The Power of Mindful Learning (17 page)

When we are mindful, we implicitly or explicitly (1) view a
situation from several perspectives, (2) see information presented in the situation as novel, (3) attend to the context in
which we are perceiving the information, and eventually (4)
create new categories through which this information may be
understood.

Some of the differences so far noted between mindfulness
and intelligence are summarized in Table 1.

Contrast the example of the two figures with the kind of problem and problem-solving approach found in an educational
setting. Intelligence theorists, working with a model of correspondence, view an ambiguous situation as a problem to be
resolved." Although such an approach may attempt to view the
problem from several perspectives, the objective is to identify
the perspective that most nearly corresponds to reality. This
approach to ambiguity is essentially linear. Whatever mental
abilities propel us on the most direct path from problem to resolution are viewed as adaptive. Although this direct path may
vary from person to person, a global capacity to resolve problems, often measured in terms of speed, frequently serves as the
operational definition of intelligence.14

What if categories such as "problem" and "resolution" are
themselves assumptions that may or may not be useful? Rather
than moving directly from problem to solution, a person in a mindful state remains open to several ways of viewing the situation. This flexibility allows us to draw on newly available
information rather than to rely exclusively on preconstructed
categories that tend to overdetermine our behavior. In other
words, we have to maintain what some have called intelligent
ignorance to make the best of any situation.

At this point, a skeptical reader may wonder whether,
although we have demonstrated a mindful view of ambiguous
two-dimensional figures, our actual environment is susceptible
to such cartwheels. Consider a machine developed to spray
crops. The manufacturer introduced the machine to farmers in
Florida. Instead of helping to save the crops, the machine produced a substance that froze in the air and killed them. An
entrepreneur viewed the same device from another perspective:
he used it to make snow on northern ski slopes and earned a
small fortune. A similar story involves the drug minoxidil,
which was developed to lower blood pressure. Although it was
effective for hypertension, minoxidil had a side effect: it stimulated hair growth. For a twenty-year-old woman, additional
hair growth may be unwelcome, but for a balding man,
renewed hair growth may be a blessing. From this perspective,
hair growth was not a distressful side effect, but the principal
element of the drug's success.

The discovery of new uses for these products did not begin
with the problem of snowmaking or baldness. Rather, the discoveries occurred because the discoverers recognized that
unsuccessful attempts to resolve problems could be seen from
other perspectives. These mindful persons did not move in a linear way from problem to resolution; they moved from one
perspective to another, from concern about side effects to a
search for the promise of such effects. Had they rigidly continued to seek solutions for the original problems, they would
have missed these alternative possibilities. As we will see in the
next chapter on the illusion of right answers, side effects, or
alternative solutions, would be considered wrong in a school
setting.

Although flexible thinking is the essence of mindfulness,
flexibility can also be considered a quality of intelligent thinking. We all have a repertoire of lower-level procedures and
higher-level strategies that may be tried in novel settings. The
larger our repertoire and the less we are attached to any specific
procedure or strategy, the more flexible our thinking is likely to
be. However, although our repertoire may grow, the individual
strategies remain fixed. Our general capacity to sort through
these various strategies and procedures and assess which can be
applied most appropriately to a novel task is the process usually
called intelligent thinking.ls

In this view, intelligence consists of identifying the strategies and procedures that optimally reflect the context of any
particular problem. Although this appears to be a more sophisticated view of intelligence, it is actually a return to the notion
developed by Francis Galion and James Cattell, that intelligent
thinking optimally corresponds to one's environment.

In contrast, when we are mindful, we are implicitly aware
that in any particular situation there is no absolute optimum
standard for action. From a mindful perspective, one's response to a particular situation is not an attempt to make the best choice from
among available options but to create options. Rather than look
for an external standard of optimum fit or the right answer,
one discovers that, in the words of William James, "the standard perpetually grows up endogenously inside the web of
experience.""

In ancient times the beautiful woman Mi Tzu-hsia was the
favorite wife of the lord of Wei. Now, according to the law of Wei,
anyone who rode in the king's carriage without permission could be
punished by amputation of the foot. When Mi Tzu-hsia's mother fell
ill, someone brought the news to her in the middle of the night. So
she took the carriage and went out, and the king only praised her for
it. "Such filial devotion!" he said. "For her mother's sake she risked
the punishment of amputation!"

Another day she was dallying with the lord of Wei in the fruit
garden. She took a peach, which she found so sweet that instead of
finishing it she handed it to the lord to taste. `How she loves me,"
said the lord of Wei, `forgetting the pleasure of her own taste to share
with me!"

But when Mi Tzu-hsia's beauty began to fade, the king's affection cooled. And when she offended the king, he prepared for her
punishment, saying "Didn't she once take my carriage without permission?And didn't she once give me a peach that she had already
chewed on?"

The King's Favorite

CHINESE FOLKTALE

Mi Tzu-hsia, like all of us, was dealing with an ever-shifting environment. She was so confident of the king's devotion
that she did not protect herself against the possibility that circumstances could change. The lord of Wei, however, was
bound by no such single perspective. While he clearly had the
upper hand, perhaps an awareness of the possibility of shifting
affections could have kept Mi Tzu-hsia in some control, more
wary, more capable of ensuring her own survival.

There was once a poor man who had four sons,
and when they were grown to manhood he said to
them: "You will have to go out into the world, for I
have nothing to give you. Be on your way, learn a
trade, and see what you can make of
The four brothers took leave of their father and off
they went, each in a different direction.

The eldest met a man who asked him where he
was going. "I am going to learn a trade, "he replied.
"Come with me,"said the man, "and learn to be a
thief. "No, "he said. "That does not pass as an honest trade nowadays. I'd only find myself dangling
from the end of a rope." "Oh, you needn't worry,"
said the man. "I'll only teach you how to take things without ever
being found out. "That convinced him. He went with the man and
became a skilled thief, so adroit that nothing he wanted was safe
from him. The second brother met a man who also asked him what
trade he had in mind. `I haven't decided yet, "he replied. "Then come with me and learn to be a stargazer. There's no better trade, for
nothing remains hidden from you." That appealed to him and he
became so proficient a stargazer that when his apprenticeship was
over, his master gave him a telescope, saying: "With this you will be
able to see everything that happens on earth or in the heavens. "A
hunter took the third brother on as an apprentice and taught him all
the tricks of the trade. As a farewell gift his master gave him a gun,
saying: It never misses. You will be sure to hit whatever you aim
at." The youngest brother also met a tailor who offered to teach his
trade. "Who wants to sit stooped over from morning to night, plying
the needle and flatiron day in and day out?" said the boy. "You're
only showing your ignorance, "said the man. "With me you would
learn tailoring of a different kind, which, in addition to being
pleasant and dignified, may bring you great honor. "That convinced
him, so he went with the man and learned his craft from A to Z. As
a farewell present, the man gave him a needle, saying: "With this
you will be able to mend anything whatsoever, even if its as soft as
an egg or as hard as steel; two pieces will become as one, and no seam
will be visible. "

When the four years were over, the four brothers met at the
crossroads, hugged and kissed each other, and went home eager for a
chance to show their skills.

A few weeks later, the king's daughter was carried off by a
dragon. The king worried day and night and made it known that
the man who rescued his daughter and brought her back should have
her for his we. The brothers said to one another: "This is our
chance. "