Talking about the mind is talking about a somewhat abstract concept, which is not entirely clear to many. It is a word that aims to encompass the processes that occur in our brain: thought, consciousness, perception, beliefs, desires, sensations, etc. The mind would become that terrain where things take place. conscious, unconscious and functional processes.
That mind is reflected in ideas, actions and different manifestations of brain activity. All of this occurs through structured processes. In other words, all that activity mentality does not occur by chance, but obeys patterns or schemes that are learned throughout life. This does not mean that it is something immutable. In the brain, everything is susceptible to change.
“The brain is not a glass to be filled, but a lamp to be lit.”.
-Plutarch-
According to how these processes occur, Some scholars on the subject have proposed the existence of three types of mind: the rigid, the liquid and the flexible. Each of them has its own characteristics and obeys different logics. Let’s look at this in detail.
Rigid minds: the resistance to adopting new perspectives
Education is the factor that most influences the configuration of minds. It is usual that many people with rigid minds are children of rigid parents as well. This rigidity is, in principle, a defense mechanism. The ideas fixed ones give you a feeling of greater control and protect you from uncertainty. Those who present these traits are ideal for developing activities where the central thing is a disciplinary factor.
On the other hand, Those with rigid minds could also be somewhat superficial. They do not stop to analyze or evaluate the validity of ideas or actions. They assume that everything must go in a very precise sense, which is also already predetermined.
This leads them to have great difficulties creating and that is why they tend to limit themselves to repeating. They may feel very confused and helpless if something or someone takes them out of their comfort zone. The lack of control over situations usually causes them a lot of distress and they suffer for it.
Liquid minds: a chameleon perspective
Exactly the opposite happens to liquid minds than to rigid ones. They fail to have consistency and that’s why they adapt to whatever. They take the shape of the container in which they are housed. They are characteristics of people who have renounced any type of control over circumstances.
This type of mind represents people who need something or someone to direct them.. It is too difficult for them to make decisions and even more difficult to take positions in the face of reality. They don’t know what to think. And since they don’t know it, they delegate that task to others in whom they appreciate the security that they lack.
Those with this type of mind also have a hard time being persistent. They don’t really set goals, but rather they let others impose them on them and they feel comfortable with it.. They can be very good at tasks that require large doses of subordination. In one way or another, they complement each other with rigid minds.
Flexible minds: a point of balance
Flexible minds are characterized because they are adaptable. Just because they are adaptable does not mean that, like liquid minds, they passively accept what is there. Its adaptation is reasoned and creative. They know how to locate themselves within reality without imposing their criteria, but also without submissively accepting those of others..
In this case it is the thought that guides the action. Reality is an object that is processed and in front of which there is analysis and deepening. There is openness to arguments and evidence, which is why in flexible minds there is a change of opinion and adjustment of ideas. It is, in some ways, a humble mind. She does not believe herself to be in possession of the truth, but she does not give in to what is irrational or erroneous due to lack of judgment..
All this makes relationships with the world more friendly and constructive. Also these types of minds create the conditions for further evolution. Life is change and change is positive because it challenges and at the same time helps to grow..
None of us are pigeonholed exclusively into a single type of these minds. We all have something of each of them, even if the traits of one or the other predominate.. Nor can it be said that there are “bad minds” and other “good” ones. However, it is worth understanding that there are mental forms that help us be happier, while others stagnate us or cancel us out.
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