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It is easy to see that humans are territorial beings: we all lock and protect our places of living, we label our things; even in certain environments where some articles are used by different humans at different times most will have "their" things.

However, this territorialism often does not end with our physical environment. We tend to fight for and protect our thoughts and beliefs... but does it really do us good?

"Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so." -- Shakespeare (Hamlet)

What is right, good, wrong and bad? Those are judgements that all of us make. This judgments might not always come from a clear mind, but nevertheless, they are the best we can do at the time. Someone living in a country will likely think that an all-wheel-drive pickup truck is "better" than a car because they might need to haul various supplies for their farm or carry their goods to the market; it is their judgment that was based on their current situation and their needs. A person from a large city, might prefer a small moped for ease of parking and low gas consumption.

Sadly, what often happens in our current world is that a city dweller, with no regard to country folk's situation, will scream and yell that a moped is a way of life and that trucks are there just to cause pollution.

Should a question of whether or not the city dweller is "right" be asked, a million of polls and "promotions", fact sheets and statistics, TV shows and movies would be produced to try to find who wins this round; I just hope there'll be no war.

Just as we would welcome a friend with open hands into our dwelling, or protect it from someone we don't trust, we tend to do the same with our minds. The person from a city will have an unspoken "bond" with other people who drive a moped, and will oppose anyone driving a truck - without even knowing a single thing about such persons.

I'll leave it up to you to figure out whether this is "good" or "bad" behaviour...

If we look back at our transportational dilemma, do we have a "problem" that needs solution? I think not. Then what the fighting is all about?

Should both of those persons have a requirement to use the same vehicle, a compromise would need to be accepted. Perhaps they could get a powerful moped and a trailer for it; or a small pickup truck that is easy to park and has low fuel consuption.

When territorial thinking is not affecting the decision, the compromise is easier to achieve and can even be more rational. Both parties understand and evaluate another person's reasons and merge those with their own.

I'm sure you had a situation in life where it was "impossible to deal" with another person. No compromise could have been reached and perhaps the person even said "I have made up my mind". This is how we "protect" our psychological "territory" when someone is trying to claim it by suggesting alternative beliefs and ideas.

A lot of times the mind "territory" is guarded by the "X know better" status, where X is a certain entity or goup. What I mean is that often a parent won't change his mind in a conflict with his child because he is certainly older and more experienced... or "knows better". Same can be seen in situations such as older-younger, boss-employee, teacher-student, expert-newbie, etcetera.

The person who thinks they "know better" automatically stops the input of new information from the other person in attempts to protect their mind "territory" and save the knowledge and beliefs they have earned in some time.

One may ask a question: "What's the harm?" Let all the pickup truck owners fight a war with moped drivers and it should boil over eventually; I don't drive either, so I'm cool, right?

Perhaps, so... But what about your child who is already insecure and feels even more so when the closest person to him does not "understand" him? An employee might feel less motivated seeing how his idea is shut down before it's even heard, and on the opposite side, the boss might miss a brilliant idea simply because he is overprotective of his mental territory.

The harmful effect can easily be noted on many widely knows websites where a short story or a movie clip is posted and people are allowed to comment. Perhaps the first two comments are actually related to the original post, whilst the rest can be seen as a silent war of people fighting over each other's beliefs and understanding of what is "good" and "bad".

And it doesn't stop just there as large groups of able humans engage in the actual wars with killing over some belief.

As with persons whom you automatically deny access to your mind "territory", there are also persons whom you would grant such access without second thought.

One may only allow full informational input from family members and close friends. Perhaps, one will only read books published by certain authors or only by people with a PhD.

I call this effect "The Levels" because I think the "equilibrium" of one's existance is proportional to how broad this circle, or how hight the level, of this automatic access he or she has. I think many are within rather low levels and are open only to people they personally know, e.g. friends and family, as well as some public figures.

The lowest level is when a person fights the mind "territory" with himself; this does not necessarily implies insanity, but even people who are always unsure about themselves - have low self-esteem.

I believe that a human can be at complete inner peace when he or she can come in contact with any individual and fully listen to what they have to say without having any mental block or "police man" based on some prejudices or own arrogance.

If an unwanted intruder breaks into your house; takes your stereo and eats your last muffin from the fridge, sure, there is loss. However, your mind and everything within it is yours and no one can take it away.

Pretend, if you will, there is an unbreakable lock in your brain. Your beliefs and ideas are secure within it and information can only leave and enter after you consciously screen it. You don't have to fight to protect your information; it's already as secure as needed.

When you come across a piece of data that would affect your mind "territory", do not fight it, but screen it first in it's entirety, understand it completely, and only then decide whether or not to keep it or discard it.

Perhaps then we can all achieve the highest Level...

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