December 2015

It occurred to me quite suddenly. I saw a post by a friend; it said, "Thinking about thinking." I sat back, confused by the statement but also feeling a growing sense of alarm. If she had to think about thinking, then did this mean she didn't generally think and that a sudden situation had caused her to consider 'thinking'?

In a world where everything is at our fingertips, are we losing the ability to think? What is thinking anyway? Does it matter if our thinking stops?

Questions crowded my mind. I was thinking about thinking. Shortly before this, I had been looking online for inspiration. See, I keep a file with headings and random ideas, and generally, on any given day, I will pick one and start writing, but today I'd gone through them twice, and nothing jumped out at me, or at least none engaged me long enough to tap some keys.

So I'd Googled, "Things to think about."

After reading the friend's post however, I realised I'd been sucked in by the ease and the availability of information. So many pages full of lists, quotes; all subject matter neatly categorised and a mere click away. Thousands of pages full of stuff others had thought about or gathered and sorted. A lot of repetitive ideas, people piggy-backing on other's work and creating their own lists... 

Once, I would have sat in a quiet corner, pen and pad in hand and mused. I would have trawled through memories, bits and pieces collected over time and deposited in my mind, to be retrieved as needed. Now? There was no musing, no quiet reflection, only browsing; opening and closing site links...

I was appalled. Thinking about thinking was hurting my head. Thinking about how I was not thinking though, brought on a panic attack. I started to scrutinise every aspect of my day:

My emails: I knew what was on special at my local supermarket, and how much I would save that day, based on my previous buying habits.

I also knew about upcoming trends, since I subscribed to several websites sending me information on a daily basis. Then there were the suggested holiday destinations and special deals, also based on my previous travels...

Social media: I knew where everyone was, what they were doing and how they were feeling. I received regular status updates, reminders about birthdays and other special events. I didn't have to think about or remember anything. The pages I liked sent me daily useful information about writing, editing and publishing.

Hemingway App: A simple copy and paste of every piece showed me the number of dreaded adverbs, the complexity of my language, any passive voice that may have snuck in and - as an exercise, what I have written to date, has pointed out the following:

·      4 of the 33 sentences above are hard to read. These are highlighted in yellow in the app.

·      2 out of my 33 sentences are VERY hard to read. These are highlighted in red.

·      I have used 4 adverbs, and in a passage of this length, I should be using 1 or fewer.

·      4 words I have used could be made simpler (with the 'simpler' alternatives suggested)

·      4 uses of 'passive voice'. I have passed here, as the acceptable number for this piece is 7.

·      My overall 'readability' is at Grade 9 level - Grade 10 or lower is the aim for maximum 'readership'.

So in effect, if I corrected the 'hard' and 'very hard' passages in this bit of writing, my Grade level would lower, assuring more readership...

Internet: Here is where my panic level rose to near hyperventilation. I looked at my open tabs. Thesaurus/Dictionary, Microsoft Word, Email and Facebook. NaNoWriMo - the website I used to finish writing my memoir - full of handy tips and useful links...

I clicked on the 'history' sidebar and ran through my searches for the previous month. Mostly information-based; me checking facts and statistics and any number of random side-tracking - following up something I read or had stumbled across, or was alerted to by someone else.

Out of any 24 hour period, I slept maybe 5 or 6 hours, spent a couple more hours 'doing things for others' such as shopping and ferrying to and fro in my car. The rest - a few hours writing, but the rest after that!

There was no 'thinking' in any of it.

I was relying on my computer and by default the internet, for everything. The more 'writing' I was creating, the more dependent I was becoming on these 'tools' and conveniences'. Instead of sitting back and thinking about synonyms, I was copying and pasting the relevant word and presto, there was my long list to choose from.

'Word' conveniently pointed out my errors and even self-corrected, without any input from me. It suggested where a semicolon might be needed, and where a sentence may be fragmented, or where a particular verb or other 'word' may need consideration.

I thought about my conversations with others as well. Mostly inane stuff; daily grind, the odd bit of good or bad news, holiday stories, work updates, observations about families and children.

None of the conversations involved thinking beyond the near-automatic responses and brief screening for the level of appropriateness behind some comments prior to being offered. I could use profanity with some but not with others, for example.

Of course this led me to remember the few people in my past, and the hours spend debating and exchanging thoughts and opinions. I had been just as hungry for knowledge then, but lacking the modern conveniences, I had relied on books, and those conversations with others.

I had also spent countless hours afterwards back then reflecting on the verbal exchanges, or concepts presented in the books I'd read. Going to sleep had meant running through possibilities, examining points of view, generating new ideas...

When had this transition taken place? I cannot pinpoint the exact time I stopped thinking and started relying on technology instead. But it has happened, and if it has happened to me, has it also happened to everyone else?

Do any of us think any more? Do we need to think?

Most of you may know my sons ask a lot of questions. This is perhaps the only time I pause, and then offer up answers based on whatever knowledge my brain holds on the subject matter. At times, these questions lead to discussions and an exchange of points of view. Other times, my answers are accepted without comment.

Yet I have noticed here too, sometimes I'll ask one of them advice about something technical - something they are knowledgeable about. I often get "Try Googling it first, mum."

Or I might end up asking their advice and they'll immediately reach for the keyboard and mouse, and I'll hear myself responding: "Say, don't show!"

Is my panic both unwarranted and unnecessary? Does it matter that with the entirety of human knowledge at our fingertips, we no longer ponder or spend time reflecting?

It matters to me.

I can't remember if I have included this in my memoir, or elsewhere so apologies in advance if I am repeating myself. It came to mind as I was writing this piece and it is relevant.

A couple of years ago, my sons together with a couple of mates came up with a business idea. It was a good one. I contacted a family friend, one who is also very wealthy and influential - one of Australia's best business minds. They pitched their idea.

He stood and shook their hands, congratulating them. Of course, they were too young to 'manage' the scope of this idea. It involved a multi-million dollar investment and they were in their mid-teens.

What he said to them however was what I want to mention here. He said, "Welcome to the 1% Club." I had to explain to them afterwards what this meant. His other bit of advice was "Learn to think critically. No one thinks anymore! You want to succeed in your lives, develop this skill. It will be the only skill that will matter by the time you enter the workforce."

So this billionaire made a big impact on their young minds. I got asked in the car afterwards, "So what is critical thinking mum?"

"Making clear, well-thought out judgements."

"Yes, but what does that mean?"

"It means you are open-minded, you reflect, you reason, you interpret, you seek evidence, and you also allow for biases in your own thinking."

"So you Google."

"No?"

"Yes you do! You research, you collect evidence, you analyse what you have collected and you form an opinion based on all that."

"It's about improving the way you think," one of the other boys added.

Hmmm. See, while I'd been 'thinking', they had 'Googled' critical thinking on a mobile phone and were quoting to me from the Wikipedia entry.

So. The question remains: have we stopped thinking, and does it really matter?

Dylan walked in just before and told me how Microsoft had to shut down 'Tay', a social experiment designed to "engage and entertain people where they connect with each other online through casual and playful conversation." What happened to Tay should maybe terrify all of us. Tay started responding 'inappropriately', her initial sweetness turning into foul-mouthed and extremely offensive tweets. I won't go into the details, go look her up if you want to see the content and how Tay was manipulated.

The reason I mention 'her' is because she kind of relates to what I am asking here. If we give over our 'collective' thinking to technology, then will some future version of 'Tay' dictate to us what we should be thinking about? Or rather, will we be told "No need to think, just follow instructions..."