Monday, November 19, 2018

lotto balls and snap judgments

The mindfulness meditation craze has led to a few odd misconceptions about its goals. I'm convinced that imprecise wording is partly to blame. Like other subtle mental states, mindfulness can be easier to describe by emphasizing what it's not. So teachers note that it isn't analyzing any one item in depth, and it isn't reacting emotionally—positively or negatively—to any one item. They may refer to the meditator's role as "bare awareness" of the flow of present experience. Apart from re-centering attention when it becomes entangled, the only thought process is receptive observation. And the only attitude is undisturbed neutrality. Unfortunately, enthusiastic beginners may confuse these instructions' overall intent. They may jump to the conclusion that these are absolute laws for a mindful life: thinking and judging are no-nos.

But the slightest investigation into Buddhist tradition reveals that mindfulness meditation coexists with strong reverence for reasoning and morality. Obviously, wisdom and right living are values of equal or greater importance. Given this context, the proper aim can't be to extinguish every form of mental activity that supposedly falls into the vague categories of "thinking" or "judging".

As I understand it, the target of mindfulness is more specific: lotto ball thinking. A lottery's mixing machines rapidly churn masses of numbered balls until several emerge from the chaos in single file. Brains are like mixing machines, but the objects are nerve impulses that travel and combine and fizzle out along myriad pathways. A deluge of signals comes in from the senses and the body itself. It's no surprise that surprising thoughts pop out of the cerebral cortex's vortex like lotto balls, sometimes for seemingly little reason.

Meditation helps people to recognize the existence, the extent, and the nature of lotto ball thoughts. However, I for one wouldn't claim that lotto ball thoughts are inherently useless or harmful. Some are flashes of creative brilliance. Even the most distasteful could be beneficial for discovering uncomfortable truths about self-destructive thought patterns.

The point is the ongoing insight that lotto ball thoughts just happen naturally. Meditation is practice for seeing them for what they are and then responding to them deliberately and productively. Without it, lotto ball thoughts have a greater chance of pushing and pulling the thinker in various contradictory directions, prompting them to develop a sour mood, encouraging their selfishness, distracting them with trivia, etc. The tyranny of lotto ball thoughts is the enemy; thinking isn't.

Similarly, I'd argue that mindfulness has the specific target of snap judgments. Snap judgments are either instinctive or embedded by long-term associations. They follow immediately on the heels of the judged item. They're so basic that writers frequently call them attractions or aversions. They're perceived as powerful because they're raw and deeply rooted. Needless to say, they're not obligated to make much sense.

Once more, I for one wouldn't claim that the lesson to be learned is that snap judgments are inherently incorrect. (Did I mention that I'm neither a mainstream nor secular Buddhist?) Instead, meditation is for practicing the often difficult task of refusing to act on these snap judgments or to dwell/ruminate on them. Then these will gradually fade, like the electricity-saving screen of a device that's merely stared at rather than interacted with.

The effort to defang snap judgments doesn't mean pretending that pleasant experiences aren't pleasant or that awful experiences aren't awful. It doesn't mean indifference about the world and society. Arguably, it enables sophisticated and coherent judgments to take the place of error-prone gut feelings. At the same time it assists with effectively carrying out whatever principles have been chosen. High-minded ideals can hardly be followed while someone is really ruled by the whims of the moment.

I hope it's clear that mindfulness isn't an alternative to rationality or a moral center. It's an admirable tool for pursuing both!