All realities exist outside our brains, except for those elements that make up our brains. It implies that everything we know about reality merely represents those concepts inside our minds. A small error in the model and we miss the truth — a profound realization.
How do we make the model in our brains? We build it through our learning system. By the learning system, I mean every learning touchpoint our mind gets to connect through its journey. So, our parents would have taught us the early vocabulary and its correlation to the outside world. Our schools, colleges, career journeys, and social interactions constantly evolve this model in our minds. In this scenario, I define an educated person as one who knows how to represent the external reality as a model in their mind with a high degree of fidelity and then easily transfers this model into others’ minds. By this definition, an educated person does not need a university degree, or a degreed person does not necessarily imply an educated person.
An example of such a model is the story of Mendeleev’s periodic table, which we learned in our chemistry class. There were several attempts before Dmitri Mendeleev published his version of the table in 1869. Mendeleev realized that elements’ physical and chemical properties were related to their atomic mass in a ‘periodic’ way. He arranged them so that groups of elements with similar properties fell into vertical columns in his table. With this approach, he could predict the properties of an undiscovered component that should fit below aluminum in his table. In 1875, the discovery of gallium demonstrated the correctness of Mendeleev’s model.
“Your success in reaching your destination then depends on the accuracy of the road model you made in your mind.”
If you have ever driven in heavy rain where your vehicle’s windscreen is so opaque due to the gust of water that you cannot see far, you will know how difficult it is to move forward. But if you have to move forward, you will create a road model in your mind and continue to drive. Your success in reaching your destination then depends on the accuracy of the road model you made in your mind. We navigate our lives similarly to the mental road models we create.
History has shown that all such models merely approximate some reality. We have to continually evolve this model to gain a better understanding of the world. Mendeleev’s 1871 arrangement based on atomic ratios of oxides had to be modified to consider the number of protons a particular element contains. Isaac Newton’s laws of gravity had to be adjusted when Einstein’s theory of general relativity arrived, which, too, had to be adjusted to accommodate quantum mechanic theory.
We are also continuously adjusting our understanding of human suffering. Not long ago, we treated humans as slaves in various parts of the world. We continue to treat people of color, race, religion, sexual orientation, age, weight, appearance, and so on based on the mental model our learning journey has taught us. Those who understand that our reactions to such situations are a mere reflection of our mental models will adjust and adapt to the new realization. And others will continue to create conflicts. Two humans can disagree on opinions but not on facts. If they do, then at least one is uneducated because those facts are not a creation of their mind; they exist outside their brain. It is the model they create of those facts that are incorrect.
Great leaders can create good mental models through first-hand learning or by having people help them build them. Uneducated leaders who fail to listen to folks with a better mental model of reality become a disaster. Do you know of any world leaders who do this? In my career in the technology world, I have seen so many leaders creating incorrect mental models, and within a few months, they have to leave the organization. These may be models of the technology they assume they understand or the people they surround themselves with who influence their mental model.
Suppose we accept that the multiverse has a plan uninfluenced by opinions or human understanding. In that case, we must also agree that those who do not align their mental models to reality become irrelevant to the multiverse. All their effort and hard work to attain something becomes a waste. But how do we ensure that our mental models are aligned with reality? We can never do so. Because, who knows, the multiverse itself may have a changing reality. COVID-19 has reset all our mental models on how our world can change in a matter of days. So, we have to be open to a changing mental model. Simon Sinek describes this as living with an infinite mindset. Our goal should not be to attain the ultimate model. Or stick with a model that has worked in the past but continually adapts to the changing multiverse. That is because all realities exist outside our brains, except for those elements that make up our brains.
