Our mental maps come from experience, and beliefs ingrained from childhood. I never had an opportunity to question their validity. There was no need to do that. Honesty is a virtue. Nobody thinks about contesting the concept. Why should I?
I saw a girl in dishevelled state running across the street. She turned towards the left and disappeared. Within minutes, two rowdy-looking guys stopped besides me,
“Have you seen a girl running in this direction?”
They looked like hooligans, and could have harmed the girl. Should I be honest? Or should I be smart and sensible, and protect the girl?
“No. You are the first two people I have seen on this road. Is it always so desolate?”
They did not wait to answer, and turned back. Perhaps, the girl had been saved. I could not have fought the two strappy lads alone, with all my good intentions.
What was operational here?
- Choosing one value system over another
- SWOT analysis and acceptance of reality
Did I cheat my parents who taught me that honesty is always the best policy? No.
The mental maps need to be reprogrammed. The biggest mental block is the confirmation or continuity bias. We see things, find friends, read books and watch the shows that support our preconceived notions. This blocks the view of altered realities outside our narrow range of vision.
My parents did not believe in seeking loans for comforts and luxuries, or living on credit? My financial analysis says that loan instalments are a negative form of saving. I cannot wait for ten or twenty years, till I can save that amount. And it would be foolish to do so, in a falling interest rate regime.
Now that you know that the landscape has changed, would you like to update the mind map?
Reena Saxena 
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