Theory Of Mind

Triangles are a very strange shape to work with. They just seem to be from beyond the everyday experience of things. When I read about huge triangles that have been seen floating silently in the night skies I thought about alien life, as you do. But then, we're aliens to everywhere else in the universe, so I looked into what makes us human. One of the best traits humans can have is Theory Of Mind.

The triangles in these artworks are composed and painted from altered text on Theory of Mind which is a popular term from the field of psychology as an assessment of an individual human's degree of capacity for empathy and understanding of others. Infants and great apes can exhibit the early stages of theory of mind and in humans it generally forms around age four. I guess not everybody gets there. The stages for developing Theory Of Mind go like this.

Understanding “wanting”: The first step is the realization that others have diverse desires, and to get what they want, people act in different ways.

Understanding “thinking”: The second step is the understanding that others also have diverse beliefs about the same thing, and that people’s actions are based on what they think is going to happen.

Understanding that “seeing leads to knowing”: The third stage is recognizing that others have different knowledge access, and if someone hasn’t seen something, they will need extra information to understand.

Understanding “false-beliefs”: The forth stage is being aware of the fact that others may have false-beliefs that differ from reality.

Understanding “hidden feelings”: The final stage is being aware that other people can hide their emotions, and can feel a different emotion from the one they display.