Mental stuckness is generally dealt with by just not thinking about it, if possible. If unavoidable, we will simply choose the answer that seems most likely and move on recognizing that we can only see through the mirror dimly. By the way, this is called faith. And many folks believe it is a final solution to mental stuckness. Many will say, “Forget the distractions that do not make sense. Trust me! This is true.” Faith is a good thing. It helps us to get by but it is not the final note in the symphony. Even Paul said “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (1 Cor. 13:12) Faith is an interim understanding not a final resting place of truth. We cannot become unstuck by making a faith claim. We will only become prisoners of our stuckness.
Mental stuckness is a gift. It invites us to recognize our limitations and push further in our search for insight and understanding. The great discoveries in science and the humanities began with someone became mentally stuck. Why do objects fall down and not up? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is one object beautiful and another ugly? Each of these moments of stuckness ushered in a new age of human insight and understanding that continues today.
Generally, we become mentally stuck for one of three reason. We may simply be ignorant. Ignorance is simply a lack of relevant information. It does not imply that we are incapable of learning. That would be stupidity. In fact, it suggests that we are capable of acquiring the knowledge we need to resolve the problem. Ignorance can be fixed with education.
A second cause of stuckness is the Non Sequitur. Things that do not seem to follow as we believe they should. This is often the result of faulty thinking. We may have reversed the rules of logic of missed a step in the process of coming to an answer. Once again, we can move beyond the non sequitur by education, disciplining the mind to work through the problem in a meaningful way.
The third reason for mental stuckness is far more difficult to resolve. It is called Cognitive Dissonance. This occurs when we encounter two things that appear to be true but seem to negate one another. This is not simply a lack of information or familiarity with the process that leads to resolution. It grows out of something far more complex, our faith claims mentioned above. We have decided that something is true. Eventually, we will encounter the opposite that we had set aside in order to make our faith claim. This creates a deep dissonance in our mind. We can either reassert our faith and suppress the dissonance but it will return. But there is a better way.
We can love the truth enough to acknowledge that both may be true and allow them to teach us what they have to offer. This is not resolving the paradox. It is learning through it. It can open our minds to new knowledge and lead us to discover new ways to work through our problems. More importantly, it came tame the soul’s bent toward hubris by reminding us that we do, in fact, only see in the mirror dimly, even when we are at our most insightful. We do not need to defend our beliefs to the death because we could be wrong and we have much to learn and discover. In Paul’s words, “Faith, hope, and love abide. And the greatest of these is love.” This includes a love for truth that overrides our need to be right.
TIP
Explore the truth as well as the false in both statements. Both sides of the paradoxical statements hold ideas that appear true as well as ideas that seem false. Let all of them speak to you.
By greater insight into both sides of the paradox, the middle will begin to appear. In those gray areas a new path exists just beneath the surface of your awareness. This may not reveal a resolution, but it will offer one or more directions for exploration. It will show you that there are new things to learn and assumptions to test. It will point you forward and you will discover that you are no longer stuck!
But most of all, the paradox will help you discover a deeper appreciation for the dissonance. Just as music is a scripted performance of harmony and dissonance, sound and silence, a paradox will allow you to accept that there is a script for our mental journey. Our minds enjoy moments of insight and moments of confusion, moments of great activity and moments of stillness. These are signs that the symphony is still playing and the final resolution has not yet come. Celebrate the music of the mind as you grow toward that final chord!