He posed the following idea:
We were all born to this earth. We are all composed of matter. We are a walking example of biology. We studied biology in school. We are constantly surrounded with biological ideas. So how many of you consider yourself to be a biologist?I hate science. I definitely didn't raise my hand. Neither did the folks around me. He continued:
We were all born to this earth. We were taught physics in school. If we trip, we fall to the ground: gravity. If we bounce a ball off of the wall, it comes back to us: ...some other physics principle. So how many of you consider yourself to be a physicist?Still hate science. Again, didn't even consider raising my hand. He proceeded:
We were all born to this earth. We all have a brain in our heads. We use that brain to think. We think about our day, we think when we're learning, we think about our friends and family, we think about what to cook for dinner, although we usually end up ordering pizza. How many of you consider yourself to be a thinker?This was my chance! I could finally raise my hand. I think all the time. When I'm laying in bed about to fall asleep, I always have the most profound thoughts. Unfortunately, I never seem to remember those. But, I'm a thinker nonetheless. He looked around the room to see every hand in the air. Then he spoke:
No you aren't. Just because you are surrounded by thoughts doesn't mean you are a thinker. Just like being surrounded by biology and physics doesn't make you a biologist or physicist. All our lives, we have been taught what to think, not how to think.
Deep. It made the gears in my brain start turning. But then I was confused because I was thinking about what he said, and what it meant, and the meaning of the universe. Should I raise my hand and tell him he's wrong because I'm actually thinking right now? But then he might start asking questions and I don't want to have to answer spontaneous questions. Wait a second...I'm thinking some more now!! At this point, I was completely confused.
He continued on with some other thought-provoking ideas and all the while, my little brain was on rapid mode. This has been echoing in my head ever since. Was he correct? Have I not learned how to think?
Here's what I have come up with.
I actually have learned how to think. I don't accept things as the truth unless I have found them to be true in my own life. (Insert rant about people who accept their parent's beliefs and ideas as their own.) It was the way I was raised. Challenge, question and understand life.
Side note: All of my journalism schooling has been incredibly helpful. Give me a computer and I can get all of the information I need. I am an expert Googler as well. Journalists are pretty much glorified stalkers, to be honest. But I'll take that over a desk job any day!Gravity: If I trip, I will fall. (Let's be realistic here: for me, it's when, not IF.) When I roll off the bed in the middle of the night, I will end up straight down on the floor. I accept the theory of gravity as the truth.
Air: I can't see air, but I can feel it. When the wind blows, my hair moves and the leaves rustle. I can hear it. Air does exist and I accept that as the truth.
Love: Well, let's be honest here. I'm single. I'm sitting at my computer alone in sweat pants and a ponytail. I can't preach about love. However, the love I have for my family and my friends is something I understand. It's something I feel. I feel it when I give love and I feel it when I receive love. I accept love as a truth. (Love at first sight...eh, we'll save that for another post.)
Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that, after careful thought, I've come to the conclusion that I do know how to think. I don't accept the things that are thrown at me to be the truth unless I have evidence to support it. But I was intrigued when the idea was thrown out to me.
So, here's a seed for you: Are you a true thinker?
