A Word About Utopiaby Gerald Angelo Cirrincione
I admit it. I wax lyrical about thinking. I sing the praises of thinking, and glorify it. I can't help it, I'm enthusiastic about thinking. I love thinkers. Thought ceaselessly amazes and delights me. Shouldn't I be more bland, detached, and unemotional about this topic? Shouldn't I just look dispassionately at thinking? I'd like to. I wish I could talk about thinking in a deeply pompous monotone. I try. But I can't do it for very long. The more I attempt to objectively assess the role of thinking in human life, the more excited I get. My voice grows louder. The words tumble out faster. My face lights up. My gestures become animated. I just can't maintain a professional demeanor, a disinterested façade. This enthusiasm, I admit, is a little embarrassing. I'd much prefer to be cool about my subject, rather than red hot. But whenever I think about thinking I almost want to burst into song. Why does thinking delight me so much? Because I'm continually discovering that it is even more indispensable and spectacular than I've previously written about. Thinking always proves more magnificent than I previously thought. And thinking is, I venture to suggest, better than anybody thinks. I confess that I can't be neutral about thinking. I love it too much. I'm convinced that there is nothing that can't be enhanced by more and better thinking. Every good thing achieved by humanity is, at its root, due to fine thinking. I tend to regard thinking as the universal solvent, a remedy for all the woes of an individual, a community, and the world. It is impossible, according to me, to think too much or too well. Wherever you go, thinking leads the way. Nevertheless, not everybody appreciates thinking. I have heard people complain that thinking is impractical, unfeeling, complicated, boring, time-consuming, or even dangerous. Rather than rely on their own best efforts to think through a new or difficult situation, such people may choose to unthinkingly follow a gut feeling, obey a supreme authority, or just leap into action. Sadly, some have concluded that their failures and problems prove that life has become unmanageable by them. They wearily accept ten rules or a dozen steps to obey unquestioningly. And many people feel that thinking has no place in the relationships of the heart, or the life of the spirit, or the labors of the body. Thinking seemingly contributes to procrastination, indecision, or a lack of spontaneity. They fear becoming out of touch with their emotions and trapped in their head. Or they may find some matters just too horrible or upsetting to contemplate. "I don't want to think about that," they plead. And some dread that thinking will affect their image and popularity, leading to a reputation as bookish or nerdy. "I'm going to stay home and do some serious thinking" is not the most fashionable answer to the question, "What are you doing Saturday night?" In the marketplace of dazzling ways to spend one's spare time, thinking just can't compete with digital-quality audio, glowing full-color graphics, and fast-moving special effects. Drug highs and instantaneous sexual stimulation seem to many to be more rewarding than quietly re-thinking one's basic premises. At the other extreme, there are those who waste precious hours repeating prayers or performing rituals or deciphering scriptures-hours that instead could be productively used for thinking. And the information superhighway sometimes bypasses thinking. Networked computers, interactive video, and portable telephones entice people to communicate right now-before thinking. But communication is no better than the thoughts it conveys. Increased communication, in itself, will not be the answer to human problems, because communication without advance thinking is sterile. Furthermore, friendly computer operating systems can sometimes undermine methodical thinking. Powerful, fast, easy-to-use software may tempt one to jump into a complex project without any preliminary thought or planning. Even people who should know better act as though a computer can make up for fundamental gaps in their thinking. Their project then fragments into a bewildering chaos of false starts and changes of changes of changes-even more troublesome if the person operating the software is not the person making the design decisions. I would like to make a plea for a renaissance of solitary thinking. Thinking "un-plugged," a low-tech use of the individual human mind. Move away from the computer screen for a while, and sit down, or take a walk, or engage in a manual chore-and think. Have a pencil and a slip of paper nearby to do brief jottings if something comes to mind that you don't want to forget. But otherwise just think. What should you think about? How do you tell if there is a crucial point that you are ignoring? How do you recognize that your thinking has gone astray in an area you least suspect? By looking at events that don't turn out the way you expect, by listening to feedback from people who question your ideas, and by considering any fleeting twinges of shakiness and disquiet. Only you know what you need to think about. Are you dreading or avoiding something? Is it nagging you? Take that concern from the back of your mind to the front of your mind, and spend some time alone with it. Listen to your thoughts and sift through them: put your mental house in order. Such thinking has value in and of itself, regardless of the discoveries or solutions it may lead to. By thinking, without fanfare, quietly, independently, and alone, one becomes thoughtful. And thoughtfulness is the highest human virtue. Thoughtfulness can be defined as the intellectual quality of plentiful thinking, but this definition fails to convey the full spectrum of this word's rich meaning. The benefits of thoughtfulness are not confined to the intellect. Thoughtfulness links thinking to the heart and to all of life. This makes us subtle and strong, deep and fertile; it encompasses all that we are and are doing. Thoughtfulness opens, clears, and expands the mind; and at the same time it also surrounds, warms and softens the emotions. It makes us attentive and caring to people around us. It helps us understand them, and realize how important it is to serve them. Courtesy and consideration replace callousness. Love without thoughtfulness is clumsy and empty. Thoughtfulness is the mark of a civilized adult. A thoughtful person is a good observer, a good listener, as well as prone to reflection. And a reflective temperament maintains sanity and integrity. May you be thoughtful. Thoughtfulness clarifies. It is prudent and economical. It does not coerce or deceive. Thoughtfulness evaluates social customs and decides which ones to follow. Thoughtfulness leads noiselessly and unceremoniously to what really matters. Moreover, thoughtfulness tends to neutralize both vanity and despair. It tells us that we are not as smart as we once imagined- but neither are we as stupid as we once feared. We are capable of learning from our mistakes, which is the source of human hope. Its opposite, thoughtlessness, on the other hand, triggers unnecessary harm. A thoughtless person is hasty and doesn't notice important distinctions. Thoughtlessness demands the big and the shocking; it wants impact rather than discernment; it is in a hurry. Thoughtlessness can diminish people into reckless, ricocheting, demented ping-pong balls. Catastrophe results. Rampant thoughtlessness creates the only hell there is-hell on earth. How to counteract thoughtlessness? By devoting time to thinking: about all and everything; about the past, the present, and the future; about people, places, and circumstances; about childhood and seniority; about science and poetry; about kindness and cruelty; about self-reliance and interdependence; about the projects we are working on; about the effects of our habits and actions. The world needs thoughtful people. On a global scale, a flowering of thoughtfulness will bring about utopia. Call me naive, but I maintain that utopia, perfection on earth, is attainable. And my prescription for utopia is simple: a world-wide epidemic of thoughtfulness. Such a utopia of thoughtfulness cannot be organized and cannot be imposed from above. It cannot be a system. Rather it will spread unofficially, like an intelli-gent rumor, sprouting up everywhere at once like mushrooms or dandelions. If you were always thoughtful, wouldn't that prevent you from causing problems to yourself and others? And if everyone you encountered were a thoughtful human being, wouldn't you call that paradise? Storyteller, traveler and humorist, Gerald Angelo Cirrincione was toughened in the Bronx, mellowed in California and doesn't yet know the outcome of moving to Marinette, Wisconsin.
Table of Contents | 1995 Issues | Subscribe Credit card Orders call: 800-321-9054 or fax: (619)676-0433 Truth Seeker is published by Truth Seeker Co., Inc. (ISSN 0041-3712) © 1996 |