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Thinking
Thinking has always been my preoccupation. I realize in many modern philosophies it has been seen as a hindrance, an obstacle against living in the moment. It has been said to be caught up in your thoughts can be an addiction. Some have described it as the disease of modern man.
Still, thinking has been a big part of my entire life. The education I received basically was Greek in nature with the shadow of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle behind all the subjects I studied. Logic, reason, mechanistic and linear thinking ruled the academic world. Thinking your way through a problem and problem solving were the way to get through life. It was like another muscle to be developed.
In my situation, for whatever reasons, I had some difficulty learning in a classroom situation. It did not come naturally. Hence, I often had to teach myself and that involved more thinking. Sometimes answers were not forthcoming and often to my surprise the answer would appear the next morning or surprise me while on a bus .
Now many of us are aware there are other ways to live life besides just thinking. Instincts, common sense, meditation, synchronicity, celebrations and song, living in the now, all in one way or another try to integrate the senses and an inner knowing. Ritualization and traditions also can replace thinking in various ways through routine and repetition.
Still, the art of thinking has value. It can be used to break down a problem into manageable parts, see which part is not functioning correctly, and provide a choice or choices for a solution. This can seem mechanistic but we do live, even in primitive societies, in a mechanistic world. Tools, building structures, bows and arrows have been used for a long time. All require some thought to make and maintain. There are very good arguments that we have gone too far in a mechanistic way in all areas, including thinking. It can be said we are too removed from our core. Even so, the cure lies not necessarily in a wholesale elimination of everything. Some technologies, used in a proper way, can reduce and simplify other technologies. Good thinking can eliminate bad thinking, or even thinking itself. Think of a Zen Buddhist Koan. The way out of a problem often is not running from it but back through it.
In my life I have used many of the modalities mentioned here. Thinking has its limitations, but still has a place in the scheme of things. Whether by choice or not, it remains part of how I approach the world.
In this section I will write about different issues that I've tried to solve with thinking, using its tools, logic and reason. Some of my realizations using thinking are commonplace, some are unique. Many will be shared.
Steven Nussdorf