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"... an Oxford University academic has claimed."
Theodore Zeldin said too many people were avoiding using their brains and instead escaping into a state of blank mental oblivion.
Mindfulness has been widely championed for inspiring creative thought, lowering depression and improving physical health and is even recommended by the NHS.
But Dr Zeldin said the practice was distracting people [from] discovering more about other people and the world around them, and encouraged them to instead seek to make new relationships with those who shared different views. He said the world needed to move away from an era of self-discovery.
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20 comments:
"Theodore Zeldin said too many people were avoiding using their brains and instead escaping into a state of blank mental oblivion."
Wait until he hears about the internet.
I'm sorry: what did you say?
(I corrected a typo that the Telegraph had in the quote I put in the title. They had "mediation" for "meditation"!)
You know what "inspires" creativity? Learning and over-learning a skill and observing and thinking about accidental juxtapositions within your domain of skill.
A lump of mud can only be so creative, an amoeba has a better chance.
</Rant>
A mind is a terrible thing to mediate.
Good point. God knows I'm not very interesting.
What a waste it is to lose one's mind, or not to have a mind is being very wasteful, how true that is.
I tried to be 'in the moment' for a while. Nearly drove me crazy. Mindless chores (floor scrubbing, dishes, etc.) are great precisely BECAUSE you can let your mind wander and come up with great ideas!
The dark side of meditation and mindfulness: Treatment can trigger mania, depression and psychosis, new book claims
"Theory is that techniques help relieve stress and live for the moment
But 60% of us have apparently suffered at least one negative side effect
Experts: Shortage of rigorous statistical studies into the negative effects of meditation is a 'scandal'"
Huh. I stayed deliberately out of touch with the mindfulness fad. But all this tiem I assumed mindfulness meant exactly the opposite: being more mindful of the present task at hand, to better prevent brain farts.
Introverts should be extroverts!
Mindful people are full of it.
I'm with Dr. Z. in principle, but I'm trying to get my mind around these two claims of his: “Everyone is amazingly interesting" and "Your potential is very limited."
So am I supposed to think that people with very limited potential are amazingly interesting?
Uh oh, I might easily be plunked square center into this latest fun group to hate.
"Mindful people are full of it." Hahah, that can be so True, and I am certainly one there, so full of my ecstasies. But come on, let's be nice to those who aspire to be fully present in this moment.
1. The thing is, most Everybody these days is full of it. Maybe everyone could take a break and not be obsessive about their particular rut. Moderation in all things, including Mindfulness.
I gotta give us all, Mindful or not, a lot of slack lately. We are on a sick stomach wrenching Express elevator Up ride now -- perfectly expressed in the fact that what I am typing onto my illuminated manuscript will be dispersed onto the whole world's stage as soon as I plink onto "publish" -- who can imagine where we will be when the bell goes Ping and the doors begin to open? Wow. How lucky can we be to witness this moment. (Uh oh, getting mindful there.)
2. We really need to be taking snapshots. Of our brains. Can you imagine how very differently already our generations' brains are because of these magnificent informational machines we are all now working on? I am sorry I do not have brain images of my grandfather, brilliant courageous man, but/and his brain pics would look very different from a young mining engineer, because of our advances and changes in the way we think and what we are carrying in our noggin. And brain pics of mindfulness practioners compared to, say, beerhall singers, when they think 'I am very content at this moment." would be terrific to see.
3. Indeed, I have been rattled at meeting up with beautiful people who practice awesome discipline in their mind work and are stunted and tinny in some Big ways.
But you cannot tell me that conscious cerebral repose does not have Great Merit. Now more than ever. Buddha would smile.
By Jove he's got it!
Reading and thinking and communicating ideas until we master them before they master us is life and is what keeps us going strong.
The intentional mind emptying exercises are nothing but a slow suicide of our potential.
If everyone thought like me, then the world would be perfect.
Blogger Ann Althouse said...
What a waste it is to lose one's mind, or not to have a mind is being very wasteful, how true that is.
My favorite thing ever.
Great minds have but one thing on them at a time.
How much time does Zeldin think meditators typically spend meditating? There is absolutely no way he is as careful with his time as he would need to be to not be a hypocrite. A little self-awareness might do him some good.
Studies are showing meditation is as beneficial as anti-depressants. Why would anyone dissuade people from doing it? As tim maguire points out, it doesn't even take much time out of your day!
Yes, there is a kind of New Age airhead who prefers "enlightened" zoning out to actual thought (and avoids rational thought as much as possible--a reason so many of them are "liberals"); but in my case I meditate and I think. I find one enhances the other.
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