actually happening, within us and around us. Is might be true that we only have 10% now, but with simpler understandings and less to do, we can drop some of the automation and start to live curiously, open minded, fearless, without the need of preconcepts and just explore Life, being more and more present.