How to SAVE YOUR MIND: learn what no one teaches you

Summary

In this thought-provoking talk, Dr. Orion Taban addresses the critical need for individuals to 'save their minds' by taking control of their thoughts and beliefs. He explains that by the age of 25, most people's minds are filled with information, beliefs, and attitudes instilled by external influences, leaving little room for original thought. Taban likens the process of mental decluttering to dealing with a hoarder's house, emphasizing the emotional attachments that make it difficult to let go of unhelpful or false beliefs. He suggests a methodical approach to examining each thought, questioning its origin, truthfulness, and utility, and encourages individuals to consciously choose what to retain. Taban also stresses the importance of controlling the intake of new information, especially from media, to prevent the mind from being inundated with potentially harmful content. His message is a call to action for self-discovery and authenticity, urging individuals to take the time to critically assess their mental inventory and live a life true to their own identity.

Takeaways

• 🧠 The human mind reaches full physical maturity around age 25, with emotional or psychological maturity occurring even later.
• 🧐 Most people cannot think critically and independently until they are at least 25 due to the influence of external factors.
• 📚 By the age of 25, one's mind is often filled with beliefs, attitudes, and facts instilled by parents, teachers, and society without personal consent.
• 🧐 The challenge of thinking independently is compounded by emotional attachments to these pre-existing beliefs and attitudes.
• 🔄 Around the age of 30, individuals often begin to recognize the need to 'declutter' their minds of unhelpful or false information.
• 🏠 The process of mental decluttering is likened to a hoarder's house, filled with items that may have emotional significance but are not necessarily useful.
• 🤔 To save one's mind, it's crucial to introspect and question the origin, truth, and utility of each belief and attitude.
• 🚫 Dr. Orion suggests limiting the intake of new information, especially from media sources, to prevent the mind from being flooded with unexamined content.
• ⏸️ The speaker personally stopped watching the news and using social media apps to prevent the influx of potentially harmful information.
• 🌱 As one begins to declutter their mind, they become more discerning about the beliefs and attitudes they choose to adopt.
• ⛔️ The process of mental decluttering is laborious and time-consuming but necessary for achieving individuality and personal well-being.

Q & A

According to Dr. Orion Taban, at what age does a human being typically reach full physical maturity?

Dr. Orion Taban states that a human being typically reaches full physical maturity at the age of 25.

What is the main challenge people face in terms of cognitive development?

The main challenge is that by the time individuals reach maturity, their minds are filled with beliefs, attitudes, and facts instilled by others, often without their conscious permission or the ability to critically evaluate them.

What does Dr. Taban suggest is the consequence of not 'saving your mind'?

The consequence of not saving your mind is that individuals may never truly become well-rounded, independent individuals. They might end up living their lives as mere reflections of their culture and historical context without ever discovering their authentic selves.

How does Dr. Taban describe the process of clearing out one's mind of unhelpful thoughts?

Dr. Taban compares it to dealing with a hoarder's house, where one must turn their attention inward and carefully examine each thought, questioning its origin, truthfulness, and usefulness, and then discarding what no longer serves them.

What is the role of emotional attachments in holding onto unhelpful beliefs and attitudes?

Emotional attachments make it difficult to let go of unhelpful beliefs and attitudes because they are tied to personal relationships, cultural norms, or past experiences, even if they are not true or useful.

Why does Dr. Taban recommend controlling the intake of new information?

Controlling the intake of new information helps prevent the mind from being flooded with unexamined beliefs and attitudes that could potentially be unhelpful or false, thus preserving the progress made in decluttering the mind.

What does Dr. Taban suggest as a practical step to avoid the influx of unexamined information?

As a practical step, Dr. Taban stopped watching the news and avoided social media platforms, which he considers to be more dangerous than most people realize, to prevent new unexamined beliefs from entering his mind.

What is the importance of critically examining the contents of one's consciousness?

Critically examining the contents of one's consciousness is essential for becoming an individual and for ensuring that one's beliefs and attitudes are true and useful. It allows for a more authentic and meaningful life experience.

How does Dr. Taban define 'saving your mind'?

Saving your mind, as defined by Dr. Taban, involves the process of divesting oneself of unhelpful or false beliefs and attitudes that were instilled by others, and replacing them with thoughts and ideas that are consciously chosen and supportive of one's authentic self.

What does Dr. Taban suggest is the impact of not learning to think for oneself?

The impact of not learning to think for oneself is that individuals might live their entire lives without ever truly understanding who they are, leading to a sense of unfulfillment or a nagging feeling that something is missing.

What is the significance of the analogy of a hoarder's house in the context of cognitive decluttering?

The analogy of a hoarder's house signifies the difficulty and emotional attachment involved in letting go of thoughts and beliefs that are no longer useful. It emphasizes the need for a deliberate and time-consuming process to clear the mind of such 'junk' and make room for more valuable insights.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 The Importance of Saving Your Mind

Dr. Orion Taban introduces the topic of mental and cognitive development, emphasizing the critical nature of saving one's mind from the influences imposed by various societal forces. He explains that most individuals reach full physical maturity at 25 and emotional or psychological maturity even later. By this age, people's minds are filled with beliefs, attitudes, and facts instilled by parents, teachers, media, and culture, often without their conscious consent. This accumulation of external influences can hinder critical and independent thinking. Dr. Taban suggests that around 30 years old, individuals have the opportunity to 'wake up' to their mental state, which he likens to a hoarder's house filled with unnecessary items. He encourages the audience to consider the origins and usefulness of their beliefs and attitudes, and to let go of those that are not true or useful, in order to make room for original thoughts and self-discovery.

05:02

🛠️ The Process of Mental Decluttering

Dr. Taban continues by discussing the process of mental decluttering, which he compares to clearing out a house filled with junk. He acknowledges that this process can be time-consuming, especially considering the 30 years it may have taken to accumulate the mental clutter. He stresses the importance of becoming an individual and not just a product of one's culture and historical context. To achieve this, he advises turning inward and examining each thought, questioning its origin, truthfulness, and utility. He suggests retaining thoughts that are true, useful, and supportive of the person one wants to be, and letting go of the rest. Dr. Taban also touches on the importance of controlling the intake of new information and being selective about the beliefs and attitudes one adopts. He shares his personal experience of abstaining from news and social media to prevent the influx of potentially harmful information. He concludes by encouraging the audience to embark on this challenging but rewarding journey towards self-awareness and authenticity.

10:04

🚦 Navigating the Path to Individuality

In the final paragraph, Dr. Taban invites the audience to reflect on their own experiences and consider whether his message resonates with them. He prompts viewers to engage with the content by liking the episode and subscribing to the channel, and also mentions the option of becoming a channel member for additional perks. Dr. Taban expresses gratitude for the listeners' attention and reiterates the significance of the journey towards becoming a discerning individual, capable of critically evaluating new beliefs and attitudes that one encounters in life.

Keywords

💡Cognitive Development

Cognitive development refers to the process through which individuals acquire knowledge, abilities, and skills related to thinking, understanding, and reasoning. In the video, Dr. Orion Taban emphasizes that full cognitive development is not reached until the age of 25, which is significant because it implies that before this age, individuals may not be fully capable of independent and critical thinking.

💡Emotional Maturity

Emotional maturity is the state of being in which a person can understand, control, and express their emotions in a healthy and constructive manner. The video suggests that emotional or psychological maturity occurs even later than physical maturity, which has profound implications for how individuals perceive and interact with the world around them.

💡Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information, evaluate its quality and validity, and form reasoned judgments based on that analysis. The video discusses the importance of developing critical thinking skills, as they are essential for individuals to begin thinking for themselves and not just accepting information and beliefs without question.

💡Mind Clutter

Mind clutter refers to the accumulation of thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes that are not one's own, often instilled by external influences such as parents, teachers, and media. In the context of the video, mind clutter is likened to a hoarder's house, filled with 'crap' that prevents the individual from thinking clearly and independently.

💡Emotional Attachments

Emotional attachments are strong feelings or connections that individuals have towards certain beliefs, facts, or attitudes, often stemming from their origin (e.g., family, teachers). The video explains that these attachments can make it difficult for individuals to let go of unhelpful or false beliefs because they are tied to emotions and memories.

💡Cultural Trivia

Cultural trivia refers to bits of information or facts that are specific to a certain culture but may not hold significant value or truth. In the video, Dr. Taban uses the example of advertising jingles and memorized facts to illustrate how such trivia can occupy mental space that could be used for more valuable cognitive processes.

💡Decluttering the Mind

Decluttering the mind is the process of consciously examining and evaluating one's thoughts and beliefs to determine their truth, usefulness, and alignment with one's personal goals and identity. The video presents this as a necessary step towards achieving individuality and self-awareness, comparing it to the process of clearing out a hoarder's house.

💡Conscious Permission

Conscious permission refers to the deliberate and intentional acceptance of thoughts and beliefs into one's mind. The video argues that most people's minds are filled with content without their conscious permission, and achieving a state where one's mind contains only that which they have deliberately chosen is a sign of a healthy and independent cognitive state.

💡Information Intake

Information intake is the process of receiving, processing, and assimilating new information and knowledge. The video discusses the importance of controlling one's information intake, especially in the age of social media and news, to prevent the mind from being flooded with unexamined and potentially harmful beliefs and attitudes.

💡Individuality

Individuality is the quality of being a distinct person with one's own thoughts, beliefs, and values. The video emphasizes the importance of developing individuality, as it is only through the process of examining and decluttering one's mind that a person can truly understand who they are and live a life that is authentic to their own desires and goals.

💡Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is the capacity for introspection and the ability to recognize and understand one's own character, feelings, motivations, and behaviors. In the video, Dr. Taban suggests that the journey of decluttering the mind is essential for developing self-awareness, as it allows individuals to identify and align with their true selves rather than the selves constructed by external influences.

Highlights

The importance of saving your mind is emphasized, as it's crucial for both individual and social well-being.

Human beings reach full physical maturity at age 25, with emotional or psychological maturity occurring even later.

Most people can't think critically and independently until they are at least 25 years old.

By age 25, individuals' minds are filled with beliefs and attitudes from external influences, often without their consent.

The concept that one's mind may be filled with thoughts not originally their own is introduced.

Around the age of 30, people often begin to recognize the need to 'wake up' and declutter their minds.

The analogy of a hoarder's house full of unwanted items is used to describe the mental state of many individuals.

Emotional attachments to beliefs, even if they are not true or useful, make it difficult to let go of them.

The process of divesting oneself of unhelpful beliefs is compared to the challenging task of decluttering.

The speaker suggests that it may take a lifetime to clear the mind of unwanted thoughts and beliefs.

The importance of critically examining each thought and its origin is stressed for personal growth.

Holding onto only those thoughts that are true, useful, and supportive of one's goals is advised.

The process of simplifying and clarifying the mind is likened to decluttering one's living space.

The speaker shares personal strategies for controlling the intake of new information, such as abstaining from news consumption.

The dangers of unexamined beliefs and attitudes, particularly from media and social platforms, are discussed.

The necessity of becoming an individual by discerningly assessing and accepting new beliefs is highlighted.

The speaker encourages a mindful approach to the information one consumes for the sake of mental well-being.

The call to action for listeners to engage with the content, share their experiences, and consider supporting the channel is made.

Transcripts

I'm Dr Orion taban and this is psyx

Better Living Through psychology and the

topic of today's short talk is how to

save your mind this is an extremely

important subject and I hope that this

message reaches a good number of people

given some realities with respect to

human cognitive development your mind

needs saving no matter who you are and

the stakes of not saving your mind both

individually and socially are extreme

high so let's not waste any time here's

the situation every human being only

arrives at the point of full physical

maturity at age 25 and full emotional or

psychological maturity if that ever

happens occurs even later the upshot is

that most people can't even begin to

think for themselves critically and

independently until they are at least

this old the issue is that by the time

you reach this age your head is so full

of that you can't even think

straight irrespective of your beliefs to

the contrary and this was put

in your head as it were without your

permission through such a subtle and

intimate process that on some level you

couldn't prevent it from happening even

if you wanted to you lacked the

awareness and the experience and the Cy

ological capacity to resist it this

means by the time you get to 25 years

old your head is full of facts beliefs

and attitudes put there by your parents

and your teachers and your priests and

your government and your media and your

friends and your culture your mind is

literally full of thoughts that are not

your own but that you might identify

with in fact it may not be an

exaggeration to say that at this point

you may not possess a single original

thought you may never have had the

chance to think one any spare room you

may have had for such a cognition could

have been filled Years Ago by some

nonsense bit of cultural trivia like an

advertising jingle or some fact that

your teachers forced you to memorize

that while technically true is just as

obviously worthless like the capitals

and these are some of the less harmful

offenders many of the thoughts in your

head are wrong like objectively and even

more of them are useless even if they're

not necessarily

false what this means is that every

person usually around 30 years of age

has the opportunity to start waking up

but they only find themselves in like a

hoarder's house a house full of crap in

reality they've been living in this

house for years but they've only

recently become sufficiently aware of

their situation to consider that their

living conditions might be

circumstantial as opposed to inherent to

reality in any case they begin to

understand that their house is cramped

and dingy and full of stuff that came

from God knows where now if you know

anything about hoarders you know that it

can be very very difficult for them to

disabuse themselves of their things why

because they have all of these emotional

connections to their junk an old scrap

of paper might be a tether to a

relationship that is long since ended

some expired medication might be useful

again sometime in the future these

emotional bonds with their objects

prevent hoarders from taking appropriate

action the same thing is true with the

facts beliefs and attitudes that were

put into your mind by other people the

reason why it is difficult to let go of

these things is that you have emotional

attachments to these things even if it's

not true this is an attitude that came

from your dad even though it's not

helpful this is a fact that came from

your teacher Etc and the most common

emotional attachment that people have

with the in their minds is that

it is right

however in the vast majority of cases

right doesn't mean right it means this

is how my family did it or this is what

we were supposed to do at the time you

get me now before I go any further if

you're liking what you're hearing please

consider sending this episode to someone

who might benefit from its message

because its Word of Mouth were FRS like

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channel grow you can also tip me in

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make all this happen I really appreciate

it thank

you fortunately there is a way out of

this situation but just like emptying

out a house full of junk it is going to

take some time after all if it took you

30 years to accumulate all of this

it could very well take the

rest of your life to divest yourself of

what was put there against your will

however if you don't do this you're kind

of because you will never really

become well you an individual person if

you don't do this you will simply be a

cipher a pasti of your culture and the

idiosyncrasies of a particular

historical moment that will be your life

you might not be miserable or

unfulfilled if you don't empty out the

because only individuals can

truly be miserable or unfulfilled but

you might spend your whole life with a

vague nagging hunch that something

doesn't feel right or something is

missing but because you never learned to

think for yourself you might never learn

who you are so you won't be able to do

anything about this feeling beyond what

your culture prescribes for the

indiscriminate masses alcohol streaming

services psychiatric medication

professional sports shopping and sex you

will have lived your whole life without

ever learning who you were so the way

out of this process is akin to dealing

with a hoarder except you'll be dealing

with cognitions not material things

you'll need to to turn your attention

Inward and slowly carefully examine each

individual thought one by one ask

yourself some questions where did this

come from is it true is it useful will

this serve me in who I want to be and

where I want to go hang on to the things

that are true and useful and that

support the person you want to be

everything else thank them for their

service such as was and let them go you

want to simplify and clarify your mind

as much as you want to simplify and

clarify your actual living space this

could take years however over time

little by little you may arrive at a

point in which the majority of your

mind's contents is there with your

conscious permission and at your

conscious pleasure this is long

laborious work but there's no way around

it fortunately the more more you do this

the better you get at assessing things

accurately and the easier it becomes to

discard things that no longer serve you

and of course once you start on the path

of decluttering your mind of

you're going to want to like restrict

the flow of new facts beliefs and

attitudes coming in at the very least

you'll want to install a kind of valve

to control your intake of information in

our culture people can be obsessed with

diet but they limit their

conceptualization of this idea to what

goes in their mouths as opposed to what

goes in their minds and frankly what

goes into people's minds is far more

important than what goes into their

mouths if for no other reason that what

goes into people's minds controls what

people put in their mouths and not the

other way

around I personally stopped watching the

news like 16 years ago and here I am a

I'm I'm a perfectly functioning human

being and I don't just mean watching the

news on like the Legacy Media I mean

watching the news on news sites or

YouTube or Reddit or social media

LinkedIn Tik Tok Twitter Facebook I

don't have any of these apps on my phone

I upload my content on a third party

platform so that I don't have to touch

these apps directly after I expended

years and years of conscious effort to

expel most of the from my head

I don't want any new rushing in

to take its place understand and media

especially social media is far far more

dangerous than most people think so if

you want to save your mind if you want

to go through the timec consuming

process of actually becoming an

individual you need to go through the

very personal and very challenging

process of carefully examining the

contents of your Consciousness and be

willing to divest yourself of that which

is no longer true and or useful once you

do that I guarantee you will be much

more discriminating with respect to any

new unexamined belief or attitude that

happens to present itself to you on your

walk through life what do you think does

this fit with your own experience let me

know in the comments below and if you've

gotten this far you might as well like

this episode And subscribe to this

channel you may also becoming consider

becoming a channel member with perks

like the priority of comments or booking

a paid consultation as always thank you

for

listening