How to Explore Theories and Live Beyond Them

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Consider what your own point of views are and what you believe.

   Write these down and look at how they influence your way of thinking and acting.
   
   These might be theories on anything, such as why we are here, how we are here, what is right and what is wrong and so on.
2. 2

   Step 2: Consider how you got them.

   Did you get them from your education, from your relatives, friends or mentors.
   
   Did you get them from mainstream society or are they your own theories? , If you have ever had someone else disagree, or offer an alternative idea to one of your own, examine that one and why you select your own above another persons.
   
   Try to see if the other persons ideas are valid, sometimes one person is right and one is wrong, but sometimes both can have different but valid points of view and sometimes theories are right in some conditions, and wrong in others. , Try not to have any bias or prejudice to another persons ideas or your own, but just see how ideas give you and another person advantages and disadvantages. , Many theories or views often are relevant in some cases, but not relevant in others and that an opposite idea might have merit.
   
   Look for any points of view that are applicable in every case, how rare are they? If you can find some, explore why they are 100% consistent and if they have an opposite.
   
   If you can find none, Try to find out why that it is by looking a little deeper and asking more questions. , Ask other people their ideas and examine wisdom and culture generally.
   
   Is there some ideas that become redundant in changes of technology? Some examples of old ideas might be that the world is flat, or that diseases are caused by magic.
   
   By sailing around the world it was shown the idea of a flat world was incorrect and today is no longer relevant.
   
   In the same way, it wasn't until the microscope was invented to see viruses and bacteria that cause many illnesses that we know that its not spells and curses. ,, As well as how we perceive and remember events and the strength of how we feel and react to events and impulses.
   
   Consider this analogy.
   
   A persons mind is like the room we live in, ideas and beliefs are like the wallpaper or paint we put up to personalize our room.
   
   Is it possible that with so much wallpaper we have papered or painted over the windows and doorways so we cannot see beyond our own mindset? , Are you or other people prisoners in a gilded cage of ideas and beliefs? , If you feel that you are a prisoner, start to let go of some ideas and see if you can live without them.
   
   You don't have to abandon them all, although try to see if it is possible to live without them entirely and if that does in fact set you free.
   
   If that gives you benefit or well-being, tear down some of that wallpaper and let the light in.
   
   If that makes you feel nervous, Try to see why.
   
   Is there a loyalty to that theory, or something you identify with? Or are you fond of a particular idea above what is really happening? , There is a true honesty in admitting you don't know the things you don't rather than making up something in order to be certain.
   
   If things change and it is possible for the truth to be known, then a truly honest person would not be ashamed to examine it and accept it. , That things are true or that they aren't.
   
   What is true does not belong to anyone, any society or any idea, but is relevant to everyone, anywhere.
   
   Try to find the truth that applies to everyone beyond ideas, theories and cultures and how that can help yourself and other people.
3. 3

   Step 3: Examine alternative points of view to your own.

4. 4

   Step 4: Go back to your ideas first and compare the two.

5. 5

   Step 5: Explore if any theories are bullet proof.

6. 6

   Step 6: Explore the current relevancy to points of view.

7. 7

   Step 7: Try to apply different ideas to your own

8. 8

   Step 8: they might seem bizarre and totally foreign

9. 9

   Step 9: but see if they work and have any value.

10. 10

    Step 10: Consider that views and ideas are just part of the thing we call an identity and culture.

11. 11

    Step 11: Examine if there are in the world many people who go through life without seeing beyond their own ideas and if that limits them or harms them and others.

12. 12

    Step 12: De-clutter your own mind.

13. 13

    Step 13: Consider the relevance of this analogy: A person can know some things as real and true

14. 14

    Step 14: but if they explore what they don't know and cannot find answers

15. 15

    Step 15: they should not be ashamed to say they don't know.

16. 16

    Step 16: Consider finally that there are not many truths

17. 17

    Step 17: but one.

Detailed Guide

About the Author