How Tired Are We.. Really?

Leave me alone..

Let me preface the rather conceptual and maybe even notional argument I am about to put forward by stating my primary hypothesis, born of rigorous reflection and observation - I am neither special nor 'extra' intelligent. I am perhaps even part of the problem. Maybe I am the problem that's birthing this frustrated rant.

The first part of that preface, by the way, is something I seldom admit to those close to me. :) One does need one's shield of pseudo narcissistic fury in a life full of excited debates and tiring fights. ;)

Now - the problem. Here's the essence of a common response I have heard over and over again in years past from people of different ages, genders, intelligence (perceived ;) and social standing:

"Why do you have to think that way? Too much thinking is not always a good thing. Come now, we can't all be philosophers. Life gets in the way. You'll see as you grow older. You have to be practical."

I will not be making the mistake of generalizing for the masses from the statement above. Maybe it's cultural, maybe it's just the people I surround myself with and I happen to meet along the way. Maybe it's chance.

But I do know that many of these people are in a position to actually influence others, and let's face it 'people' by and large are just waiting to be influenced by something or someone - which leads me back to my original problem.

Why won't people think? Just think. Not about life in a macroscopic manner or about the larger picture hidden behind the cosmos, but just about simple things... things that would actually affect the quality of their own lives.

For example, when people say we can't all be philosophers  - I have two questions that pop up in my mind, that now, having grown wiser with age, I take care not to say out loud:

1. Why not? Especially given that 'philosophy' just means 'love of wisdom'. Are you telling me that you can never find it in you to love wisdom?

2. Why can't you think about the problem at hand, which we were discussing, instead of making a blanket statement that doesn't make sense to begin with? Or are you against 'thinking' in general?

As you can see, there's a good reason why I have decided to choose silence over what might be misconstrued as just plain 'rude'. This is something I have accepted not because I agree with it, but because it saves time and effort. I personally find arguments based on stubborn ignorance and an unflinching refusal to see the value in a bright idea when you hear it, more 'rude'.

I have concluded that I myself am not a complete hypocrite, for example, by remembering all the times in the past and now in the present, that I have recognized and appreciated a point of view different from mine as soon as the person in question has beaten the logic behind my own analysis or pointed out a flaw in my perspective on the subject matter. It has also surprised me how often people refuse to reciprocate this sentiment or civility in an intellectual discourse. People seem to want 'talk at' people rather than 'talk to' them - much less listen to someone..

I am also a strong believer in separation of thought and emotion, but only after recognizing how interdependent they are in the given situation. Whenever I have, in the past, let my emotion guide me, I have felt unsure of myself and have then made efforts to rectify the situation later (once the hindsight puts down the colored glasses). Apologies have often served as a good platform in this regard.

But I fear I'm digressing from the crux of the issue. The title of the post signifies what I believe to be the problem.

People, I believe, are capable of insight and analysis of every situation  - large or small - and I do not believe it rides completely upon their inherent intelligence or even acquired knowledge. I believe it rides on the effort you have to put in to actually 'think' upon anything.

There is a quote I like to remind myself of sometimes - "Most people would rather die than think. In fact they do so."

This sharp and astute observation seems to be the motivating factor driving many of the aforementioned individuals I have encountered. Let me repeat - they are not stupid or ignorant, they chose to be ignorant to anything deeper than the shallow depths they are used to wading in.

I have even heard it put into words, literally - "I don't want to think now. It's too much.. Leave me alone!"

The reasons given are many - fatigue, stupidity (oh yeah.. there are those who proudly proclaim that as a reason as well), lack of necessity and my favorite - life.

When did a species named "Man wise, wise" become too tired to 'think'.. to be or at least strive to be 'wise'? 

Or has it always been this way, only now communication has increased exponentially enough to see this trend more clearly? There is of course, thinking for pleasure and thinking for everything else. I'm pointing to the latter here.

Words like 'faith' and 'practicality' have become the backbone of an entirely new race of thoughtless, cattle like humanoid beings who though endowed with the beauty of complex thought refuse to wield it as an instrument of joy or even bare amusement in the face of an increasingly complex world.

I recognize the difficulty in questioning fundamental concepts that have existed for ages but people, about the other stuff - didn't someone once say "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."

I'm sure I read it somewhere in a book you forced me to read..