‘Decolonizing the mind’ means letting go of the ingrained and obsolete beliefs, mental routines, and repetition of unexamined opinions that we carry around in our heads. One may ask, how did our minds become ‘colonized’ with beliefs and opinions in the first place? How do we think and why so?

Thinking in metaphorical psychoanalytical terms, the unconscious of a child at birth is like water. Gradually consciousness emerges, much like an island rising up out of the water. The bedrock of this island comes from the predisposed biological traits that we all inherit, driven by four innate evolutionary driving instincts: What’s for lunch? Let’s have sex! Who’s the boss? and What’s my territory? Additionally, other genetic imprints and animalistic traits come with us, such as the survival instinct, aggression, and greed. Of course, we learn foundational and practical things of life like caring for and loving others, automatic skills, table manners, fine social skills, literacy, didactic topics in school, language(s), riding a bicycle and other things. Many such pragmatic skills become non-analytical, requiring little effort for rapid reasoning, and they are useful on a daily basis. (see Daniel Kahneman: Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2012). The other cognitive learnings that require analytical and slower reasoning remain a challenge for most people.

Nevertheless, the island of mind continues to expand at a rapid pace, developing its unique landscape through the sensory, social and cognitive experiences of childhood as it slows down with adulthood.  On the ‘solid ground’ of the island, colonization of the mind takes over quickly: ideas from beyond the island arrive, opinions begin to land and take over, beliefs and concepts make their mark. The colonization of the mind through religious beliefs, belief in God, cultural behavior, and parental and social value systems is cemented through adolescence and early adulthood. But the greater the colonization is dominated with irrational beliefs and opinions, the greater the damage and worsening of our circumstances, both individually and collectively.

But there is also the kind of thinking that requires deeper and slower reasoning. It means not falling into the trap of clever and fast reactions and one’s usual certainties or raw assumptions. The didactic mind falls prey to the repetition of embedded and easily-accessed opinions, and such opinions and snap judgments are forms of colonization of the mind that cause the mind to lose its own authenticity. The Pre-socratic philosopher Heraclitus found opinions of the masses to be more of the consumable vernacular than the natural rationality that pervades all aspects of life and reality. In this context he said: ‘Opinions are nothing but toys for children.’

But of course, everyone believes they are good and clever thinkers. This self-centeredness itself needs to be put to the test for inconsistency even in our most logical thinking (see Daniel Kahneman: Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment, 2021).

Decolonizing how we think is an intricate, delicate task. It depends on the degree of colonization of our mind by externally imposed beliefs and opinions, the dominancy of our biological instincts, and the balancing power of our emotional intelligence. The illusion of learning more, augmenting knowledge on top of more knowledge may naively be thought as the best means of decolonization. Not necessarily!

Instead, the decolonization process should remove the bad ideas and erroneous opinions that we have absorbed, cultivated and entertained for years and decades. The way out of this insidious colonization is by tapping into the power of neuroplasticity, which means we can embark on new learnings and disembark the old ones. It requires a sudden awakening (Zen satori) by viewing the plasticity of the nature of mind.

If we do not deal with our biological instincts, irrational beliefs and self-approved behaviors, the constructed, ‘colonized’ landscape of our mind progressively becomes the basis of our character. And thus, the bad and good quality of our life depends on the quality of our mind.

Even the colonization of hard-wired phenomenon of language deserves a deeper subject of scrutiny. Although language is extremely useful in human life and can be considered a road on the mental island to orient and guide us, an effect of ‘colonization’ is imminent: where do such roads take you?

Words and narratives have tremendous power over us. Another means of wielding the power of linguistic-wiring is by the creation of an incoherent or illusory picture of reality through fragmented language. The mind can easily become disconnected by its own bits and pieces of phrases, words and anecdotes (see Jacques Derrida: De la Grammatologie, 1967). The political theorist Antonio Gramsci has also claimed that hegemony over people, particularly in the political and religious realms is so subtle, it can happen simply through persuasive language. Zen masters and Sufi poets throughout centuries have warned us against the seductive power of language in distorting our understanding of the complex web and relentless process of the cycle of existence. Thus, the role of language is a double-edged sword: useful and yet misleading, because it’s an incomplete tool for the capacity that the mind has. In other words, learned, unexamined narratives can often govern our non-inquisitive, lazy and conditioned brains, effectively colonizing our thoughts. But in becoming clear about the role of language, we can let its usefulness stay on the island but its limiting and even misrepresentational aspects have to be acknowledged – a prudent path to epistemic decolonization.

In fast-paced life circumstances, we find ourselves getting older, quirkier, and unguided on the path of wisdom. This happens in the absence of an inquisitive mind. Our conventional mind remains pre-occupied by involuntary habits and stagnant behaviors, because they are easier and already mastered.

Scrutiny of the colonization of the mind requires cognitive literacy, and decolonization of the mind requires constant striving to become emotionally intelligent and aware. An enlightened and literate person, in the words of the futurist Alvin Toffler, is one who can learn, unlearn and relearn. There is always an ocean of mind-blowing and edifying things to learn by unlearning out-of-date ideas in order to absorb fresher ideas and findings. It is to reinvestigate one’s redundant mind that desires to express the same old and obsolete opinions. If we can only curb the neurosis of our self-centered opinions and our cognitive entrapment, we can then decolonize the thoughts that dominate the deepest and most dignified core of our character. Space opens up in our mind to reinvent ourselves for living an innovatively cogent and emotionally intelligent life. Independent, free, and pioneering thinkers were successful in decolonizing their minds from the dominance of the effects of their generation, culture, and religion. They liberated themselves from the hegemony of the conventional narratives constructed in their mind through convenient and familiar linguistic jargon.