Limiting Beliefs

Believe differently and new worlds are yours

A neurophysiologist will tell you the human brain hasn't changed recognizably in 200,000 years.

That's a long time for something not to change.

Imagine not changing your undies for that long. I doubt you'd have any friends left.

Not changing for 200k years means the neurological functions of the human brain haven't changed in 200k years, meaning the mechanics of thought processing haven't changed in 200k years.

Give yourself a second to think about that.

Give yourself another second to consider where you travelled in the previous second.

A lot of neural activity occurred in those last two seconds. Most of it you're blissfully unaware of.

But neurophysiologically, the activity which occurred in your brain is something which could just as easily have occurred in our immediate ancestor's brain as they walked across Asia Minor up into Europe and seen a group of Neanderthals.

They wouldn't have had the same thoughts, of course, we live in a very different world than our immediate ancestors did. For one, there are no (or at least not many) Neanderthals walking around now.

But the mechanics of how they processed their thoughts was the same.

Take one of our immediate ancestors as a new born and plunk them in a caring, modern family, put them through our current educational systems, and they would function and live as well as anyone else in this modern world.

For that matter, it's likely a Neanderthal new born treated the same way would also function just as well, and probably even better.

Which, to me, begs the question,"How come it took 200k years for their world to become our world?"

Limiting Beliefs

Working with people I often run into their beliefs about themselves, their abilities, what they're capable of, ...

As Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right."

I've met people who claim they never got "math" who are amazing math-intuits. They can solve complex problems without going through all the rigamarole mathematicians are taught. I once taught a group of "remedial" high school students and was told, "Get them to balance a checkbook and you're done" who, after a few months, were solving sophomore level engineering problems.

Using the correct calculus.

I simply never told them it was calculus.

I told them at the end of the term they were solving such problems and some beamed, others shook with fright. Didn't I know they couldn't do such things?

I asked, "Didn't you know you could?"

It's all in a matter of how they're taught.

When given an opportunity to relinquish their limiting self-beliefs.

Give it a go.

You may surprise yourself with your own abilities.

I know I was.