About the dearth of critical thinking
LIKE all organs of the human body, if the faculty of critical reasoning is not regularly engaged into purposeful use by a human being, it soon begins to degenerate. When that happens, the danger of the presence of a herd mentality presents itself. Herd mentality manifests the same way general hypnosis occurs: all sense of independence and individuality retreats, along with originality in thinking.
French mathematician and philosopher, Rene Descartes, came upon a popular saying ‘ cogito, ergo sum’ ( I think, therefore I am); after he was said to have initially doubted his own existence; but later ‘ found’, through thinking that indeed he existed. Besides Rene Descartes, many fields of studies today exist because of their devotion to the examination of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, existence and recognitions. The final bus stop, ( which many never arrive at) in the pursuit of knowledge is called conviction. Many find it difficult to arrive at conviction because they allow personal biases, prejudices, intellectual arrogance and laziness to lay traps along the pathway.
A key distinguishing feature between man/ woman and the lower animals is the capacity to reason and fathom matters to a fairly objective extent. It is called critical thinking. It gives fillip to the coinage ‘ homo sapiens’. At a higher level, it would be called ‘ perception’; which then brings in the intuitive capacity of the human being, as spiritual entities, into the equation. The lower animals do not possess these qualities. They possess instincts.
It is this capacity of the human beings to yield to critical thinking , perception and intuitive discerning that make them the so called ‘ masters’ on earth, and grant them the capacity to superintend over all the affairs of other creatures, as well as the possibility to contribute towards the further higher evolution of creation. Man determines, to a great extent, the destiny of the earth plane and the dwellers in it.
The path towards this task of man, however, must start from self- knowledge. If someone without any driving skills is handed a brand new car to drive, the clear likelihood is a fatal crash. The popular coinage over the ages is: ‘ Man, Know Thyself’. Those cautionary words, attributed to Socrates, should be seen as the basis for man’s ( and woman’s) true understanding and mastery of self. It even includes being aware of the existence of facts and realities beyond one’s immediate corner. In other words, the injunction ‘ man, know thyself’ is meant to halt every person on his or her track, permitting moments to take in fresh air and admire the beauty of the natural environment entrusted to our care, and to generally reflect on key questions about life and existence. Questions such as ‘ where have I come from?’, ‘ why am I here on earth?’, ‘ where do I go from here?’, ‘ what or where is the source of the apparent order I perceive in nature? In seeking answers to these questions or puzzles of life, man must be sensitive to the dangers of dousing the drive with the delusionary and mass hallucinatory coinages of religious dogmas and doctrines fabricated over the ages. Belief must be allowed to grow to become personal conviction. The doctrines handed down by parents and grand- parents must be subjected to critical analysis and questioning. There should be no mysteries about life, for as long as enlightenment exists about such subject matters. Each person must freely seek in order to find!
Religion has been a useful path adopted by human beings over the ages in the search to fathom the reality of a Creator and His Creation, but man is a spiritual being or entity, equipped with spiritual tools with which to directly perceive the nature of The Almighty Creator. It only requires that we should halt, reflect and study our immediate surroundings and the order in creation. The key tools are the ability to make choices, called freewill, and the spiritual ability inherent in every human being, called the Intuition.
These two tools must constantly be engaged in critical decisions. Religion, on the other hand, should be a constantly evolving faith based knowledge, deriving its mainstay from critical objective examination and re- examination of what it offers, so that it continuously takes in new oxygen for vitality, and not congeal into rigidly set doctrines. The ultimate aim of religion, if it must remain useful to man, should be to lead human beings to the recognition of the Will of God.
Nature and her orderliness give us constant hints about the Will of The Creator. Understanding this Will of the Creator and aligning with it is man’s highest goal. The Natural Laws of creation which we have the inherent abilities to perceive represent the language of the Creator. When a bean seed is put in the suitable soil conditions, and sprouts after some days, it would never yield a harvest of yam, but beans.
Even if a thousand worshippers were to be assembled to fast, pray, and invoke all the powers of the universe, it would not alter the composition of the beans to become yam. Man is always capable of this critical thinking or reflections, and should apply it in the wider environment of his being and relationships.
Every act of man, be it in politics, professional and family life; in commerce and all other everyday activities, ought to obey or reflect this knowledge of the law of sowing and reaping. You may also term it the law of ‘ cause’ and ‘ effect’. Some, rightly call it the law of karma. It is actually a law that calls to mind the need to accept responsibility, and be prepared to take reciprocal consequences over ones thoughts, words and deeds. No society can progress if it does not provide consequences for actions of her citizens. The consequences may simply be to consciously honour good behavior and punish bad behavior, without partiality.
Wherever this ability is subdued through false indoctrinations and other hallucinatory tactics of many spiritual highway men, man becomes a useful tool of the darkness, and brings the earth plane, as well as the immediate ethereal surroundings to the embrace of evil and decay. That is the main reason there is so much havoc and chaos upon the earth plane today.
Through the suffocating effects of this evil, man’s ability to perceive rightly also becomes severely subdued and hampered; and the roller coaster downfall of all things become the order of the day. All problems of mankind are caused by men and women themselves, therefore it is foolery to always seek to solve them through prayers and petitioning to God; we should rather take well measured steps to clear the mess by ourselves.