Page 51 - THE DO-IT-YOURSELF LOBOTOMY Open Your Mind to Greater Creative Thinking

42 THE FIRST REAL CHAPTER (FINALLY!)

Sadly, for most of us, the vast
majority of the data we process is
95% of what you think today,
old data. Old, stale thoughts we you thought yesterday.
and others have had many, many
times before.
Actually, thinking in the known is our best
friend most of the time, but it’s our worst enemy Deepak Chopra
when it’s time to come up with new ideas. New ideas don’t happen in
the known. They happen in the unknown, the maybe, the what-if.
This book will help you disengage your imagination from your
rational mind to free you up for greater creative thought. To let go of
what you know, perhaps for only a nanosecond. To release your mind
to entertain a new idea. To wonder.
You can look at it sort of as a lobotomy of the Do-It-Yourself vari-
ety. The process is painless and easy. All it requires is a little open-
mindedness, so to speak.

THE MIND OF A CHILD

We human beings are by nature very creative creatures. Just look at
any child. Look at how you were as a kid. Wasn’t your imagination
quite active and fertile?
Then you learned things. You filled your mind with facts, data,
information, knowledge. All good things to help you grow and function
in the many aspects of your life: work, play, family, and so forth.
For generations before us it’s been pretty much the same: You expe-
rience life; you fill the mind with data. For those of us walking erect on
this planet today, this mind cramming no longer just happens in the
course of living; it’s now drilled into our heads in our formal education,
in the expectations of our parents and other influential people. We’re
bombarded by data, data, data, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. In
this information age, knowledge is no longer an edge; it’s expected.
Everyone has it. Everyone has to have it to play the game.

But there’s a double edge to this mighty thinking sword. The more
you know, the less you have to imagine. And the less you imagine, the
more routine your thoughts become.