Unlocking the Tyranny of Modern Thinking
Keys From Anthropology, Psychology, Neuroscience, and Buddhism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5852964 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bob Carter (0009-0006-1019-8227, Naropa University Boulder Colorado USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-28 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropology of Consciousness (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1053-4202 • E-ISSN: 1556-3537 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/anoc.70023 |
| OpenAlex | W4415618300 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 87 |
One barrier to mental health and a common focus of psychotherapy is the tendency to identify with relentless, often self-critical thinking that searches for faults, becomes easily distracted, and pulls individuals away from the present moment. Identifying with such thinking distances people from each other, the external world, and important aspects of internal experiences that have been pushed out of awareness and relegated to the unconscious. This paper explores some origins of this tendency, drawing on anthropological research of isolated peoples who adopted this way of thinking after being colonized by modern cultures, alongside contemporary psychoanalytic and developmental theories. These sources illuminate the role of trauma and the dependence on language as a filter for reality and a mechanism of repression. Mindfulness meditation is proposed as a method to untangle over-identification with thinking and facilitate a more direct, embodied experience of the present moment. The neuroscience explaining the underlying mechanisms of these effects is also included. Additional support for these concepts is drawn from the author's experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer, clinical psychologist, and meditation instructor, as well as reports from graduate students beginning a meditation practice
In the Swarm
How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective
Empathy for Pain Involves the Affective but not Sensory Components of Pain
From a state to a trait
Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being
How do you feel? Interoception
Reconstructing and deconstructing the self
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Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People
How do you feel — now? The anterior insula and human awareness
Attending to the present
Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits
The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression
Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity
The Functional Architecture of Human Empathy
Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners
The link between mindfulness and psychological well-being among university students
Naturally mindful? The role of mindfulness facets in the relationship between nature relatedness and subjective well-being
Disconnection from nature
Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation
The Role of Defense in the Life Story
Trauma, early life stress, and mindfulness in adulthood
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychological Well-Being in Chinese College Students
Examining the protective effects of mindfulness training on working memory capacity and affective experience
Exploratory randomised controlled trial of a mindfulness-based weight loss intervention for women
All Our Sons
The Mirror-Phase as Formative of the Function of the I
Our Adult World and its Roots in Infancy
The benefits of being present
Mind the Hype
Bad is Stronger than Good
Interoception, contemplative practice, and health
Sensuality and Consciousness IV Where Did the Liminal Flowers Go
The Giving Environment
"Animism" Revisited
| Highly cited | No |
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