Light Images of the Future

The foothills that rise out of the dry grassy plains on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains have appeared more crisp lately, their craggy contours in sharp relief against the sheet of pale blue sky. I try to look at those mountains every day; before I do, I try to conjure in my imagination what they looked like the previous day. This exercise is known as light yoga. Instead of the traditional, ancient Indian practice of breath yoga, or pranayama, it is a practice of breathing light, or images- retrieving mental images from their abode in the mysterious realm of memory, taking in new ones, and then consciously erasing them from the mind's eye. According to some streams of thought, the image forming capacity of human beings, otherwise known as imagination, is being compromised in our current culture of screen centered attention. As we spend more time in front of devices that create images for us, such as our phones, tablets, tvs and laptops, we may be losing our ability to freely form images--image-inations of a world and a society that is better, cleaner, more peaceful and harmonious than the one we currently inhabit. Along with these hopeful, future oriented pictures, we may also be losing our ability to form image-inations of what it is like to be someone other than ourselves. The capacity to imagine the thoughts, feelings or ideas of another human being is often referred to as theory of mind. Wikipedia defines theory of mind as "the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives that are different from one's own." Theory of mind is widely discussed among those who research autism spectrum disorders because it is an attribute most individuals on the "spectrum" lack. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), the rate of autism among children who were eight years old in 2012 was 1 in 68, up from 1 in 150 in the year 2000. This rate has escalated dramatically in the last thirty or forty years. According to some sources, the rate in the 1980's was about 1 in 10,000. It is true, we must account for growth due to more thorough reporting and diagnoses and a broader definition of the "disorder," but, as an educator, I can attest to the change in children we are seeing in our classrooms today compared to even seven or eight years ago. 

It seems a large portion of our culture is also losing this ability to recognize and accept the humanness, the individuality, the differences in those that are not of the same race, religion, ethnic background, gender orientation or sexual orientation. The rise in the rate of autism spectrum diagnosis may be a harbinger of a future in which tolerance and understanding of the other will become not only a social issue, but also a physiological, a health issue. Are we walking toward a future in which a significant portion of humanity will be empathetically challenged--not due primarily to social conditioning--but due to physiological differences? The future is still ours to shape, but it certainly seems we are being asked to look deeper into our fellow citizens, to develop our capacities for imagination, for true creativity in recognition of the other, for a profound artistry in our humanity and empathy, to reach across the aisle or the classroom or the sidewalk or the neighborhood or the border in courageous acts of understanding and acceptance. You don't need to practice light yoga to notice the mountains are less clear today, a slight rise in moisture in the air blurs the lines of ridges and mingles the rocks and snow and trees. A bit of imagination will reveal to you the dynamic contours in the sandstone, granite and shale and in each and every one of your fellow human beings.