David S Courtney

Theory of Mind David S Courtney

Theory of Mind is a label given to the understanding within a human being that other human beings have minds. Most humans come to this apprehension around four years of age. Characterizing the spectrum of mind, most definitively, concerns the issue of intersubjectivity. Intersubjectivity lessens as we move to the Asperger's/autism side of the spectrum and increases where there is more empathy, one human to another. Theory of Mind constitutes a breakthrough in understanding the mental health spectrum. Just as autism, bi-polarity, depression, ADHD and PTSD possess a categorical spectrum, so too is each individual on a spectrum. The awareness, often ignored, that Simon Baron-Cohen links to autism, and Eric Kendal (The Age of Insight) brings to empathy and creativity reveals the human spectrum where we all are located. The position in the spectrum where Donald Trump operates is defined by a lack of empathy and emotional maturity. The Buddha illustrates how the mind can be an enemy to self-fulfillment and self-realisation. This becomes a major force behind the current levels of anxiety because people with empathy can't understand why people like Trump don't get it. It reveals how habitual and ensconced a lifetime of firing and wiring the same old stuff becomes. People are so embedded and so ignorant of others they will fight to the death to remain insensitive to the changing conditions in which we live. Theory of Mind is revelatory in this most pivotal of issues. It shows that any position on the spectrum can evolve to a more insightful position if the person is open to change. The book, written in 2016, predicted accurately what would happen in a Trump administration. White supremacists and many fundamentalists, religious zealots, share common ground in their fear of education.