In the case of Socrates it definitely was. But this post isn't about him or the ancient Greek philosophy, it's my philosophy.
It's our brain that distinguishes us from all other animals and gives us the ability to rule the world. But is that ability serving us? Have we sacrificed something else for it, something that is just as important as a brain?
Of course our brains are amazing and the things we have achieved, invented, created, explored, discovered by using them! But is thinking over-rated? Do we sometimes think too much? I know I am asking more questions that giving answers right now, but I want to make you think before I tell you what I think 🤔😉
Here is my problem. The brain is not flawless, in fact, the fact that we have a brain opens up the possibility to be manipulated. The brain is like a computer - it is programmed when we are growing up and developing and we are not responsible for what is being programmed into us, so already I call that manipulation because the humans responsible for that (initially parents and then the rest of the outside world) input whatever they like, we don't have a choice. I also strongly believe that our brain can be re-programmed later and not just once. It can be re-programmed by outside forces or ourselves. It can be impacted in ways that we can't even fathom. I remember seeing a documentary once about brain and the scientist made the guy who was making the program move his left arm instead of his right arm by pointing some kind of a laser or wave device at a certain part of his head to make him think he moved the other one because he himself changed his mind! But the scientist had changed his mind with this device and the human had no idea. Scary shit! In addition, just like computers, we can have glitches in our brain. Like when we see ourselves through other people's eyes and believe we are what they say we are, when we mindlessly accept someone else's truths, values and beliefs as our own, déjà vu, addiction, mental illnesses, etc. So you see, our brain is so very imperfect. And so our thinking is imperfect too.
I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine about thinking. It was sparked by a discussion about the covid vaccine. I told her that to me it seemed very much like the Milgram experiment, only this time the authority wanted to see if we would go as far as giving the electric shock (represented by the vaccine in this case) to ourselves instead of another person. Are we being manipulated? Of course, but that's a whole other post. So there are two fronts - people for the vaccine and people against. How many people out of those do you think know exactly where they stand in their opinion? How many people have gone on to change their mind? How many people have changed their opinion because the guy from the opposite side sounded more convincing? How many people stand on a fence because they can't make a decision due to the fact that the arguments on both sides are convincing or not persuasive enough? I don't know the numbers but I have seen all that happen and why - because of thinking, too much thinking. WE THINK we know and look for proof to support it. And then someone comes along and plants doubts in our head or convinces us of the opposite because they sound like they know exactly what they are doing and what's going on. And then WE THINK that we changed our opinion out of our choice. WE THINK that someone else knows better... like a guy in a lab coat with a clipboard... Can you see how it raises the question whether thinking is actually bad for us.
So now my answer to the question I posed at the beginning of this post "Have we sacrificed something else for it, something that is just as important as a big brain?" is yes. We do too much thinking and not enough feeling. We have forgotten about our instincts. Many of us spend so much time trying to solve things and understand things with logic and reasoning - thinking and overthinking - that they have forgotten about their gut feeling and are completely out of touch with it. And instinct is the only thing that we should be listening to; it is the one and only true guide. And the more we listen to it the more we become in tune with it. For example, I feel I don't want to get vaccinated. People immediately want to know why. My instinct tells me i shouldn't trust it, and that's it. It's never been wrong. I have chosen to ignore it plenty of times, because my brain has been telling me something else but in the end what I felt, even if I didn't have an explanation or proof for it, was correct. We are taught to think before we do; but thinking alone is not enough. We also need to listen to our gut. They are basically two sides of the same coin.
So back to the title - is thinking bad for us? The way I see it, if it's done alone, yes it can be. Thinking alone can send one made. Like with everything else in this world there needs to be a balance for things to function successfully, and for us that balance should be between our brain and gut.
