Are you a problem thinker?

From the “Good Clean Funny List” website comes this very “thought provoking” material. An unidentified source provided this admission:

It started out innocently enough. I began to think of parties now and then to loosen up. Inevitably though, one thought led to another, and soon, I was more than just a social thinker.

I began to think alone — “to relax,” I told myself—but I knew it wasn’t true.

Thinking became more and more important to me, and eventually I was thinking all the time.

I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don’t mix, but I couldn’t stop myself. I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read  Thoreau and Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking,  “What is it exactly we are doing here?”

Things weren’t going so great at home either. One evening, I had turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother’s. I soon had a reputation as a heavy thinker. One day, the boss called  me in. He said, “Skippy, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don’t stop thinking on the job, you’ll have to find another job.” This gave me a lot to think about.

I came home early after my conversation with the boss. “Honey,” I confessed, “I’ve been thinking...” “I know you’ve been thinking,” she said, “and I want a divorce!”

“But honey, surely it’s not that serious.” “It is serious,” she said, lower lip aquiver.

“You think as much as college professors, and college professors don’t make any money, so if you keep on thinking, we won’t have any money!” “That’s a faulty syllogism,” I said impatiently, and she began to cry. I’d had enough. “I’m going to the library,” I snarled as I stomped out the door.

I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche, with a PBS station on the radio. I roared into the parking lot and ran up to the big glass doors...they didn’t open. The library was closed! To this day, I believe that a Higher Power  was looking out for me that night.

As I sank to the ground clawing at the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye. “Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?” it asked. You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinker’s Anonymous poster.

Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting, we watch a non-educational video; last week it was       “Dumb and Dumber.” Then, we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting.

I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed...easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking.

End of article.

Do you sense that we are now living in a world of mindless crowd thinking incapable of understanding and lazy to seek knowledge and truth? Look at what is happening on social media. All the bashing, the cussing and the cursing attacking the person without improving on the argument to discuss things intelligently are proofs, wouldn’t you think so?

Mindless working hinders productivity. Mouthing clichés and shouting out bumper sticker slogans in marketing meetings and sales rallies reflect a generation of young people accepting anything that is fed them, and would regard the platitudes as truth and knowledge. Hollywood celebrities in their commencement addresses tickling the ears of the young people with banalities do not help either. Some do give intelligent and wise advice, but others unfortunately do not.

“Believe in yourself!” cries one celebrity.

“Follow your passion!” says another one.

“You can do anything you want if you put your heart into it!”

They certainly motivate the people, but are they expressing truth? Actually, they do not have to because they make a fortune living in a fantasy world. But what about mere mortals like you and me?

We need to think. Critical thinking is vital and valuable today, and this skill includes sustained inquiry. Many institutions discourage questioning. In schools, when a student questions a professor’s opinion, the student is considered as a “rebel.” In the work place, when a young person questions the decisions of the senior manager, that person is labeled as “insubordinate.” In churches, when someone questions the teaching, the questioner is viewed as one without “faith.” This should not be.

Dr. Dallas Willard says: “Faith is meant to be environed in Knowledge. Knowledge is common sense reality. Knowledge and faith are made for each other, and life can only be whole if you have them both. Truth should correspond with reality. You would know something is real when you’re able to represent it, deal with it, talk about it or think about it as it is on an appropriate basis of thought and experience.”

Leaders need to sharpen their minds and help sharpen the minds of their people too. There is a difference between having an open mind and a mind that is blank. Somebody says: “The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.” And just one more thing, if the mind is too open, the brains would fall out…so just think about this.

(Mark your calendars on Jan. 25, 2019 for the much-awaited learning event “Power Up for Peak Performance”! It will be happening at the Samsung Hall, SM Aura, BGC. This whole-day conference features a power-packed cast of fantastic speakers and will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For further inquiries or advanced reservations, contact April at +63928-559-1798 or register online at www.powerup.ph)