Let's Think About Thinking

Earlier this year, I was completely blown off as I read M. Scott Peck’s classic The Road Less Traveled. Soon I found and devoured another of his masterpiece, The Road Less Traveled and Beyond, which gave me another wow! experience that I am yet to recover from. I have recommended both books to readers who follow our posts and I still recommend them to you reading this article today!

In the second book I mentioned, Dr Peck identified and discussed one important problem which ripple effect has crippled our society in many ways – simplistic thinking and the failure to think at all.

First, we must realize that, as Albert Einstein puts it, “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”

However, we must also note Thomas Edison’s observation: “Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think, and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think.”

This assertion is, unfortunately, true and Dr Peck says that this is not just a problem, it is the problem and it requires urgent attention. Yet, not many people have identified it as a problem not to talk of trying to change the narrative intentionally.

Personally, I have found it worrisome to know that when I asked someone why s(he) said what s(he) said or did what s(he) did, they don’t have a better answer than “I don’t really know.”

Like seriously? You don’t know why you did what you do? That’s a childish behaviour – to act before thinking. It could simply mean that you are not in charge of your life!

Interestingly, many people claim to believe the Bible without reading and/or thinking it through. That is why they could easily be deceived and preyed upon by impostors on the pulpit.

Generally speaking, many people don’t think at all. Some think but not deeply. Some others think but with faulty assumptions and even wrong parameters. Only a few think well and that with ‘integrity’ – a holistic and wholesome kind of thinking.

You notice these various categories of people when there is a widespread issue that arouses national concern. Political parties do everything possible to control the mind and behaviour of the people. Then a lot of people will believe the media without thinking through the content that gushes from its stream.

Many others will argue with the faulty ‘facts’ they obtain from their family, friends and colleagues. This kind of people are not thinking at all – they are merely energized by the skewed feelings of others. And that is why many real problems in our jungle are never resolved.

Bringing it home to the individual, when Steven Covey stated that one habit of highly effective people is that they begin with the end in mind, he meant that effective (productive and successful) people arrive at their destination mentally before they take their first step physically. They think things through.

Is this true about you?

Again, Henry Ford made a profound remark: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.”

Our beliefs about ourselves are products of our thought processes. But have you ever paused to think about your thinking? Have you ever queried the source of your thoughts about yourself? Have you verified them?

When things happen to you, do you take time to think them through or do you settle for simple answers only to face the same problem in future?

It’s time for a thinking revolution – this is the beginning of personal transformation. When you start to give attention to your thinking and change it, you are already changing your life!

To your greatness,

Bright UK

The Chief Scribe