Mind Moves Marie MurrayAs humans we process and organise information all the time. The field of cognitive psychology contains many theories about how we do so.
Some theorists focus on the degree to which we organise information sequentially. Others emphasise the stages. Some accentuate our simultaneous assimilation of information by several different parts of the memory system, while those who propose a "connectionistic" model suggest that information is stored through networks of connections in multiple locations throughout the brain.
How we learn, attach new information to that which we already know, find patterns in our life experiences and generally make sense of the world, depends upon our information processing processes. But whether we believe in "parallel
distributed", "stage theory" or "level of processing" models of how information is stored and accessed, what happens when we process information may be described simply as mental mooching, a glorious occupation that we spend less time doing these days.
Mental mooching is an art. It is the art of doing nothing, or at least nothing that is target-based, goal-oriented or benchmarked. Conscious purpose thwarts this occupation, for it requires the capacity to mentally remove oneself from the world and enter that sacred space of inner reflection and remain there meandering through the labyrinthine networks of the mind.
The capacity to mentally mooch is a gift, one bestowed on most children but quickly removed from them with exhortations to "sit up, sit down, pay attention, stop day-dreaming, wake up and focus" - all of which are antidotes to mental mooching. Mental mooching involves unconscious observation, gentle assimilation and silent surveillance of the important things in life.
Mental mooching is best conducted lying on the grass looking up at the clouds as they float by or lying face flat on the ground watching the hurrying and scurrying of little living things that would not otherwise be noticed under-foot.
Children who mentally mooch feel their minds at work, hear their heartbeats, listen to what can only be heard in silence and attune their emotions transcendentally to the harmony of the universe rather than the cacophony of existence. They are soothed by nature, by silence, by tranquillity and by the processing of their own miraculous minds. They learn how to be calm, reflective and engage in inner dialogue.
Time to mentally mooch is a developmental need from which many children are deprived by exposure to excessive task-oriented activities whereby their natural abilities are converted into measurable accomplishments.
Research has shown that too much activity, rather than benefiting children, may inhibit their development, delay symbolic learning and language skills and make concentration, attention and contentment less.
Meanwhile, one of life's most important accomplishments - the capacity to be alone, to embrace solitude and to seek solace from the self rather than from material goods - may be bypassed with long-term mental health and wellbeing consequences for the child.
Mental mooching is not, however, the exclusive occupation of childhood and there are many accomplished mental moochers among adults. High on the list are those engaged in philosophy, anthropology, archaeology, sociology and, of course, philosophical psychology, for each of these occupations affords the luxury of some engagement with life's mysteries past or present. Whether one is scraping for remnants of past civilisations, trawling through tomes in which humankind has recorded itself or torturing with the dilemma that arise in our own times, the mysteries of life are manifest and can be mentally mooched upon.
Monks and contemplatives may have the edge where mental mooching is concerned for what more miraculous daily occupation can there be than exegesis of life here and hereafter?
Physicists, those secret philosophers of the universe, are penultimate mental moochers, while artists by their very nature must mentally mooch if they are to create and externalise the visions of their minds. Composers hear what others cannot. A novel unfolds through many moochings in the crevices of creativity, memory and emotion. Science would not have served us well had Newton not sat mentally mooching under a tree until an apple fell on his head or if Archimedes had not meditated in his bath until he found the answer he was looking for.
Astronomers with eyes fixed firmly upon the stars can tell us more about our earthly existence than those who limit their gaze.
Dawdling and doodling are productive, for mental ramblings lead to undiscovered roads and doodling reveals new patterns and designs.
Mental mooching is cognitive de-cluttering, sorting through the mental muddle, discovering, discarding, retaining and tidying, finding cognitive treasures in the attic of the mind.
We have a long tradition of mental mooching and imaginative story telling and so the Irish mind is a reflective, inventive and well-stocked mind. Mental mooching is, therefore, a national obligation, for if in all the doing there is no space to "be", then what is living for and how will we go on imaginatively?
mmurray@irish-times.ie
Marie Murray is a clinical psychologist and director of the student counselling services, University College Dublin.