25th anniversary edition (A Merloyd Lawrence Book)

This book is more for the psychiatric professional and not for a person who is trying to become more mindful. The first half of the book focused on mindlessness. The second half of the book focused on experiments done with various groups of people and how those experiments helped those people become more mindful.

As a researcher in cognitive psychology, I read this because it was cited in a more recent paper regarding mindfulness. This book probably fits somewhere between the categories of self help and science communication. It is not academic. Essentially, Langer categorizes our behavior in terms of mindfulness and mindlessness, and she drives the point using anecdotes and synopses of her research projects. I do agree with the sentiment that 'mindfulness' is generally good, but I disagreed with much of the book. Some criticisms:

- Throughout the book there is an implied message that 'mindful equals good' and 'mindless equals bad', which is an oversimplified (ahem, mindless) distinction. So-called mindlessness is often necessary for daily life, for the sake of efficiency and speed. In the last few pages of the book, Langer gives a very brief acknowledgment of this, but nothing more.
- What counts as 'mindful' and 'mindless' is poorly defined, which means that these categories are ripe for confirmation bias. Pick any mistake or lapse of reason you've ever committed, and I'll bet you can find something you were being 'mindless' about at the time.
- Because it's poorly defined, it also winds up covering a lot of territory in psychology. Yet there is no consideration of the vast amount of relevant research outside of Langer's work, e.g., category learning, heuristics, schemas, scripts, stereotypes, dual-process theory. Much of this research predates the original book and is probably more insightful as to what Langer describes as 'mindlessness'.

Note: This review is of the 25th Anniversary Edition.

No doubt because this is a second edition, of a book published 25 years ago, some may incorrectly assume that much (if not most) of its insights and counsel are dated, hence obsolete. No so. In fact, in my opinion, the material is more relevant now than ever before as Ellen Langer shares her thoughts about how ever-alert mindfulness can help to facilitate, indeed expedite personal growth and professional development.

As she observes, "A vast literature about mindfulness has filled scholarly and popular journals since I began this work. Much of the recent research [as of autumn 2014 when she wrote the Preface from which this passage is excerpted] is actually on various forms of meditation, and the focus is on preventing stress and negative emotions. Meditation is a [begin italics] tool [end italics] to achieve post meditative mindfulness. regardless of how we get there, either through meditation or more directly by paying attention to novelty and questioning assumptions, to be mindful is to be in the present, noticing all the wonders that we didn't realize were right in font of us."

These are among the dozens of passages of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the scope of Langer's coverage:

o Trapped by [Self-Limiting] Categories (Pages 12-14)
o Acting from a Single Perspective (18-19)
o The Mindless "Expert" (22-24)
o Entropy and Linear Time as Limiting Mindsets (32-35)
o The Power of Context (37-43)
o A Narrow Self-Image (46-50)
o Learned Helplessness (55-56)
o Creating New Categories (65-68)
o Control over Context: The Birdman of Alcatraz (74-76)
o Mindfulness East and West (79-80)
o Outgrowing Mindsets (89-92)
o Growth in Age (94-99)
o Mindfulness and Intuition (114-117)
o Creativity and Conditional Learning (117-127)
o Innovation (136-140)
o The Power of Uncertainty for Managers (140-146)
o Mindfully Different (158-162)
o Disabling Mindsets (162-164)
o Dualism: A Dangerous Mindset (171-174)
o Addiction in Context (180-185)

Long ago, I realized that most limits are self-imposed. (That was perhaps when Pogo the Possum announced, "We have met the enemy and he is us!") Naively, I concluded, if I set the limits, then I could change them. And I did. I set specific goals that, at that time and in those circumstances, must have seemed audacious.

While I read this book when it was first published and then again recently when I re-read it, I had the feeling that it was written specifically for me, that Langer was doing all she could to help me understand what mindfulness is...and isn't. Also, helping me to be much more aware on each situation in which I find myself and, especially, to be much more attentive to others.

How can the information, insights, and counsel that Ellen Langer shares be of greatest value? That will vary from one reader to the next. However, my own experience may be of interest. I have found mindfulness most helpful in situations that involve (a) answering an especially important question, (b) solving an especially serious problem, and (c) resisting the appeal of what James O'Toole so aptly characterizes as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom."

One final point that I think is critically important: Mindfulness is not a technique or even a state of mind; rather, it is a way of life. Nourishing it is - or at least should be -- a never-ending process. Here's an appropriate metaphor: mindfulness is a personal journey of discovery that is sustained by curiosity, humility, awareness, and (yes) appreciation.

In her updated revision of “Mindfulness” Dr. Langer gives new applications for her theories and development of the Langer Mindfulness Scale. I discuss one of Dr. Langer’s studies on pages 188-189 of my new book, Your Aging Body Can Talk: Using Muscle -Testing to Learn What Your Body Knows and Needs After 50and recommend her book, “Mindfulness” in the Learn More sections of Chapter 9: Youthing: Create Your Health and Longevity.

An insightful read. Opened my eyes to new perspectives on intuition, creativity, and intelligence. Chapter 8 challenged me to view blurring the lines between work and play as an accomplishment. I love her walk-through on how productivity blocks create a pathway to innovation. The distinction between a process vs outcome orientation was a key aspect of almost every topic. All of the examples in the book were from credible research and interesting real-life situations. Ellen Langer conveyed her ideas in a simple and engaging style. Yet I found the flow from experiment to experiment and one thought to another a bit winding and more academic and scientific than practical and systematic. I recommend you watch a few videos of her recent interviews and radio appearances while reading the book. She is excellent at illustrating her concepts in a persentation format as well.

I had difficulty following or understanding
much of this. I'm very disappointed.
The studies she relates don't appear
to be at all scientific. I could not
even describe what she calls mindfullness.
I probably won't finish the book because
it's a waste of my time.

Michael Hogan, National University of Ireland, Galway: [email protected]

This review is based on my reading of all 4 of Ellen's books, which I was inspired to read after meeting Ellen in Harvard recently.

--
Ellen Langer is one of the most vivacious women I have ever met. Upon arriving to meet her in Harvard's William James Hall, I was actually extremely ill, but mindlessly ignoring the symptoms. The painful and yet irrelevant swelling in my right leg and the weak and feverish state that led me to sleep through a very stimulating lecture by Daniel Dennett, was in fact a serious blood infection that would later result in my hospitalization. Little did I know that my conversation with Ellen Langer would be the thing that completely transformed my hospital experience from a potentially stressful, painful nuisance into a very interesting and rewarding experience. And notwithstanding the fact that I could hardly talk, in our short walk from Ellen's office to the Harvard clinic (where Ellen was going to get a cut in her hand seen to, the cause of which she transformed into a very interesting story) we designed three experiments and I experienced firsthand, in vivo, decades of research on social and developmental psychology, and on mindfulness, creativity and decision-making.

To understand the transformative power of Ellen Langer's perspective, and to better understand her creative action, I believe it is useful to experience firsthand her version of mindfulness -- the act of noticing new things -- which is actually very easy to practice, if for no other reason than it energizes and engages us and opens us to new possibilities. Further, it is useful to consider the way Langer applies her version of mindfulness to understanding of social psychology and developmental psychology phenomena, and science generally. Her thought, as laid out in her four books on mindfulness and in her many empirical papers, represents a veritable stream of understanding that liberates one from a constrained, passive, rigid view of reality, possibility, and human potential.

Noticing new things

Ellen and I both teach social psychology. A critical reading of social psychology reveals much to us about the conditions under which people impose rigid, stereotyped views upon themselves and other people, and the conditions under which behavior is a rigid function of contextual control [1]. What is often so startling to students who first discover social psychology research is just how rigid, stereotypical, and limited our worldviews and our behaviors often are. Nevertheless, every year, one or two students in my first year social psychology class approach with great excitement and tell me how inspired they are to discover all these human limitations so carefully catalogued by social psychologists. Awareness of the conditions shaping rigid, stereotyped thinking and action, they tell me, has actually liberated them. Some report feeling more open to experience, less rigid in their evaluation of self, other, and world. They report clearer perception, greater awareness of the subtle nuances of experience. They are noticing new things. They are energized and inspired. Some go a step further, extrapolating and anticipating the open field of possibilities: they report a transition from mindless acceptance of all that they know and feel and do, to mindful awareness of all that they can know and all that they can feel and can do. Their prior learning no longer dominates the way they interpret the present moment. The fullness of the present moment itself and the possibility space that opens by virtue of the fusion of present moment with the ineffable future moment infuse their field of action with a new radiance. All is new. The well-springs of creativity are open. Reality and potentiality comes flooding in.

Mindless reading of health-related information

Some students, I believe, remember the raw significance of their inspired insight as they progress to higher levels of ability and skill -- they remember to notice new things -- they remember mindfulness. It's a subtle change in thinking, says Langer, although not difficult to make once we realize how stuck we are in culture, language, and modes of thought that limit our potential. Social psychology education provides a wonderful opportunity to shed light upon mindfulness and mindlessness. Experimental social psychology is full of examples of the price people can pay for mindless learning, or mindless assimilation of their `culture'. Research by Chanowitz and Langer (1981), for example, demonstrates the negative consequences of mindless reading of medical information. They provided students with information booklets about a disorder called "chromosythosis", a condition that could lead to diminished hearing. Some of the students were told that 80% of the population had the disorder and they were asked to imagine how they might help themselves if they were diagnosed as having "chromosythosis". Another group was told that only 10% of the population had it, making the disease seem less relevant to them, and they were simply asked to read through the information booklets. All students were then tested to see if they had the disorder and all were told that, yes, they did indeed have it.

In the next phase of the experiment, participants were tested using a series of objective hearing tests. Those participants who were led to believe that the disorder was less relevant to them and who simply read through the information booklets, performed significantly worse on the hearing tests than the group who were led to believe that the disorder was potentially relevant to them and who also thought through the consequences of having the disorder. Langer describes this as one example of the negative effects of premature cognitive commitments. Specifically, when information is mindlessly received and accepted without critical question or creative `what if' deliberation, we run the risk of implicitly committing to a singular, rigid understanding of the information. When later we are faced with a situation where this `prior learning' is brought to bear on our action in context, we may find ourselves functionally constrained by the rigid understanding we have implicitly established. Mindless reading and mindless learning result in mindless reactivity.

Mindful Health and the power of possibility

Langer considers how mindfulness operates when people learn that they have cancer. Although science is learning that cancer can be a chronic condition or even fully treatable, most of us, says Langer, mindlessly assume that cancer is a "killer". Rather than being mindfully aware of our symptoms and the conditions associated with the presence and absence of symptoms at any given moment in time, rather than being mindfully aware of the variable nature of our interactions with medical professionals, friends, and family, or changes in the way we work and play, and so on, one possible outcome is that the trauma associated with the diagnosis of cancer leads us to identify fully with the label "cancer patient". As soon as we identify with the label, all the preconceived ideas we ascribe to the label come to control our behavior.

But this is only one possibility and not everyone responds in the same way when diagnosed with cancer. Langer refers to research by Sarit Golub (2004) conducted in Harvard. Golub found that while some people diagnosed with cancer add cancer to their identity, others let the diagnosis take over their identity, with the latter group faring less well on measures of recovery and psychological well-being.

Langer suggests that mindfulness makes us more optimistic because we are open and attentive to possibilities, and that this in turn facilitates recovery. Research does suggest a relationship between mindfulness and optimism [2], and between optimism and recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery [3]. Converse to the view that optimists have a rosy view of their future that invariably leads them to ignore their present circumstances, Langer believes that mindful optimists are likely to pay greater attention to their recovery than do pessimists, and in so doing they aid the recovery process and help anticipate complications.

Nevertheless, mindless optimism and mindless pessimism may lead people to invest more heavily in positive or negative systems of belief than in reality itself and the possibilities that reality presents [4]. Thus, mindful optimism is unique: optimal well-being, according to some, hinges on a capacity to open oneself to the subtleties and complexities of reality and thus inhibit cognitive commitments that pit belief against experience [5]. One belief that Langer asks us to be mindful of in this context is the belief that science trumps experience. If, for example, we blindly assume that medical science is simply better than our own experience in informing our judgment and action, we may be inclined to mindlessly hand over control of our health to the `experts' and thus ignore the subtle variation in our experience (e.g., our experience of symptoms) and contextual variables that impinge upon our experience. Again, by accepting some label attached to us in consultation with a doctor (e.g., "chronic pain patient") we may come to assume more stability in our condition than there is; we may hand over control of our condition to others, and thus negate the possibility space that opens to us when we are mindfully aware of our condition.

Mindful awareness of our state can enhance our ability to control our state. For example, Delizonna, Williams, and Langer (2009) demonstrated that, when compared with a group who were asked to measure their heart rate upon first waking in the morning and just before going to bed, people who are asked to measure their heart rate regularly throughout the day, thus attending to its "variability", later demonstrate greater capacity to speed or slow their heart rate without instruction. More generally, those who scored higher on the Langer Mindfulness Scale exercised greater control over heart rate regulation.

Langer accepts that if you are ill you should consult a medical professional, but she warns against mindless acceptance of medical advice. She argues that diagnoses, prognoses, research methods, and statistics are all necessary for efficient, ethical, and meaningful medical care, but in light of the inherent uncertainty due to variability, medicine, like all domains of study, should be regarded not as a collection of answers but rather as a way of asking questions. How much exercise is a healthy exercise level? Observe the science and you will see that there are no simple answers that apply across all individuals. In this context, we need to attend to both the medical facts and our own bodily states, and we need to be aware that much like our bodily states vary over time, so too do the facts of science. For example, exercise may well be good for us in many ways, but women who exercise too much may be more at risk of developing ovarian cancer [6].

The observation of science, much like the observation of our environment generally, exposes us to a great deal of variation. Variation in the set of facts and relations open to observation in the field of science may be enough to completely inhibit our adaptive movement, particularly if we are looking for hard and fast rules in relation to any aspect of our future adaptive action. On the other hand, if we embrace the fact that medical science, and science generally, deals largely in probabilities and not certainties, and that these probabilities allow us to anticipate to some extent the consequences of a unique path of action in a unique context, we open ourselves to the possibilities latent in the observed variation - and we do not fail to see the importance of our own action in this field of possibility.

Langer's definition of mindfulness is very interesting, because it aligns more with definitions of critical thinking than with definitions of mindfulness as a meditative acceptance of all that is. Langer's mindfulness is very pro-active, energized, engaged, optimistic, constructive, and uninhibited in the face of failure. Langer believes that the future is largely indeterminate, not uncontrollable. We don't know for sure whether or not we can control something unless we try, and if we fail this does not imply that we cannot control the thing we set of to control, only that we failed to control it at the time of trying - the situation remains indeterminate, but the possibility of control is still a possibility. Langer maintains a beautiful balance: she is skeptical and constructive at the same time, open to the possibility that she may be right or wrong, or right and wrong - only experience will tell and only mindful experience will transform.

1. Myers, D.G., Social psychology. 6th ed. 1999, Boston: McGraw-Hill College. xiii, 737.
2. Weinstein, N.D., K.W. Brown, and M.R. Richard, A multi-method examination of the effects of mindfulness on stress attribution, coping, and emotional well-being Journal of Research in Personality, 2009. 43 (3): p. 374-385
3. Scheier, K.A. and C.S. Carver, Effects of optimism on psychological and physical well-being: theoretical overview and empirical update. Cognitive Therapy & Research, 1992. 16(2): p. 201 - 28.
4. Hogan, M.J., Enlightened happiness and pragmatic systems science - positive psychology meets Colin Feltham's anthropathology thesis. . The Irish Psychologist 2009. 35 p. 138-148.
5. Labouvie-Vief, G. and M. Márquez González, Dynamic Integration: Affect Optimization and Differentiation in Development, in Motivation, emotion, and cognition: Integrative perspectives on intellectual functioning and development., D.Y. Dai and R.J. Sternberg, Editors. 2004, Lawrence Erlbaum.: Mahwah, N.J. p. 1 - 36.
6. Gertig, D., J. Hooper, and G. Graham, A prospective cohort study of the relationship between physical activity, body size and composition, and the risk of ovarian cancer. . Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, 2004. 13: p. 2117 - 25.
7. Pinker, S., How the mind works. 1997, New York: Norton. xii, 660.

I purchased this wonderful book back in the 80's! I had quite a few bad habits, and really wanted to change not only my life but my attitude.Mindfulness not only enabled me to quit smoking without suffering any withdrawals, but woke me up from the sleep ofcomplacency. I began to look at the world differently. I learned to let go of destructive ideas.I learned how to slow down, and to be grateful for the moment.Over the years I have given this book to anyone seeking advice. Miss Langer writes in an easy to understand style as if she is your best friend who has just discovered some amazing insights that she is going to share with just you.I have not re-read this little gem in years, but can still remember certain paragraphs and sentences that were so true then as they are now. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking to put the zest & joy of living back in their life.Even those that are truly happy will find this book riveting & a fun read.

This book is still selling well after ten years because Langer is a first-rate researcher who can write. And not only that, the subject she chose to study is extremely valuable and important.
The book is basically about mindLESSness: What causes it, what we can do about it, and what difference it makes. If you would like to be more creative in your work, if you would like to be more alive and awake, if you would like to stay mentally young for your entire life, read this book. I'm the author of the book, Self-Help Stuff That Works, and I'm an expert on what is effective and what is not. Ellen Langer's work is effective and extremely important, both for you personally and for society at large. I highly recommend this book.

This is a book rich in provoking thought. While I have read it more than once through cover to cover, I still keep it handy to read sections of again. It approaches mindfulness from a Western thought perspective and avoids the comparisons with Eastern thought. This is not a detriment. It helps to focus the material. It is also the source of much of the ongoing playing with ideas that I still find with this book. By now, you may have realized that Ellen has not presented us with a silver bullet. But she does provide much insight in the relationship between the physical and the mental. The third party view or that of an outsider coming into a group, are both inherently examples of mindfulness. Without pre-set notions, anything is possible. Read and enjoy!

This book made me angry. It has a reputation that far outstrips the qulaity of the secondary research that was done. (I am not critical of the primary research.) Professor Langer had published her most important article in 1978, but by the time the book was published there was an enormous amount of scientific-quality work that had been done. In addition there are other fields that had generated a huge amount of knowledge that has direct bearing on Professor Langer's main concept. There are some obvious lines of research by cognitive psychologists that are not referenced. For example, James Reason (and Klara Mycielska) had published in 1982 (seven years before Langer's book) "Absent-Minded?: the psychology of mental lapses and everyday errors", a full book. The literature on questionnaire construction is chock full of information about the importance of how questions are framed. Con-men and magicians have known about misdirection for millennia. I would have expected a little more connection to these obvious sources of information on the phenomenon being studied.

The book starts out well but soon dissolves into feel good chaos. She lost me when she got to the creepy mystical ideas. Like how time is not linear? really? are you god? Can you float out of time and space just by being mindful? and that theres no such thing as being too fat or too skinny. Does that mean we shouldn't help anorexics out? And the big one is how theres no such thing as sexual perversion. So rape away I guess?
She also has allot of useless observations about how things like clocks, rulers, and borderlines are just man-made things. Yes they are, but you know what? I still have to be at work at 6 in the morning tomorrow.

As a researcher in cognitive psychology, I read this because it was cited in a more recent paper regarding mindfulness. This book probably fits somewhere between the categories of self help and science communication. It is not academic. Essentially, Langer categorizes our behavior in terms of mindfulness and mindlessness, and she drives the point using anecdotes and synopses of her research projects. I do agree with the sentiment that 'mindfulness' is generally good, but I disagreed with much of the book. Some criticisms:

- Throughout the book there is an implied message that 'mindful equals good' and 'mindless equals bad', which is an oversimplified (ahem, mindless) distinction. So-called mindlessness is often necessary for daily life, for the sake of efficiency and speed. In the last few pages of the book, Langer gives a very brief acknowledgment of this, but nothing more.
- What counts as 'mindful' and 'mindless' is poorly defined, which means that these categories are ripe for confirmation bias. Pick any mistake or lapse of reason you've ever committed, and I'll bet you can find something you were being 'mindless' about at the time.
- Because it's poorly defined, it also winds up covering a lot of territory in psychology. Yet there is no consideration of the vast amount of relevant research outside of Langer's work, e.g., category learning, heuristics, schemas, scripts, stereotypes, dual-process theory. Much of this research predates the original book and is probably more insightful as to what Langer describes as 'mindlessness'.