Avoiding Tunnel Vision
This is the sister message to Communication Today.
With Saturn transiting my Mercury I have been thinking and talking about thinking and talking, mostly to try to identify problems I have communicating with others so that I can resolve them. We’re talking about Libra here so as part of this process I have fought (with my Mars conjunct Mercury) to fathom the thought processes of others.
This has been a huge undertaking. I have been at it for months but at one point I was talking to my husband about a statement a friend made some years ago that didn’t sit well.
It did not sit well with him because he’s got very bold lines drawn around things but for me it was more a curiosity. The statement was disturbing and I asked him how he thought someone like my friend could arrive at this conclusion that seemed so out of character. I was pleasantly surprised when he offered an answer.
He said people do this when they only look at something from one angle. This -> means that -> so this.
When you do this, you neglect all the other angles or possible happenings that would affect your equation. It’s a form of tunnel vision I guess. A person does not consider what might happen beyond the problem or what might come in from the left or the right as the problem unfolds and due this the oddball statement is made.
I liked that he did not judge her but you can see how dangerous this. He said he was trained to look at things from every angle and while most people do this some of the time, I hope this post makes you think and consequently spares you some problems.
How does your mind work?
pictured – Tunnel Vision by Cheryl Tall
18 Responses to “Avoiding Tunnel Vision”
I try and work really hard at NOT having tunnel vision! I am always looking at all angle at what could possibly come at me from the left or the right, and then play out the scenarios of how I would handle issue that came from the left and the right until I come to a conclusion and make a choice! I call it watching your own back,
LOL, and maybe a little paranoia!
Interesting point, Elsa.
Reminds me of the idea in this vid:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong.html then again, she could be wrong about being wrong too 
My mind is a feelings-mousetrap, sadly; once it “grabs” onto something emotional, like a perceived slight, it’s not easy to let it go =/.
Mercury-Saturn conjunct Scorpio.
On the other hand, I usually like to double check and vacillate laboriously between decisions and opinions because I know I might be wrong. Sometimes, it takes hourssss to make decisions because of that! haha. It’s all making sense now!!
Again, interesting idea
I wonder if having tunnel vision is more likely with a ‘fixed’ chart?
I don’t think I’m guilty of tunnel vision. My Mars/Mercury conjunction is very mutable (in Pisces). I usually welcome others opinions (angles) on issues and like to consider all sorts of scenerios (some call that daydreaming). Not so much into black/white thinking.
@Josi- The book I just finished is Neptune And the Quest for Redemption by Liz Greene. Great book!
I was raised for the first 18yrs of my life to believe that A+B=C and that’s that. What the last 20 or so years of real life has taught me is that A+B can equal anything. While this has not been easy to laern (first trying to unteach all that I was raised on, then here comes the new info) the real beauty is in the freedom that A+B=anything brings to my life. For me, it’s all in how I interpret the outcome (perspective) that makes all the difference. I can choose to see the outcome as the end of the world, or as a stepping stone to something else, my free will there :O).
Angie
I try to keep a very open mind, and in a sense my ‘training’ – a degree in English Lang & Lit, and History of Art – was good for that. We were taught to *think* not just churn out preordained opinions as so many students are these days. This involved examining every side of a question and also respecting the opinions of others in discussion.
I hope I’ve never lost that even though there are matters on which I have very strong opinions… So I quite often try to put an alternative view (Libra!) when I think it’s worth airing, which is often why I argue against the consensus here. It’s not so much disagreement, but an acknowledgment that alternatives exists – and may be perfectly reasonable to others who have differing experience of life and intellectual or cultural assumptions
Thing is, no one really has a clue how much someone has explored the alternative view before they came to a conclusion of their own.
There are some people, we don’t even know one blip of what they actually know. I’d hate to to write those people off as ignorant.
I’m thinking specifically about someone like my father, who has Mercury in Scorpio. It takes a lot to have him actually speak his mind–truly speak his mind–and he routinely gets shot down, for various reasons, mostly because of an accusation he is being too single-minded.
He not inly accepts this and in turn says less; he is the kind of person who thinks for months or years about something. He ponders in silence.
I can relate. I talk a lot here. I don’t talk about even a fraction about what I really think. Somethings are best left for a more intimate environment, where nuance is better read.
Also, this post makes me look forward to my next consult with you, Elsa, hopefully very soon!
Life – Emotions = no tunnel vision. To an extent, an impossible equation. Elsa your friend probibly made her out-of-character comment because of a very emotional or passionate situation. Sometimes we are blinded to see outside of the box or from a 3rd party prospective when we are so emotionally attached to the subject.
Have I mentioned I love this site? 
i have more fun coming up with questions than answers… getting to a good question will give me a much better idea of what the actual issue is.
which i guess is a way of attempting multiple perspectives. my mercury t square helps with this. it forces my mind to come in on things from different angle…. i think it’s much better than an opposition, even, because those seem to express often as a lot of “either/or” thinking…
How did they train the soldier in looking at things from every angle?
I could learn for sure. I’m defensive about the truth and absolutist as anything
Oh, man, I have to hang out with some if they can reveal their secrets
idk i really don’t judge or form opinions right away unless if directly affects me… like i would not think twice at someone making an off beat comment… but if i had to ACT on something then my mind scans all resources and uses the best one to get the best results. (Cap Moon trine Taurus Merc)
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Well…I don’t think tunnel vision is an issue. I’m pretty good at seeing people and situations from a variety of angles. BUT what affects my mind and thinking most (should look to see if I have Merc/Neptune or what kind of deal there is there) is that I glaze everything with Neptune and then Pluto comes along and makes me paranoid about it. (Scorp Merc in the 9th).
I’m learning to get a handle on my Neptune and just ordered that book you were talking about before. Pisces moon cant for the life of me remember the name of it, but it is supposed to be here Tuesday (woo hoo) and I think CArRiE is reading it now.