Thinking About Thinking
The assault on our thinking and some strategies to fight back
Hello,
Modernity has declared war on thinking. Most people's thinking these days is unconscious—it just happens. I suspect that barely any of it is intentional. Nobody sets aside time to say, “Okay, I’ll block those 30 minutes just to think about something.” What insights, ideas, and discoveries are we missing because we don’t spend enough time thinking?
A rare sight these days Instead of thinking, we ruminate. We run in circles, obsessing over worries, issues, and insecurities. You may attack the above argument by saying overthinking is unhealthy. It is. But that attack is directed at these ruminative endeavors- once again, the kind of obsessive thinking that is unintentional, happens on its own, and whose end product isn’t ideas but anxiety.
The instruments of this assault on our ability to think are well-known: smartphones, social media, OTT, etc. But there’s something more sinister at work. The constant evolution of these distracting technologies ensures that there’s not a single moment in our lives where we’ll be forced to be alone with our thoughts. In-flight wifi, AirPods, water-proof devices- hell, it seems like even our sleep will be invaded by some new device soon and attack that last instantiation of an untouched brain.
If creativity emerges from a mind left open to drift around, a mind that isn’t forced to focus on anything specific and given free rein, how many breakthrough ideas and inventions are we missing out on because we’ve constructed a reality that is designed to disallow such mind-wandering?
This distraction isn’t bad, just for higher purposes like thinking and creativity. It dulls your everyday experience. For example, the joy of having a nice meal is diminished when a TV show accompanies it. The joy of taking a nice walk and soaking in the beauty of nature is perhaps stunted by the loud music that accompanies the walk. The idea of direct sensory experience is becoming rarer by the day as our dependence on a loud multi-sensorial assault grows to pathological levels.
The world is slowly waking up to the idea of training the body to prevent it from decaying and suffering from the ill effects of junk food. A similar revolution is needed for mental training—for people to realize that a mind habituated to a junk diet and lack of training can decay rapidly. We need new New Year's resolutions like “I’ll spend 15 minutes every day doing nothing” and “I’ll meditate every day for 10 minutes.”
Going to the bathroom, taking a shower, getting a shave- these are all brilliant starting points to rebel against this assault of modernity. These are short bursts of 5-15 minute activities where having a device around poses a little more friction than any other everyday setting. Use these instances as training grounds- to be left alone sans any loud sensory input and be alone with your thoughts. I call this bathroom thinking- and it might begin a process of recovery.
If I can’t spend 5 minutes alone with myself, is it fair to expect it from others? Take some time and think about it.
Active thinking: a good idea to ensure that if you engage in periods of undistracted thinking (even if it’s while taking a giant dump) is to have a bunch of questions or topics to tackle. For instance, many times we watch a movie, hear a friend’s story or listen to something and are left with so many questions. But then we move on to the next thing and forget all about reflecting on those questions. Keep a list of 2-3 questions ready, and think deeply about them when you find the opportunity. This will ensure that your mind has something to chew on if it gets that 15-minute window, and doesn’t just descend into thinking about sex or stocks (nothing “wrong” about that, it’s just the way we’re programmed).
Metacognition: If you can hone the ability to observe your own mind as it thinks, it’d be an incredible breakthrough. It’s the sudden realization of the power you hold over your monkey mind. This power can help you a) end the loops of rumination that cause anxiety b) Observe when you’re repeatedly going over something stupid and c) Actively direct it to think of something interesting that you want to spend on (like mentioned in the previous point) or a real-life problem you want to dedicate some brain-power to. Metacognition opens the doors to rationality.
It’s time to reclaim your time, defeat the distractions, and dedicate yourself to quality thinking.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it, you’ll also like:
The Smartphone & The Mind [Please read if you feel like you’re addicted]