Shallow Thought, Deep Mind

Book excerpt: Dr Wayne Somerville's Shallow Thought, Deep Mind gives you the knowledge and skills to succeed, thrive and make the world better. With stories, thought experiments and practical advice, Dr Somerville leads you from shallow thinking to the power of the deep mind. The human spirit is strong. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the human mind. But in this post-truth age, the ancient, simple ways of thinking and behaving that got us here threaten to take us out. Our thoughts and actions will determine what follows for us and the generations to come. We have been the problem. It is time to become the solution. Shallow Thought, Deep Mind is for everyone who takes on life's challenges and dreams of a brighter tomorrow. Drawing on his experiences as a clinical psychologist, horseman, bush regenerator and environmental activist, Dr Somerville guides you to discover who you really are and what you can achieve. Part 1 looks at shallow thought - what it is and how it can create trouble - and what it takes to find solutions to big problems. The book examines three challenges from the author's life: to find gentle therapies for psychological trauma, to develop a treatment for forest dieback and to protect rural communities from invasive gas field industrialisation. All these problems could only be solved by going beyond shallow thinking to the deep mind. Part 2 discusses the Key Mental Processes that determine all we know and do. Why 'key'? Because understanding and knowing how to use these capacities unlocks the power of the creative deep mind. Our conscious attention is limited: much goes on that we are not aware of. Dr Somerville takes us behind the scenes to show how we can use memory and imagination to learn from the past and to create the future, free ourselves from limiting beliefs, foster attitudes that generate success, break harmful word spells, employ powerful language to motivate ourselves and others, use our negative emotions positively, and tap into the subtle, but profound wisdom of our intuition and dreams.