Which of the Two Worlds Are You Living In?
Abstract thought can’t compete with the clarity of direct experience
by Chris Niebauer, PhD
One of my favorite icebreakers is to ask, “Which world do you live in?” In addition to a strange look, almost everyone responds with, “What do you mean?”
While all other species on the planet live in the real world, at some point in our evolutionary development, humans invented a new, abstract world we spend far more time in than in the real one.
Let me describe the two worlds, and you can estimate from your own experience which of the two you spend more time in.
We should begin with the older of the two worlds.
If you have a drink handy, take a sip. Let’s say it’s tea. What does it look like? Smell like? Taste like? Would it be hot if you touched it?
Take some time to explore the sensory experiences on all levels. Take a slow, deep breath. You can experience your lungs expanding as you breathe in the air. If it is quiet, you might even hear the breath you are taking.
Another example. Ask yourself, “How do I know I have feet?” How do you know your feet are there without looking at them? Do they tingle with sensation? Are they warm? Cold?
Close your eyes and feel the awareness in this part of the body. These direct experiences exist in what we will call the real world.
Contrast these examples with the other world — which, from an evolutionary standpoint, is relatively new. I call this new world the abstract world, because it is a world of thoughts and ideas that exists only in the human mind.
While you already know this world well, let’s examine it using the idea of ownership.
Modern humans live in a world where I own this, and you own that.
But can you directly experience ownership in the same way that you can directly experience the taste of your tea? I want you to try to experience the idea of ownership. Can you touch it? Can you see it? Abstractions are far more elusive than the real world because they are ideas rather than direct experiences.
Beyond examples or words that describe what you do or do not own, consider what ownership actually means. What does it look like? Once you own something, does the thing itself change in some way from before you owned it?
Perhaps you are at a coffee shop and believe that the cup of coffee in front of you is yours. If someone picked it up and walked away with it, you might say, “That’s my coffee — give it back!”
Why do you believe you own it? Did you pay for it? What if the coffee shop gave it to you for free? Ownership is a collective belief shared among abstract minds; it does not exist as a direct experience in the real world.
In this new world there are innumerable abstractions — government, money, credit, cryptocurrency, stocks, businesses, careers, property, laws, fame, success, wealth, poverty, retirement, and loneliness, to name a few — as well as psychological concepts like worry and regret.
One of the most common ways people visit the abstract world is by imagining different futures, most of which never turn out as we expect.
Before we go further, it is important to acknowledge that abstraction is, in many ways, a superpower for modern humans.
The abstract world uses language to communicate its ideas, and it would be difficult to imagine modern life without language. The abstract world also gave rise to ideas like fairness, responsibility, equality, and human rights. These may be only ideas, but they have improved human existence in ways for which we can be grateful.
If you are looking for happiness and joy in the abstract world of thinking, however, you may be looking in the wrong place.
Mindfulness and meditation are so effective at bringing about a sense of peace and wellbeing because they are practices that return us to the real world — reconnecting us with the natural, playful, and joyful state we occupied before constant abstraction took over.
As you move between the two worlds during an ordinary day, ask yourself: which world is vivid and alive, and which is blurry, dull, and lifeless?
The real world is alive with experience, consciousness, and awareness. The world of abstract thought cannot compete with the clarity of direct experience. Do not take my word for it — experience for yourself which of the two worlds is most alive and energetic. Compare a walk on the beach in the real world to a walk on the beach in your imagination.
Before we became absorbed in the abstract world, we used language as a pointer to the real world. The word “water” pointed to something you could drink, touch, and feel.
But modern humans have created a proliferation of words that no longer point to anything directly experienced. Again, see for yourself whether this is true. The next time you feel “regret,” ask exactly what in the real world this word points to.
The next time you believe you are worried, try to experience exactly what that means. You may notice your heart beating faster than usual, but no matter how closely you look, you cannot directly experience worry in the same way that you can taste your tea.
There is no requirement to believe anything you’ve read here.
Experience for yourself whether time spent in the real world is its own reward — or whether life was meant to be lived primarily in abstract thought.
Dr. Chris explores the neuroscience of your identity in his exclusive online event with The Shift Network. Learn more here.
Chris Niebauer, PhD, holds a doctorate in cognitive neuropsychology from the University of Toledo, specializing in the differences between the left and right sides of the human brain. He is the author of the bestselling book, No Self, No Problem: How Neuropsychology Is Catching Up to Buddhism, which The Wall Street Journal called the second-best book on the brain. For 22 years, he taught consciousness, mindfulness, artificial intelligence, and left-brain and right-brain differences at a Philadelphia state university.