An open mind in a fixed system
Folks with a fixed mindset —those who are very rigid and inflexible in their beliefs— hold their beliefs so dogmatically that they don't like to take in any new information or explore other philosophies. They kind of spin around in their own circle. A bubble. It can be annoying, if not quite dangerous.
There is a lack of appreciation for other perspectives, and they don't seek them out. They think everyone else operates the same way they do. They perceive others as ego-driven and self-centered, assuming everyone shares the same mentality.
So when these folks bump up against others and there is friction, they don't think about the harm caused. They chalk things up to a "difference of opinion" or "that wasn't so bad" because that friction or harm didn't affect them in a way that helps them understand they caused the issue. It keeps folks from taking accountability.
Compare this to folks who are a bit more open-minded, who appreciate the fact that we are all operating under our own agency and self-determination, as we should be, recognize the impact of their actions and decisionsbut see one another as interwoven. When folks bump into each other, which inevitably happens, that's the human experience: engaging with the environment around us and figuring out what to do with that information. Those folks will take a step back and consider the impact or harm they may have caused. They take accountability and take steps to rectify it. They recognize the impact their actions and decisions have on others.
That's not to say there isn't some benefit in understanding what a fixed system (or brain) does and how it could benefit a whole system. But it's the clash between the two mindsets that's problematic, and the fact that people with fixed mindsets can be so inflexible that they're unwilling or unable to reflect and say, "Yeah, I really fucked up. I made a mistake. What can I do differently next time?" The appreciation of the fact that the way you grow and move on from mistakes, errors of judgment, and harm is crucial. If you find yourself in those situations again—which ideally shouldn't happen because you're making different decisions—but if they do, you consider, "What is the impact this will have on me?" It's not selfish to think that. But additionally, "What will the impact be on the people around me, the world around me, the environment I'm in, and contribute to?"
As you move through life, you come to realize the weight of the decisions you're making. That's not to say you won't make mistakes; we all do. Sometimes they are grave or irreparable mistakes. That's part of learning about yourself and the world around you, and how you interact with it and build it. But it's truly the people who are so inflexible that they refuse to consider other perspectives, people you can't reason with, that make our environment as sick as it is. And when I'm talking about environment, I mean our systems: mental, emotional, and physical.
When a fixed mindset is poison-pilled by toxic ideologies, when they are confronted with the decisions they've made, without having done the work on themselves or healed, they can't recognize they need to take more agency and accountability for their decisions. When they can't see that the solution isn't to control the entire world around them, their world starts to collapse.
We are observing that this is what's happening with authoritarians, technocrats, bigots, and imperialists. We are witnessing what happens when the world around them, as it truly exists — with people living and breathing the consequences of their decisions every day — fights back. Those fixed folks double down and want to take more control because they do actually see that they are failing and losing control. They start to spin and spiral and engage in very violent tactics to harm the very population that they actually rely on and depend on to reach their objectives. As they attack and attack, and that population becomes smaller, their hope is that they will gain better control because they've isolated the group. It's what happens with genocides, it's what happens with gentrification, it's what happens every time a community is built with a fence and a gate around it.
It's important to be mindful of the folks who operate with a fixed mindset. It's not about one mindset being better than the other, but it's about the balance of knowing that being rigid and disciplined can be destructive when those mindsets are rooted in harmful ideologies. It no longer becomes someone you simply have a "disagreement" with or a difference of opinion on HOW you might do something, while generally agreeing that something should be done. So when you're thinking about the folks you surround yourself with, what you consume, what you digest on a daily basis—mind, body, and soul—ask yourself where you find your communities. You already have communities that you engage with.
Do you have balance in your life where you are practicing joy, passion, and experiencing life? Are you taking the steps to know where you belong, what you stand for, or which groups you support and which support you? If everything you do is a performative act of engaging in a capitalist structure, you'll never be able to find community. Where are you spending your time? What are you reading? What are you eating? Who are you hanging out with? How are you nourishing your being? Not everything has to be an intellectualized thesis at brunch, but I see a lot of folks asking themselves, "How do we change things? How do we build community?" If everything is a joke, or if you've become complacent and sucked into the performative act of engaging, you'll never be able to find and build your community. You haven't even realized that you do have it in front of you and have been building it this entire time.
It's never too late to find and align with people, but I've noticed that most folks are just talking at each other and shouting into the void lately.
We need to figure this shit out.