mindfulness/mindlessness

n. Mindfulness is an active state of mind characterized by novel distinction drawing. It is the phenomenological experience of engagement. Simply noticing or creating novelty situates us in the present and makes us sensitive to context and perspective. When in this state of mind, rules and routines may guide behavior, but they do not rigidly determine what we do. By contrast, mindlessness is an inactive state of mind characterized by reliance on distinctions and categories drawn in the past, where we are trapped in a rigid, single-minded perspective. As a result, we are insensitive to context and perspective, and, thus, we are insensitive to change. When mindless we are oblivious to not being in the present. The mindful act of noticing new things puts us in the present. We cannot have a phenomenological experience of our mindlessness, but often it is noticed in hindsight. Mindless behavior is rule and routine governed, rather than guided.

- EL