Open Loop Awareness

Identifying Uncertainty and Doubt

“Most people prefer the certainty of misery to the misery of uncertainty”
-Virginia Satir

Learning how to identify and work with open loops is one of the most helpful forms of awareness a person can develop (imho). Working with open loops has made a profound impact in my life, and is a key element of creative problem solving, and making decisions better. The first step in working with open loops is simply developing awareness when open loops occur… which is exactly what this article is about.

Ok, so wtf is a “loop”?

Loops are kinda like security blankets your mind wraps around your fundamental beliefs about life and reality.

Think of it this way. Floating around in your mindspace is the belief that when driving a car, if you spin the steering wheel to the right, the car will turn to the right. It is a solid belief, proven to be true over and over. It is a belief that exists in a closed loop of *certainty*.

Open loops are a cognitive function mostly occurring at the subconscious level. From my observations, the core experience of an open loop is a feeling of uncertainty because some *thing* triggers doubt, or doesn’t make sense.
(These are my definition, you can choose to adopt them if you like)

A dead give away that a loop has been opened is the urge to make something make sense, or relieve doubt. You are exposed to a piece of information, an experience, an emotion, a thought or idea…and you feel compelled to google something to verify its validity, accuracy, meaning, etc. Or maybe you want to ask a friend, or a colleague, or random person on the street. However your curiosity surfaces, the underlying dynamic is a feeling of uncertainty because something triggered doubt, or doesn’t make sense.

As humans, we don’t like uncertainty or when things don’t make sense. So when a loop is opened, human nature has a strong compulsion to close that loop by whatever means necessary. If there is no reference point in reality, imagination takes over. The imagination taking over can be dangerous because it results in us creating mental projections (things we think are true, but aren’t actually grounded in realty).

“If you try to make something make sense, you will most likely get it wrong. Things that makes sense will make sense all on their own. If something doesn’t make sense, it’s because…It’s doesn’t make sense. It’s time to let it go.”
-Me

So let’s look at an example to get a clear picture of what an open loop situation looks like IRL.

Example 1: Fitness Journey
(Disclaimer: I am not a fit pro. This is not health advice.)

Let’s pretend you’re talking to a friend about your new diet and exercise plan. You tell them that you eat 6 balanced meals as a part of your new diet, and weigh everything out to the gram. You’ve been doing it for weeks now and things are going smoothly, you feel better and look better. You’re making solid progress and feeling really good about it. 

Friend says, “Wow, that sounds like so much work! There's no way that’s sustainable.”

And then you think “well, yeah it is a lot of work. I put soooo much time into meal prep…Can I actually sustain this? Is this actually sustainable?”

Cue an Open Loop.

In a single moment you went from certainty that you were on the right path to achieving your fitness goal, to doubting if you can continue the path or if it’s even the right one.

What happens next?

“Hey google, is six balanced meals a day sustainable?” 
“Hey mom, I’ve been doing this six balanced meals a day thing, do you think that’s sustainable?” 
“Hey everyone I’m connected to on social media, I’m doing this six balanced meals a day thing– have you tried it? Is it sustainable?”

You want to close the loop. You want certainty. You want to know if it is sustainable or not. So you look for an answer “out there”. Anything you can do to close the loop and resolve uncertainty.

With enough practice, open loop awareness will become second nature. Not only that, but you’ll notice that you are taking action to close an open loop. You may notice when someone opens a loop, and then closes it for you.

Once you have developed open loop awareness, and recognize when loops are opening and closing in your mind, then you can start to identify ways to Apply Open Loop Awareness.

The goal of this practice is to eventually stop looking for answers “out there” to close loops, and instead allow yourself space to come to your own conclusions about what makes the most sense for you given your unique preferences and natural disposition.

And truth be told, most applications of open loop awareness are self-generated. In other words, once you become aware of an open loop experience, and learn to sit with the open loop, your mind will naturally find applications on its own.

Give yourself at least a day or two to see what loops may come. 

I’ll catch ya on the next one…

-David

PS: If you made it all the way through this article, do me a favor…give it a like. I dump hours into this, likes let me know people are actually reading and appreciate the effort I expend. It’s encouraging for me.