Why is mindfulness simply false?
Mindfulness is concentration redirected toward phenomena. Strip away the therapeutic and spiritual marketing and it is nothing more than sustained attentional fixation on what appears. The claim that this produces clarity or objectivity is simply false. Concentration does not remove the structure of cognition; it intensifies whatever structure is already there. You donβt escape the lens by staring harder through it. You just polish the glass and mistake sharpness for truth.
Mindfulness often suggests that judgment is something we can choose to ignore, as if it's just an extra layer on top of our basic perceptions. However, judgment is actually part of how we perceive things from the start. When we notice something, we are already influenced by what we find important, relevant, or meaningful. We can't simply look at "phenomena" without being inside a human perspective that determines what those phenomena are. Our attention is shaped by our interpretations, not the other way around.
