Mind Management
It turns out this demonic gift is flawed as far as nature is concerned, because it comes with a rarely exploited loophole.
What is a mind? For the purposes of this article, it can be described as both a problem-solving algorithm and a symbol- and image-processing facility. Your mind solves problems all day, and if none are to hand, it will invent them, crosswords, games, and so on. Others might think that philosophical questions are of a different order, but they are not. It might be healthier to play Pac-Man than to contemplate the question of why there is something instead of nothing. To process our questions, we use symbols, typically words and images, and these things are part of us and not part of the world. The best we can say is that symbols and images are representations of the world, not the world itself, just as a map is not the actual territory.
It just so happens that the mind is our most important survival tool, and as a result, it sucks up most of our attention, since this is where the biggest payback is. A central capability of most species is deception, and the more developed the mind, the more it can engage in deception. So as a species, we are masters of deceit, and even more than this, we have evolved to cloak our deceit by not knowing that we are deceiving; such are our genetics. With a mind as powerful as ours, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the success of individuals is largely determined by “The Art of the Deceit”. Business is largely about lies and deceit, so is mating, and most other interactions: “I’ve had no problems with this car, you’d be getting a bargain.”
If what has been said so far was all there is to the mind, it could be seen as nothing other than a blessing. But alas, this is not the case. If the mind cannot address a problem, it will obsess, even if the problem is nothing more than imagination - will I have enough money in 20 years from now? An unmanaged mind is usually a mind that obsesses, and with that obsession comes worry, stress, and anxiety. We are survival machines, and the mind takes it upon itself to ensure our continued survival. Should a problem arise that cannot be resolved, the mind will begin to short-circuit because it is unable to fulfill its primary function.