I am editing a business book for a client which has some interesting things to say about how our brain works and that we can actually influence our subconscious when we make a conscious effort often enough.

One section talks about different ways of thinking and how it evolves, or in some cases, doesn’t evolve, from childhood on.  Babies and small children, as we all know, see themselves as the center of the world.  They absorb the way people around them think and act and therefore believe everyone must think the same way they do.  It becomes hard wired that the way they see things has to be the way things really are.

Eventually as adulthood develops, the sphere of influence broadens.  The hope is that the person remains flexible enough to take in the opinions and beliefs of that widening group of influences and adjusts their thinking when appropriate.  But too often, this penchant for adaptability withers with age and the person remains locked in place, inflexible and unable to accept anything other than what he or she believes is true.

It struck me at this point in the narrative, that there are an awful lot of politicians who seem stuck in this egocentric, me-me-me, mode of thinking.  In fact, I believe the same could be said of anyone on the far right or the far left of the political spectrum.  I hope the next time I am faced with a situation that makes me want to say, “You’re wrong,” I will have the flexibility to evaluate the other opinion objectively instead of rejecting it out of hand.

Which is why I am sure I will never be elected to office.