Alan Jacobs thinks we have a thinking problem. I think he’s right. Not that we cannot think, but as a society, we would rather not and actively avoid it. Thinking requires too much of us. Thinking will change us and often will cause us trouble. If you want to slow down and really think and are concerned with discovering truth, this book is for you.
How to Think is an important book for our times. The world of social media has made thinking much more difficult. We create echo chambers of online communities that agree with us. It is so easy to categorize anyone who disagrees with us as the enemy, dismiss them, block them, and banish them from your feeds. But learning to think involves a “skepticism about our own motives and generosity toward the motives of others." You have to care about the truth more than your social position. Changing your mind does have social consequences.
Thinking is also more than coldly calculating all possible options like a super computer. We are human beings, not machines. Clear and good thinking requires the rational, logic, but there is the emotional aspect involved as well. There always has been, a social aspect to our thinking. No one comes to any conclusion as “an independent thinker”. Whether through face to face discussion, books, or teachers, we don’t come to ideas on our own. All of these factors come to play, and they can either be used for good thinking or to shut it down. All logic and no compassion, or all emotion and no social element or empathy for those you disagree with will shut down thinking. The search for truth requires the courage to admit you are wrong, or to say your friends and family are wrong.
I didn't agree with all his conclusions, but I am still thinking them over.
Thank to Netgallery.com for the review copy.
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