What We Believe

"Perhaps the only limits of the human mind are those we believe in." Those are the words of Willis Harman, a true pioneer in the field of consciousness studies. You may ask, "what does it matter what I believe about the mind?" It matters a great deal because what you believe about the mind shapes how you see your potential and that of others you encounter in life.

For many years, I have reminded my economic development and higher education clients that "what they believe can at times get in the way of what they can truly know about themselves and their world." This is especially the case where organizational leaders refuse to give new ideas a try. One of the leading issues I confront in my work is that people pre-judge themselves and others around them because they lack the confidence to entertain differences. At times, I feel that the leading cause of organizational and community decline is inadequate self-confidence. It is truly sad to see people under-estimate themselves. And yes, we should not over-estimate ourselves either.

In his book, Global Mind Change, Willis Harman makes the case that we need to expand our consciousness of what we believe. He takes on logical positivism and empiricism as philosophical systems underlying most of what we 'believe" to be science today. Harman shows us how our culture and values give rise to unconscious beliefs, which evade us for the most part, but continue to steer us in particular directions in life. These are important issues for all of us--no matter what we do for a living.

If you want to know more about Willis Harman and his ideas, read Globe Mind Change, which can be purchased at Amazon.com and many other online bookstores.

Do you know about the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)? It's worth a few minutes of your time. It's a get place to sketch both what you believe and what you know.