Your Multiple Paradigm Tolerance Factor
Creative thinking requires exposure to many ideas so you can formulate new connections. Confusion can arise when those ideas include beliefs or paradigms of ‘ultimate truth’. The degree to which you can be flexible enough to shift from paradigm to paradigm without going crazy-bonkers can be called your multiple paradigm tolerance factor.
You wear sunscreen or sunblock cream with a high Sun Protection Factor to protect you from the burning UV rays of the sun. When exploring multiple paradigms you’ll need some kind of protection too. Otherwise you’ll get mentally burned. I speak from experience.
If you are an explorer of big ideas, part of the new age, or what’s commonly called a ‘seeker’, you can probably resonate with this concept. You’ve got a bookcase full of eastern and western philosophies. You’ve got Yoga, Chi Kung, you’ve got channelled teachings, you’ve got ancient spiritual texts, you’ve got this guru, that philosopher, the success gurus spouting quantum physics, and the agnostic scientist presenting his or her grand theory of everything. You’re hungry for Truth. You’re on a path to enlightenment. But you’ve no map, no clue, and everyone else is trying to sell you on their particular meme. Couple that with the demands of daily life, your aging body, and the challenges of getting ahead in this world. You’ve got a recipe for some serious existential stress.
So how do you deal with it? First off, recognise that there will be stress from entertaining multiple paradigms or belief systems. Accept it. Leonard da Vinci talked about the creative importance of developing a tolerance for ambiguity and paradox. In the space between two conflicting beliefs, there is opportunity for innovation, insight and the new. I think of that space as a kind of chaos, like the primordial chaos out of which new worlds are born.
I think once you’ve established that the stress of paradigm shifting will occur, it becomes part of the known. You’ve outlined it, which puts you back in the big picture observer role. This gives you the tolerance factor. The confusion chaos can now occur within the space of your awareness. And becomes more bearable because you are bigger than it, and have a rationale for it.
The other way of dealing with it is the simple brain dump. Just dump everything you are exploring and get some rest. Be normal again. Wake up afresh the next day and start again. Meditate a little. This will give you insight and space. The more mental space you can create the greater will be your multiple paradigm tolerance factor.
You wear sunscreen or sunblock cream with a high Sun Protection Factor to protect you from the burning UV rays of the sun. When exploring multiple paradigms you’ll need some kind of protection too. Otherwise you’ll get mentally burned. I speak from experience.
If you are an explorer of big ideas, part of the new age, or what’s commonly called a ‘seeker’, you can probably resonate with this concept. You’ve got a bookcase full of eastern and western philosophies. You’ve got Yoga, Chi Kung, you’ve got channelled teachings, you’ve got ancient spiritual texts, you’ve got this guru, that philosopher, the success gurus spouting quantum physics, and the agnostic scientist presenting his or her grand theory of everything. You’re hungry for Truth. You’re on a path to enlightenment. But you’ve no map, no clue, and everyone else is trying to sell you on their particular meme. Couple that with the demands of daily life, your aging body, and the challenges of getting ahead in this world. You’ve got a recipe for some serious existential stress.
So how do you deal with it? First off, recognise that there will be stress from entertaining multiple paradigms or belief systems. Accept it. Leonard da Vinci talked about the creative importance of developing a tolerance for ambiguity and paradox. In the space between two conflicting beliefs, there is opportunity for innovation, insight and the new. I think of that space as a kind of chaos, like the primordial chaos out of which new worlds are born.
I think once you’ve established that the stress of paradigm shifting will occur, it becomes part of the known. You’ve outlined it, which puts you back in the big picture observer role. This gives you the tolerance factor. The confusion chaos can now occur within the space of your awareness. And becomes more bearable because you are bigger than it, and have a rationale for it.
The other way of dealing with it is the simple brain dump. Just dump everything you are exploring and get some rest. Be normal again. Wake up afresh the next day and start again. Meditate a little. This will give you insight and space. The more mental space you can create the greater will be your multiple paradigm tolerance factor.
Labels: belief systems, creative thinking, paradigms
