Many people have all kinds of crazy mixed up notions about thinking. To hear them tell it, it's a tricky business, requiring careful attention to details and laborious comparing and evaluating. Arg! It's no wonder so many folks just leave the whole "thinking thing" to the so called experts. Fortunately for you, nothing could be further from the truth. Thinking is something any moron can do quickly and effortlessly.
First, pick something to think about. Anything will work, but for best results it should be the first thing that pops into your head. (We'll call this the "idea")
Next, check how having the 'idea' in your head makes you feel. Keep staring at the 'idea' for as long as it takes to get a nice strong feeling about it.
Then, try to decide if you like having the feeling the 'idea' makes. (If this step is at all difficult, you've gotten hit with a "bad idea". It happens, don't worry about it, after some practice you should be able to reduce such wasted time to no more than a few moments a day. Just start over from the beginning with a fresh 'idea')
Now, if the answer is: "YES! I like the way it makes me feel", your in luck. Your thinking has already "enlightened" you. You can keep thinking about this 'idea' as long as you want, but for some, (called IN-TELL-ECT-U-ALS) there is a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment to be had in rolling the dice again, to see just how far they can go without getting hit with a 'bad idea'. After years of practice some 'intellectuals' can go on and on for hours at a time. (They're called PUN-DITS)
If the answer is: "NO! I don't like the way it makes me feel", you've drawn a "silly idea". Naturally, you're not gonna want to keep looking at this, but don't put it out of your mind just yet. There is an unwritten rule amongst habitual thinkers that says; "help others by letting them know right away that they've got a 'silly idea' in their head". Make a quick little copy of the 'silly idea' so you will be ready when duty calls. This is called CON-SID-ER-ING. (When you help someone later, you are being "considerate")
And there you have it! You're all set, and can feel completely confident that the 'ideas' you have are "the truth".
So get in there and START THINKING!!.
[First in a series of step by step guides on HOW TO BE A HUMAN (without looking like a tourist)]
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 19
Feel free to disseminate at will (with the author name please; Who knows what the morrow might bring?) I often was blessed by some irreverent encouragement, taped to the fridge in the teachers lounge.
Still, a great post, and you got at 10 from me, Mr. Knight.
Very funny.
Well, I have written about a half dozen "How To" articles over time. I suppose I could bundle them up somehow, and title it as the series I forecast here . . ? My favorite is called 'How To Be Real Jerk', as I recall. It was a lot of work, but worth it I felt.