The new pandemic: forsaking the act of thinking
The growing tendency to outsource our thinking takes away the joy and excitement of life.

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During the summer, I read books that were gathering dust on my bookshelf. Amongst them were 1984 by George Orwell and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

Immediately after finishing these books, I found myself trying to comprehend the messages they were supposed to convey. I paused after noticing that I wasn’t sure. A hint of frustration lingered as I craved a quick answer. 

But the struggle was worth it—two weeks later, I gathered my thoughts on a Google Doc. It was by no means an enlightening reflection, but the process of spending time and effort to understand an idea was insightful and refreshing. It was like I finished a mental workout. 

This experience taught me more about my thought process, what shaped my thoughts, the principles I stand for and what I needed to learn more about. I hear you think, “Duh, that’s like the average experience of reflecting on literally… anything.” But that’s the point! It was a very mundane process of thinking through something, but it was shocking how unnatural this process was to me. 

This wasn’t an individual experience. I noticed my friends and family also shared an urge to be told an immediate answer when they consume any media that requires its audience to work for their own insights. That includes movies, songs, podcasts, or paintings. This observation raised some alarms in my head: is society forsaking the act of thinking? 

Are you forsaking thoughts? 

Many things we value, from art that we resonate with to the invention of various technologies, are all products of deliberate thinking. Moreover, elements that make life meaningful, like friendships and growth, are facilitated by meaningful conversations and personal reflection—which require deliberate thinking. 

When we stop thinking deeply about an idea or creating new ones, life ceases to be enjoyable. Thinking doesn’t just make room for knowledge and creativity—it is a crucial process to elicit joy and meaning out of everything we do and produce. 

For example, if you were greatly interested in a television show, you’d probably spend hours watching it, whether or not you know how it ends. Why? Because seeing the story unfold and experiencing the characters’ journeys brings you enjoyment, or even inspires you. And without actually watching the show, your engagement, fondness, and understanding of the show would be much less. 

Thinking more can make your life more exciting

I would argue that thinking has a similar function to watching a show. Society’s increasing reliance on being fed short, immediate answers dulls our lives by diminishing our wonder and curiosity. It decreases opportunities to engage in different experiences, whether that is reading a book, having a new idea pop up while daydreaming, or talking to someone about your subject of interest. 

But the modern problem isn’t that technology provides easy access to information; it is how the use of it has made many people stop being open to letting their unique observations, interactions, and reflection shape an idea. 

You might ask, “If I could have an answer within seconds, why should I spend extra time reading a book, thinking about a subject matter or discussing it with someone?” 

True, searching for an answer is much more efficient in the short term. But how much context and nuance can Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots or one-minute TikTok videos provide? Say you’re talking to an AI chatbot for an hour, and it provides a lot of information (note that it does not guarantee truthfulness). Its instantaneous nature still takes away the time and space for us to think. 

If you still aren’t convinced, the effort to think also enhances our memory of a subject matter and our ability to connect it to other information. The logic is straightforward: the more effort you put in, the more likely you’ll be able to understand a comprehensive picture of a subject, and the more you’ll be able to recognize its details and connect it with other related ideas and knowledge. This in turn affects our ability to understand and appreciate the intricate relations of the world. 

Easy ways to incorporate “thought snacks” 

Now, I’m not asking you to stare at a tree for an hour and think, we all have busy lives, I get it. But instead of listening to music on your entire drive, perhaps sit in silence for 15 minutes. 

And when you’re looking for information, challenge yourself to hypothesize an answer before turning to Google to answer a question. Or, challenge yourself to Google questions, skip the AI summary and read human-written articles before turning to a chatbot. The deep dive you go on can result in a lot more than just the answer you are looking for.

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