A scotoma is a mental activity in which one locks on to one idea and excludes all others – known as a “lock on – lock out” program. It’s my mind’s way of avoiding overwhelm, when faced with too many choices, by protecting what I wish to maintain as my truth. However, a scotoma can get me into trouble, without me knowing about it.
A great example is in a Spongebob Squarepants cartoon. Spongebob wakes one morning and thinks he’ll create a fantastic dessert for himself. Unfortunately, his choice of ingredients cause him to have horrific halitosis (bad breath). He goes outside after breakfast, where he meets several people, all of whom scream and run away from him as soon as he opens his mouth and says, “Hello.”
His conclusion – “I must be terribly ugly!” Stuck (scotoma) in this erroneous conclusion, he weighs all future evidence only in light of it – discounting evidence to the contrary (called mental filtering).
