Hey guys,
Today we summarize the reasons why world thinking is so poor.There is a certain amount of overlap between the reasons, but each reason needs to be considered in its own right if we are to make progress.Some of the reasons can also be grouped together.
1.SUCCESS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
Our huge success in science and technology makes us very proud of our thinking, complacent.Surely a thinking system that can produce such a spectacular success cannot be deficient?unfortunately, the inanimate world of objects and effects is quite different from the animate world of people.In the inanimate world, properties are known, predictable and constant.This is not so when dealing with people.
People are unpredictable.There are also interactive loops. so behavior of a certain type can itself change people's reactions.The nearest equivalent in science is the quark of physics,which changes its behavior when observed.
Speaking French fluently in France does not mean that you would have an easy time in England.
We need to understand that different universes require different thinking.
2.NO FACULTY OR CLASSIFICATION:
Most universities do not have faculty of thinking.There is no Thinking classification in bookshops or most libraries.Thinking is the most fundamental of all human behavior, but it does not get direct attention.
We walk and we talk and we breathe.It is assumed that thinking is as natural as these activities and does not merit any direct attention.
If no one is paying attention to thinking, how can things improve?
There is an astonishing degree of complacency in our habits and methods of thinking.This needs to change.
3. DEMOCRACY:
The relevance of democracy to thinking is perceived basis in attack and adversarial thinking.The emphasis both during and after the elections is on'destruction' not on 'construction'.A government that does nothing is less easily attacked than one that is active.
Being clever in attack does not mean that you could suggest something better.So where is progress to come from?
It is possible, that in time, democracy will evolve into a more constructive mode.
4. RELIGION:
It is not that religion has been anti-thinking.The problem is that religion has emphasized one type of thinking.This has effectively locked intellectual culture into the logic, truth and argument mode.
In religion there is no place for perception.That is given by doctrine,which has to be accepted through an act of faith.Once you have accepted this doctrine, then you can perceive the world through this framework.
In earlier days, disruptive thinkers were branded as heretics and even burned as such.Even Galileo, whose thinking was prompted by scientific observation and theory, fell foul of the Church.
Orthodoxy was what mattered- and this limits thinking.It is not so much the limits on the contents of thinking that matters, but limitation on the actual methods of thinking, which has to remain stuck in the GG3 mode.We need to use new methods of thinking.
5. Argument:
This is another very important point. We use argument far too much-because we have never developed another method of exploring a subject.
Argument is part of our critical and judgement mode of thinking.It was heavily emphasized by the Church because that was how you proved heretics to be wrong.
The major fault of argument is the lack of 'constructive energy'.Where do better ideas come from?How can you design a way forward for both sides?
Argument has its place but it is a very primitive and inefficient way of exploring a subject.
The Six Hats method of parallel thinking is a very powerful alternative to argument when you really want to explore a subject- rather than prove a point.
Summary: 5 reasons
Our thinking skills are EXCELLENT-but not enough.We are blocked and blinded by excellence.Our logic is excellent, our obsession with information is excellent-but these are not enough.
Unfortunately, our traditional thinking system demands that you show something to be bad before you can ask for change. That is not always possible.Our existing thinking is not bad.It is merely seriously inadequate.There is no mystery about what can be done to add additional methods of thinking.
Sending positive vibes your way,
Khadija
