Just Thinking...

Thinking itself is… challenging! Well, doing so while remaining unsure, undecided… seeking to find real answers and not simply confirmation of what we already think is correct. We don’t seem to relish uncertainty, loose ends, or unanswered questions. Doubt is anathema, confusion is abhorrent, ‘unknowns’ are unsatisfying, and clarity is desirable over blurred vision absolutely! We do like things all simple, clear and precise… Resolved issues don’t make such heavy demands on our reasoning, so we’re able to mentally ‘coast along’ rather than struggle in an endless tug-of-war with difficult questions… Funny about that, too…

Nearly all of our most deeply held beliefs, bedrock principles, attitudes, and values are the result of things that were drilled into our heads all along our path of life. From the time we’re extracted from the womb right up until we draw our last breath, we’re bombarded with ‘truths’, absolutes… the answers to all the questions we might have. Religion, political views, choices in friendships accepted or rejected, tolerance for considerable differences or not… heck, right down to what we’ll eat or drink, or eschew, are for the most part inclinations planted in our minds by others… Why is that?

It seems only wise for each person not to have to rediscover fire or to reinvent the wheel. All people ‘stand on the shoulders’ of those who have preceded us… we learn from their lessons, successes, mistakes, and revelations. It is the very essence of ‘progress’ in that we’re able to leverage what others have found out for us, so we’re able to then spend our time more productively exploring other 'new' things, so that those who follow us can in turn benefit from those advancements, as well… Makes perfect sense.

In a world that has become so complex and dynamic, though, where the rates of new discoveries and changes in technology are increasing hourly, combined with ever-evolving ideas about economics, social structure and human relations, just keeping up has become quite impossible… especially for mere ‘human beings’. Making things even more difficult is the fact we're creatures who have other needs besides grasping all knowledge and mastering all aspects of everything.

We also need refreshment, recreation, variety, distraction… ease… companionship, intimacy, and acceptance. Full-on, peddle-to-the metal, intense ‘learning’ will inevitably lead to a full-on blowout down the road… Could the answer lie instead in learning ‘how to think’ rather than simply absorbing ‘what to think’? The ability to figure-out an immediate issue when and if confronted, rather than to know in advance all things about everything based upon empirical, irrefutable ‘facts’? Especially when the ‘facts’ we’re presented are usually ‘cherry-picked’, often out of context, and given in an effort more to influence than to inform.

That old parable bears consideration: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day… Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for life.” Seems straight-forward enough… only, our complicated world is also inhabited by other human beings, and each one is wrestling with the same issues we are, plus a couple we haven’t mentioned yet… Humanness, to name but one.

Yep, every imperfect, flawed human being is born into a world they didn’t create, didn’t choose, don’t understand, and are powerless to change. They are born with a ‘blank slate’ and must spend their ‘formative’ years just learning how to find their place in that particular world, to gain what they need and want, and to learn to deal with success and failure. Much of what is learned is simply what is necessary to ‘get along’ in the world in which they find themselves.

Once the fundamentals of survival are figured out, then other things come into play… Things like ego, status and standing, perhaps even thoughts about ‘the future’ and not just the here and now… And, thoughts about independence from control by others, the ability to think for ourselves and to choose for ourselves who and what we might become. Further up on the ladder is the rung of ‘influence’… our ability to persuade and to perhaps shape the thinking of others, and with that to leverage our own individual ability to meet our own needs and wants…

All the while, we are surrounded by other folks who’re ‘climbing’ that same ladder of growth and development, seeking to further their own vision for fulfilling their individual needs and desires. The extent to which any given person will seek to exploit his/her greater knowledge and/or ability, and those do vary among all people, will vary depending upon other factors like ruthlessness, attitude towards other people, loyalty, compassion, integrity… Values largely determined by ‘the template’ provided by the culture in which one finds oneself, but ultimately determined by the inner values one has chosen to embrace.

Another inescapable, undeniable attribute of humans is the ability and almost automatic resort to viewing everything in terms of 'how does this impact me'. We then usually proceed to interpret things in a way most favorable to ourselves... Is the minimum wage a good idea or a bad idea? It depends in many cases upon whether or not one is looking at receiving a direct or indirect wage increase, or, having to pay higher prices, perhaps fund an expanded payroll. Logical, 'fact-based' arguments can be made to support either view, but one's personal view is usually more influenced by self-interest, especially since either view can be reasonably 'supported'...

Is it even possible for us to analyze things objectively and fairly from a neutral perspective? Not impossible, I don't think, but extremely difficult and probably unlikely. We should do the best we can, but since it requires so much information gathering, critical but fair ‘data triage’, self-discipline, intellectual honesty, and time, it obviously also requires nearly super-human effort to avoid the pitfalls or the intellectual shortcuts of self-interest and cumulative bias... inclinations induced by our already formed ideas and beliefs. And, to attempt to do so in the complex and demanding circumstances of modernity... Will Rogers is said to have once observed, “Thinking is about the hardest work people can do… That’s why so few ever actually engage in it...”

DDT