Reimagining Self- A lesson from The Code of the Extraordinary Mind
Choice.
It is an interesting topic, it is a word that causes divide across politics, religion, and any other thought-based system. You and I both choose to wake up and we choose to do whatever we do daily. Be it picking a meal, picking a seat on a bus, or even just picking what to wear. At the very base of it, we humans are playing a game of choice from birth. In the Code of the Extraordinary Mind, this concept of choice, though not mentioned directly, is dealt with a most skillful tactic that is near impossible to miss and will pound on your very being.
Vishen Lakhiani manages to present this bold new world as a series of breaking down choices made for us due to our social affiliation. He uses the topic of career choices as a fitting example. I will try to make it more relevant here, but the concept is still the same.
Growing up we may have been asked what exactly we want to do and going by the grain, we would have answered according to the information about work that was readily available. And most of that information was from our parents. So, one would say, "Oh, I want to be a doctor because my mother is a doctor!", or I want to be this because my uncle is that. In any case, our choices were pre-determined by the information that we had around us. It was not something that we personally believed we were capable of being but more of a reflection of what others were and how we related to them. At the core of it, there is nothing wrong with that, it makes sense to use information readily available around us to create opinions and facts about who we are and our place in the world.
But what if we could disregard all of that and start on a clean plate, making a meal of our life based on choices we genuinely cared for? With opinions built on internal belief systems that not only shake our core, but solidify our existence in this life? What if we could create a world in which our social affiliations, though present, do not affect our core beliefs?
At the very heart of this imaginary world is the idea that you and I as individuals have an inborn passion or idea or belief that we know will be beneficial to the world. Moreso that can bring and breed positive change to the world. And the beauty of it is it can be anywhere and anything. A world where social constructs can exist but the core definition of who you are or what your purpose on earth is for is based solely on your internal being and the choices you make from that. And no, this is not to do away with religion or government or anything of the sort, this is to find the true function of these constructs, which is to guide than to dictate.
This is an abstract view of the complicated world that we live in. To expect over seven billion people to follow this line of thought when we cannot agree on whether pineapple belongs on pizza (it does!!) is a wild guess. But that does not stop you and I from trying, right? Because we have our own spheres of influence and if we could do just that much then we would have done enough.
If you do get the time, read, or listen to The Code of the Extraordinary Mind, it is a thought-provoking book that needs you to be more open minded and highly objective to take it into account.
