Lack of thinking

By FalcaoLucas

I often think that, these days, we lack thinking.

In this world in which we live, excited and entertained by technological and scientific advances, which constantly pushes us in the directions of productivity, efficiency and effectiveness, happiness at all costs, permanent balance, forced creativity, etc., the space to think seems to be lacking.

I ask myself, what do we pay attention to? What do we take time to think about?

Although I can be very sectarian or unfair, and my perspective can be very short and limited, I often have the feeling that today our reflections need to "burn much more fuel" in order to overcome the barrier of superficiality, to get rid of commonplaces, ready-made ideas and fundamentalism. The tendency to quantify, to concretise, to objectify what is of human nature and functioning leaves our thoughts "in the dust" or, even worse, prevents us from questioning the opinions we are building up.

For example, one of the most respected "men of science", Stephen Hawking, tells us that philosophy is dead, that it has failed to keep up with technological and scientific advances. Nothing better illustrates this disquiet and frustration of mine - a biased view and partial understanding of reality, the assumption of "truth" as unique, unshakeable and unalterable, except through certain methods and ways of thinking. No wonder the disinvestment, which is noticeable at various levels, in Art and Culture, for example.

We live in a paradigm of scarcity, and rightly so, since resources are increasingly scarce. But this paradigm has become deeply entrenched. Even time has become scarce. We live in a race to reach the next goal, to achieve the next objective, so that we lack nothing, especially the longed-for "happiness" and the beloved "well-being". None of the paths that may lead to these states is in harmony with the tendency towards superficiality, mentioned before. One more of the many paradoxes and contradictions that constitute and characterise us as human beings.

We consume information in an unbridled way, without the concern or the care to transform it into knowledge or wisdom. We try to keep up with everything, always. We do not accept our limited capacities. The most basic of these limitations is related to time: we need to sleep, every day; we know that our stay here, like this, is not eternal.

At the same time as all this is happening, there is a thirst for meaning in the lives we lead. A thirst that, using the paradigms in force and the most obvious tendencies, will be insatiable.

Time, reclaim the time! Time to think and to learn to think in different ways. Time to think better, therefore.