This is a continuation of my last article on dumb thinking and how to avoid it.
Here are a few more ground rules to begin with:
Think less not more.
In general, Western societies make a fetish of thinking. In the name of 'Philosophy', 'Reason', 'Rationality', 'Science'. The idea being that, if we could only all learn to think like university lecturers then the world would be a better place. Unfortunately, history shows theat when intellectuals run the world, the place turns into a blood-bath. French 'thinkers' like Robespierre ramped up the Guillotine and The Terror while promoting The Goddess of Reason. While Lenin (author of 45 volumes of unreadable books) and Stalin (14 volumes) launched the greatest mass-murder in world history.
The result, working through the 'education' most of us receive is that we are encouraged to believe that the more we think the better life will be. Thereby ignoring the difference between enlightened thinking and destructive thinking. Enlightened thinkers are creative, communicate well, learn from their mistakes, solve problems and achieve goals. Destructive thinkers are bigots, racialists and religious maniacs. They can also be worriers, ditherers, perfectionists, guilt-trippers and depressives.
Although enlightened thinking is, perforce, good, the habit of thinking too much is to be avoided and should be balanced by present moment awareness, focused action and the cultivation of Bodymind. All these I have writen about elsewhere on this blog.
Cut down on information overload
This is really a continuation of the item before. Rarely can there have been a civilisation in history which has cultivated such a mania for information: books, newspapers, radio, television and the internet (and, yes, I know this article is on the internet - but the point remains true). I happened to be on an elevator inside the headquarters of a Bank in the City of London recently which was showing Sky News! Madness! And do any of us really need to know what journalists think about what is going on with Libya, Football matches and the Hollywood film business?
Too much information leads to over-activity in the frontal lobes in the brain, which are the seat of Headmind. Leading to an unbalanced, fretful, cerebral approach to life. And a corresponding loss of connection to Bodymind, as well as the exercise of emotional intelligence.
Be sceptical about words
I have written about this subject elsewhere, in my article on The Danger of Words.
Be sceptical about theories
One very bad symptom of the common adoration of scientists, psychologists, Freudian therapists and medical doctors is that we are bombarded with 'explanations' for why we human beings behave the way we do. These include, but are not limited to, the following absurd ideas:
That science explains things (it only theorises).
That we possess an 'Unconscious mind'
That human beings are rational
That childhood experiences determine personality
That we have free will
500 years ago 'depression' was thought by many writers to be caused by an excess of black bile in the blood. Now the fashionable theory is that it is caused by an excess of serotonin in the brain. Both theories are simplistic and neither is true. Nor will knowing either theory help you get better.
