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This article focuses on deep underlying mechanisms of the human mind which causes conflicts. Beginning with a postulation of how the dynamics of thinking and time is perceived, the concept of time has two different meaning.

One is the physical time and the other the illusionary time of past, present and future. Human perception of certainty and achieving goals in the future plays key roles in starting conflicts and results in uncertainty, insecurity and fear. Conflicts are results of individual’s manipulation of past memory to achieve ideas of future goals, power, peace of mind and satisfaction. Some historic and current world events are analyzed based on this theory.

Truth is illusive due to the intertwining of the dimensions of time perceived in human mind. By understanding these basic intricacies all sorts of conflicts can be solved.

Introduction
Basically, to account for origins of all levels of conflicts perceptions of time, past, now and future and its link with how individual minds operate must be understood. Starting with theoretical observations of thinking and memory by introspective method I examine the rise of illusions in mind. The complexities in decision making are present in all levels of human relationships and conflicts. The fundamental link between illusion of achieving certainty and peace in the future and fear is highlighted. One can with self awareness at a young age be educated about the contradiction in perception, emotion and action on one hand and truths on the other. The pursuit of power and pride is a state of mind and is therefore contradictory to the state of the peace of mind. The idea of world free of major conflicts is attainable only through the understanding of how the personal mind works. In final analysis I discuss the long running conflicts in Asia and offering the possibility for long lasting peace. Any theory that predicts global peace must predict an outcome and solution for any conflict in the world or at any level.

 

Thinking can mean choosing the right words to say, worrying about the security, forming ideas, planning, dreaming, imagining someone, remembering a past incident, pondering about the future, doing a math etc. These are all forms of abstract concepts, symbols, signs and pictures; patterns of information which is in the memory be it in linguistic, visual, auditory or emotional forms. When we think, recall, retrieve, remember and replay the information in our memory we also conjure emotional content of the original incident or the subsequent modification of that original memory. All memory therefore seems to have time related dimension, namely the past. I believe there are 2 sorts of time. The first is the physical time. In the real world time has dimensions of space and energy. It moves forward continuously like a river or orbit of the earth round the sun. The source of all physical movement of matter, energy and time is “built in” in the form of spinning, vibration and orbiting of the subatomic particles that make up the atom and matter. This physical time is a mathematical and abstract concept of human perception of the movement of matter and energy.

The second concept of time is the perception of past, present and future, which I call illusionary time. The two concepts of time are naturally intertwined in understanding of our own memory. The present or “now” as perceived by humans is only awareness of a moment in physical time when we become aware, awake and turn our attention to an event in our own mind or in our space. The past is set of “now” that had happened in the physical time and is only present in our memory. Knowledge in written and recorded form is also information that had happened in the past. Knowledge can also be either facts or interpretations of the past sets of “now”. When we are thinking we dwell into the past images via our memory. The future is a set of “now” or past images of memory being projected, anticipated or perceived in the mind. When we are thinking we ponder the future by analyzing these past images from our memory. Future is also the physical time which is continuous in a chain of “now’s” going to occur in the physical movement of time. The next day is certain to happen because earth rotates on its axis and orbits round the sun. The concept of physical time and illusionary time are therefore intertwined and entangled.

The mind manipulates or modifies memories with conscious awareness or unconsciously in the background of one’s consciousness. Memories are perceived images or bits of information of millisecond, minute or sometime ago from a set of physical time of “now”. When we remember we dwell into our memory by recalling, retrieving and replaying this information from the past in the present “now”, and online. It can also be projected into the illusionary time of future in the mind. This manipulation of the memory is always intended for the purpose of achieving one’s goal, intent, emotion, state of awareness and control at any moment of physical time.

Untangling the Illusion
The perception of the images being replayed and anticipated in the mind is illusionary because the second concept of future-time is illusionary. Fear is the emotional state resulting from imagining and anticipating chain of unpleasant images via our memory. While the emotional state of fear can result in stress, the reality content of these images in the mind is illusionary. Different emotions cause different response of the body and mind. Emotionally unpleasant memory are perhaps linked to emotions such as fear, hatred, anxiety, anger, grief, lust, desire, security, comfort, nostalgia and longing. It is possible that all emotions are triggered by memory, though other types of memory like experience and knowledge do not triggers emotions. Emotions can also be triggered by situations happening in the present when one simultaneously analyzes, compares or reasons, past related images/voices in the mind.

An instant introspective inspection and logical reasoning shows that thinking, memory, perception and emotion are interconnected and interrelated in network, circuit or web like manners. It can more accurately be described as sequence of images or chain of images/voices causing uncertainty. This is fear or anxiety. The mind seeks certainty in the first place by dwelling in to the past seeking out assuring or known images/voices. The mind analyzes with full conscious awareness or turns on an automatically established pattern of circuit of images in the background. To put it simple in an instant now the mind dwells into the past and ponders the future. There are probably many networks, webs and circuit of images/voices that gives rise to complex issues such as trauma, phobia, violence, conflicts, addiction, habits and criminality. These conditions show excessive lack of understanding of oneself which leads to extreme, cyclical and prolonged behavior caused by the chain of images in memory.

The problem of the mind is not restricted to any individual groups or cultures and is a universal human phenomenon. The phenomenon of abusive language usage, racism, drug and alcohol addiction, and aggressive behaviors are all triggered by the inner voice and image of the memory analyzing the past events and projecting them to future to get security. Habits are logically linked to memory and thinking. The projection of a recent bad memory can conjure emotion which then triggers aggressive responses or verbal utterances or facial expressions. If one’s perception of a race, ethnicity or religion of another individual or society is unpleasant the thoughts will be colored with the remembered past.

It is probably useful to analyze a recent event rather than complex behavioral disorders for the purpose of self analysis or diagnosis. Complex disorders are difficult to untangle because they had happened over long periods of time. These images/voices might now have established a more permanent circuit or network. The first step to be taken if one undertakes self analysis is to understand the way mind works in relation to fear, uncertainty and insecurity. This can be done by being aware of the chain of events such as time and situation one is in at any moment and the relationship between the images in the mind, to get a coherent pattern of information. There is a fundamental difference between physically being present and aware of the moment in the present in one hand and thinking about the next moment or tomorrow on the other. The image or voice is the thought that exists in the mind and is not a reality.

The faster way is perhaps to be aware immediately of the moment when the mind is thinking consciously or in the background then stop or turn "off" that circuit of thinking briefly to make decisions. This constant vigilance, alert awareness or conscious awareness is difficult to learn. I believe with practice this ability to gain self awareness is doable. Another problem is one can choose to have self awareness or ignore it. The sooner or the frequenter one becomes aware of the workings of the mind and its illusion the more one can gain control of its consciousness and act decisively.

Nature of Peace and Certainty
Acts to create peace by being aggressive are caused by the need in the mind to create certainty and security in an instant “now” or immediately, when one perceives uncertainty (in the future). Fighting or war is a way of achieving certainty by using power or the most lethal weapon possible to achieve victory. Ideas of winning and victory are sequences of images and abstract concepts but it gives an emotional feeling of satisfaction, comfort and security. The mind becomes willingly or unwillingly entangled in this cycle of seeking security and ends up in state of insecurity. There is no permanent state of certainty because it is related to the state of mind seeking certainty. Peace whether external peace (world peace) or personal peace (peace of mind/inner peace) is rather the state of absence of the network or web of seeking security; when it is not thinking about the future. This idea of future and achieving certainty is illusionary.

What one remembers are sets of past now or the modification of that past. When one imagines or projects them in the mind we continuously access, evaluate a current situation or predict outcome in the future. This is done to achieve assurance, security or certainty. If our facts are precise we can make accurate predictions, for example the speed of earth’s rotation, the sum of 12x12, etc. We can create complex calculations and products out simple information.

One needs to plan in quite detail the resources, time and money required to achieve goals and ambitions. This is real because it involves physical time, work, money, and energy. In order to build a nice home you need work and earn enough money. It’s not enough to have a dream only. The goal of the person is to have beautiful house and one looks forward to future to owning one. That gives a satisfaction and a feeling of pleasure in the present “now”. When the house has been built the mind will focus again to another plan in the future, to have the feeling of pleasure or security. The feeling of satisfaction either stemming from imagined situations or from having inner peace is state of peace linked to one being satisfied with the present "now" or when one is not thinking of seeking certainty. Peace is a temporary state of mind. Essentially one will the same peace even if is felt 101 years or 1001 years from “now”. This state of the mind will not change over time because one is not going to feel the emotions differently.

Peace can also be actively incorporated or practiced daily. Everyone is familiar with the state of giving full attention when being with a loved one, enjoying one’s favorites music or film or meal, observing beautiful scenery, playing a sport, doing an experiment, painting… The acts to relax and be creative show the mind being “tuned” in to one’s own senses. It involves skills such as listening, observing, doing, and feeling, tasting and touching. These states of being sensitive to one’s inner and outer environment are temporary feeling of giving full attention. It results in the mind feeling peaceful and relaxed. If the mind is in a state of fear it can be aware of it and change the state to peace by actively engaging to do relaxing activities or switch it “off” by not thinking of the images or actively seek to rid of the fear (is it illusionary or real). For example if you are scared of drowning in water the best way to rid of the fear is to go and learn swimming.

The states of love, compassion and care are the same state as peace of mind because it involves giving full attention in the present physical time to another person, object, tasks or ideas. In short if the future (illusionary) is uncertain the present is uncertain and vice versa. One seeks certainty because one needs comfort, security and pleasure. At the same time when the mind is not giving attention to something boredom sets in. Therefore either to distract the boredom one consciously or in the “inner background” unconsciously thinks or ponders about the past and future. To have certainty one needs to have an insight of intricacies of the mind, by learning how the mind works or by changing the state of the mind by doing something entertaining, amusing, productive or creative or constructive.

Contradictory State of Mind
Conflicts between 2 brothers or between 2 nuclear states are essentially the same. If child A owns the toy and child B claims the toy is his/hers, and if the 2 children fight for the same toy, the toy becomes the object of dispute. The only person who can objectively solve the dispute is the parent of the children who should tell the children calm down and stop fighting first, then point out who owns the toy. Most of time the parent will hear that child A has given the toy to child B as a trade off for another toy or child B will say that the toy was won by him/her in a bet in a game with child A. In this case the ownership evidence is not straight forward. The parent will have to ask either of the children if one could forgo the ownership for an ice cream as compensation. As a parent who could stand the noise and the fight between 2 loved ones living under the same roof? As a parent caring and acting in the best interest of both the children you encourage them to stop fighting immediately and reconcile. Children react aggressively to assert control of their territory or possession because the threat of uncertainty. This threat of uncertainty is caused by their imagination of the future (of being without their precious possession).

Any good parent knows, conflicts do flare up again and are unpredictable. Children can be taught to understand the pattern of behavior that leads to conflicts. Aggression, fights, manipulation and lying comes when one first act to protect the physical body, or second when one acts to restore peace of mind or pleasure and diminish the feeling fear (uncertainty). Children can be taught the benefit of being sensitive, understanding and cooperative. Bad behavior leads to a cycle or chain of events resulting in conflicts and adding to unpleasant memories. Children can also be taught to focus on learning and by doing creative activities. Perhaps nations should focus on their strengths, developing the individual members of society to be creative and productive. How many sibling rivalries have gone on to become vicious and non-resolved conflicts lasting decades?

An individual mind operates in contradictory states of wanting peace and prosperity; while at the same time operating in violent or selfish way. Individual decision making process in an organizational level cannot escape the contradictory states of wanting certainty in the future and will identify with the past (with known information, ideas, objects, environment, culture, weapons) to gain the illusion of security. Governments, organizations and systems are comprised of individuals and therefore all operate in the contradictory state of mind.

Indecision and Waiting for Settlement
Ironically, the tsunami tragedy of 26th December 2004 in Asia brought home in an instant these states of temporary and short lived moments of peace, compassion and solidarity to conflicts areas such as Sri Lanka and Aceh[1]. Thanks to television networks the suffering was also felt around the world. People did give attention in varying degrees to the tragedy and there was an immediate response. The attention was turned to the tragedy instead of the usual daily differences causing immediate decision making. Sadly the ending of violence will not happen if parties involved in the conflict don’t realize or understand how the fundamental relationship between security and peace happen in the mind.

In order to start a peace process one should completely abandon analyzing the past. All the structural, political or territorial disputes should be looked at realistically and factually. The main obstacle of peace is the lack of awareness of the complexity of the dynamics of thinking on hand one and the scope and complexity of issues outside on the other which influence each other. Every point in decision making process has a certainty-uncertainty element. Immediate decisions take awareness of the cycle of the illusionary past and disentangling fear from the facts, and by constructive, creative or productive actions.

The longer the conflicts lasts the complex the issues and demands become, adding to the accumulated memory. World conflicts are no different than personal or interpersonal conflicts. The fastest approach to peace and progress is to realize each others suffering and start reconciling by forgiving each other’s mistakes, start dialogue and find practical solutions. The current Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire is the best example of how nearly 60 years of conflict the parties finally realize that the lasting solution will eventually come from negotiation and not militarily[2]. It is probably enough for one side to realize this potential to achieve settlement. Conflicts and wars are moments of confusion and errors. Humans cause wars not nature. The illusion of achieving peace by war in many countries is real.

Delays in decision making process shows that the person or parties involved wanting to wait for the right time or moment when there’s clear or favorable change of situation on the ground. Different conflicts in the world may have may have different external sources of disputes but all parties want to win or end conflicts as soon as possible by using the most powerful weapon or best tactics. The past 100 years or the past 2000 years of history on the other hand is the ultimate fact. It shows that conflicts and wars whether based on religious, imperialistic, ideological, and territorial or ethnic reasons takes years and thousand of lives. Huseynov (2005) writes about the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Mountainous Karabakh region where there is a neither war nor peace[3] situation. Other conflicts in Asia such as China-Taiwan, India-Pakistan have been going for decades pointing to the confusion of decision making with clarity by all sides. Prolonging a conflict causes spending of resources and energy. Uncertainty increases with time and creates an even more complex history. It is in the best interest of all sides to recognize that delay in decision making is not due to complexity of the issues or history of the conflicts but because of the uncertainty of the individual’s mind in predicting outcome. Uncertainty is a state of the mind.

Power and Pride
International conflicts between countries either historically or at present times have often been preceded by suspicion of each other’s motives and balance of power. One neighboring country goes to war with the other to occupy the other and to become dominant over the other. These types of conflicts are essentially about power. History is full of wars and bitter rivalries that color the international relationships today. Political, technological, scientific, economic or militaristic powers are real tangible forces that bring about change for the good or destruction. Individual humans operate and control all these powers. Power gives feeling of security, certainty and comfort. Individuals identify and comfort oneself with power and prestige which gives a feeling of pride. The feeling of pride is a temporary state of the mind which can be turned into political policies, ideologies or actions.

When individuals want to have power their motivation to gain power comes from imagination of having certainty, comfort, pride and prestige in the future. At the same time it could be that the present “now” is lacking comfort or certainty. The formulation of the Nazi ideology and the rise to power by Hitler shows his obsession for gaining power. On a personal level Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait to show that his power was still intact after the Iran-Iraq war ended. He was obsessed with pride and prestige and wanted to be comforted of having the security in his mind of absolute power. At the same time these leaders cause destruction and deaths. The need for certainty and wanting to have a peace of mind contradicts the action of these individuals. These shows even after thousands of years of civilization the contradictory state of mind and the concept of certainty are not well understood

Borders disputes between neighboring countries sometimes turn into wars and skirmishes. Most of the disputes linger in limbo for decades without any settlement because individual leaders in those countries wait for the right time in future to have advantage of the other. In the first place the solution to any boundary problem can be negotiated or settled in courts without armed conflicts. The second is expectation and waiting for future to bring solutions to current problems. Problems can be practically and immediately solved if individuals can see that the future-time imagination is illusion. Has all the wars in the past brought lasting world peace and prosperity at any moment in time? And would the future bring any improvement knowing the fact the physical future of time will not bring change to the state of mind.

Long Running Conflicts
According to CrisisWatch[4] there are roughly at any time in the previous 19 months more than 60 ongoing conflicts and crisis. Conflicts happen all over the world internally within borders of one country or between different states. There are many different causes of conflicts ranging from real disagreements over sovereignty, border, territory, ethnicity, religion, intolerance, ideology, system of governments, power interest, authoritarianism, poverty, corruption etc. These are real and factual disagreements going back in time to the past. If one takes “now” as the ultimate truth and the fact that future will be the same as the present or past, one can ignore the past cycle of images. Philosophy, politics, science and religion seem to converge all over the world about peace, progress, prosperity and integrity. But there is either a lack of self knowledge or deep unwillingness to act coherently to solve conflicts. One can choose to incorporate differences and work toward peace and prosperity or choose to remain in the dark and lack the insight to understand how the mind works.

Leaders in armed groups are individuals wanting to establish power therefore come under the rule of the dynamic of thinking and time. At a younger age leaders tend to be idealist in wanting to establish goals in independence, justice, freedom, religion and ideology. While struggling to establish this ambition of future idealism, certainty, security, satisfaction and harmony, they tend to fight at the same time. This idea of achieving the results of the ambition lasts decades and results in deaths and hardships among ordinary people. The cycle of aggression and ceasefire are repeated during the course of time in the conflicts in Aceh, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Nepal[5], Southern Philippines[6] and Southern Thailand[7].

Changing Mindsets
Dialogue, mediations and negotiations are tools to solve conflicts. These are important when parties involved in the conflicts realize that war leads to a cycle of violence and counter violence prolonged in the physical time. Immediate decisions involve awareness of the cycle of the illusionary past and disentangling fear from the facts, and by constructive, creative or productive actions. The truth is around the corner but in a different dimension. One has to cut straight to the fact, find the truth and gain insight into a problem, conflict, phenomenon, relationship… by untangling the perceptions of future-uncertainty.

Gaining insight gives a short cut, tells you how to find the right answer, and lets you understand the pattern of information of any given problem, conflict, phenomenon… instead of depending on time to solve problems. Societies are comprised of layers and groups of individuals. When leaders go to war it is because there is power in the form of organizational backing of government and military. No leader would go to battlefield alone. Wars are organized lack of self knowledge. Any country should be able to defend itself just like any individual would defend himself/herself when physically under threat.

Maybe there is a universal way of seeking truth, how to find fact, how a step by step pattern of inquiry can be achieved or can lead to finding answers for a given problem, but there is perhaps no universal answer for a given problem. Only genuine inquiry, search and awareness of the truth can change mindset at any time and place.

K. Ramesh Naidu

References

[1]CrisisWatch No 18, 1 February 2005
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3242&l=1

[2]Disengagement and After: Where Next for Sharon and the Likud?, Middle East Report No.36, 1 March 2005, retrieved 11 April 2005
http:// www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3298&l=1

[3] Huseynov, Tabib, Mountainous Karabakh: Conflict Resolution through Power Sharing and Regional Integration. Retrieved 11 April 2005,
http://www.peacestudiesjournal.org.uk/docs/Mountainous%20Karabakh20%final%20version%20edited%203.pdf

[4] CrisisWatch no 1 to 19 editions (from September 2003 to March 2005) retrieved 30 March 2005,
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1200&l=1

[5]Diplomacy Stimulation Exercises, retrieved 11 April 2005
http://www.publicinternationallaw.org/programs/sovereignty/diplomacy/

[6]The Mindanao Peace Talks: Another Opportunity to Resolve the Moro Conflict in the Philippines. Special Report 131, retrieved 11 April 2005
http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr131.html

[7] Thailand Violence, retrieved 12 April 2005
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/emergency/TH_VIO.htm

Source: peacejournalism.com

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