Opposable Mind

Well, we're moving into the next section of this book, in which the author says he can show us ways in which we can to begin thinking integratively... rather than conventionally! I have to admit, that when he is giving his examples from the business world, of business leaders who have faced either-or solutions, it seemed fairly clear to me the direction that they could go... combining something of each into something new... But that's because he presents the situation in fairly simple terms and in reality they are very complex situations... So there is more to it than this... In our own lives, we have very complex situations, and it isn't always easy to pick out the features that are important, nor to see the way forward.

In the next few chapters, he's going to go over our stance, tools and experience... and how the three relate together. What I get from the book overall is that conventional thinkers, think inside the box... And integrative thinkers, think outside the box... They think bigger, wider, broader, deeper than conventional thinkers. They aren't limited by the "wisdom" of the day... they look farther ahead than others... They see things that conventional thinkers can't see... because they aren't look for it! We only see what we look for... If we don't see something, and others do see it... it's because it's not part of our worldview... not something we deem to be important... not something that we are looking for. We might even just ignore it or sweep it under the rug. Integrative thinkers, see things that others might dismiss as unimportant....

Hate Crimes

There's been stuff in the news about hate crimes... Anti-gay attacks. Anti-Jew vandalism. Anti-Muslim threats. Anti-this. Anti-that... All of it is so sad... so much hate in the world and for what?? When we hate someone... we are really hating ourselves... We are expressing anger and fear towards that aspect of ourselves that we fear the most. We are uncertain and fearful and angry at the world... at our place in the world... at our lost opportunities... and we want to take that out on someone... So we choose some person, some individual, some group, some religion, some culture to hate...
We might as well call them fear crimes... or anger crimes... Something about whatever it is, makes us feel uncomfortable, and we don't like to feel discomfort... so better to avoid that thing... or better yet, eradicate it from our existence completely. The thing is... if everyone got rid of everything in the world that they hated.... we'd have no people left in the world... Hate is the ultimate in self-destruction...

Screen Time

So, there was a study a few weeks ago that should come as no surprise... Children who spend more than 2 hours a day in front of the screen (i.e. TV or computer) are more likely to experience psychological difficulties. (http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/10/11/screen-kids-psychological-problems.html ). Does that surprise you?? Nope, doesn't surprise me either! So, they are now suggesting that we should limit the amount of time children spend in front of screens... Hard to do when kids are working more and more on the computer at school nowadays... And 2 hours/day seems kind of low!!! Given how much time we can end up spending in front of the computer and/or the TV...

Which makes me wonder... if TV and computer are having that sort of an effect on children... what sort of an effect is it having on adults? What sort of effect is it having on us? Because, let's face it, a lot of us do spend the whole day in front of a computer screen and then we come home and spend more time in front of the TV or the computer... All that screen-time must be having an impact on us as well... We just don't know what it is... We might even think it has no effect on us... but it probably does... we are just oblivious to it...

Opposable Mind

It never ceases to amaze how connections between RTS and the world show up! So I'm reading this book, Opposable Mind, and he makes the distinction between reality and what we think about reality, or the model of the world that we create. That is the distinction between what happened (Event) and what we said about what happened (Story). And it is there, that we see the key feature of integrative thinkers. They can distinguish between Event and Story. They can distinguish between reality and models that purport to reflect reality.

Integrative thinkers can then get out of the idea that their vision of reality (story) is the right one and area able to consider other points from other models, from other stories... to create something completely different... cool!!!

We are often faced with two opposing options, choices, models of reality... but to understand that they are not reality.... they are just models that explain reality... but not reality! And so, we can hold up the models, with no attachment to any of them, look at them, and come up with something new... something creative... something different...

Opposable Mind

So Conventional Thinkers vs. Integrative Thinkers. Well, some of the basic differences are this: conventional thinkers simplify things to the bare bones, like to look at the short term relationships, keep things narrowly focused, deal with one thing at a time and prefer to accept the world as it is. Integrative thinkers juggle a bunch of factors in the air, even if it is complicated, they look at how everything fits together, keep an open mind, look at wide-reaching relationships and welcome the challenge of shaping the world for the better. Integrative thinking will make your head hurt as you keep everything in play at once. Conventional thinking will keep the status quo going...

Overall, I would say conventional thinkers are looking to the past, to the way things have been done in the past. Integrative thinkers are looking to the future, at creating new possibilities that have never been imagined...

Kijiji

In the decluttering quest... I've also had to tackle a few larger items. A couple of spare bed frames that I've been hauling around with me for a few years... some bush gear... some excess camping gear... etc. For a few years now, I've been thinking I should post them on Craigslist or Kijiji... but it always seemed too challenging to do that... Well, I finally got around to it the other week and am pleased to report that within a few days I had sold a bed frame ($80) and a sleeping bag ($20)... with people interested in a few other items... There, that wasn't so hard!!!

No, it wasn't hard... but I made it hard!!! I had a huge story in my head about what it would involve and how time-consuming it was going to be... and people wouldn't want the stuff anyways, so why bother, etc. etc. etc.... Blah-blah-blah-blah!!!! It really is a learning for me to get that... what I think about something isn't necessarily the truth!!! It's just what I think about something... But I can make that something into something quite huge and quite daunting... and I did that all by myself!!! I'm great at turning mole-hills into mountains... When really, all they are is a mole-hill... And even if they are a mountain, they way to conquer any mountain is one step at a time... one step after one step after one step... and before you know it, the mountain is done...

Keeping the Weight Off

So... it's early February... post Christmas... middle of winter... and some of us might be putting on our winter/hibernation pounds... There was a thing on the news the other week that gave some assistance on keeping weight off... Eat foods with a lot glycemic index... avoid foods with a high glycemicc index... The low glycemic foods raise your blood sugar level slowly, making you feel full longer... The high glycemic foods do the reverse, give you a quick blood sugar boost, but dwindle rapidly, making you feel hungry sooner... Researchers even say, that if you avoid high glycemic foods, eat lean meat and beans, you can eat as much as you want without gaining weight... Hmmm....

So the list is as follows...

Foods with a low glycemic index:

wholegrain breads with many kernels
wholegrain pasta
whole oats (not instant or ground oats)
brown rice
apples, pears, oranges, raspberries and strawberries.
nearly all vegetables, with the exception of corn. Most vegetables should preferably be eaten raw
boiled new potatoes
beans and legumes

So, whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables... but only specific fruit... An apple a day keeps the doctor (and the weight) away!

Foods with a high glycemic index:
white bread and buns
white rice
most refined cereals and crackers
bananas (especially overripe bananas), grapes, kiwi, pineapple and melon
mashed potatoes and baked potatoes
sugary foods such as donuts

Yup, avoid processed grains and sugar... interesting about grapes, kiwi, pineapples and bananas. Although, I had heard somewhere that bananas have way too much sugar... But you can eat as many apples as you want....