Thinking is like a game, it does not begin unless there is an opposite team

 

One may wonder what separates humans from animals? The answer is straightforward, yet a complexly simple one – thinking. It is complex that the process expects the neurons in our brain firing. Yet so simple, that we can do it with ease.

Thinking is a voluntary cognitive action of generating thoughts in an attempt to reason something or some happenings. If it was just limited to generating thoughts, then it might have been called as dreaming. But because it involves voluntary efforts to reason, it is called as thinking.

While humans are capable of thinking, does that mean the thinking begin in itself? Or does it require some motivation, like an opposite team, to trigger its beginning? If so, what if there is no team in opposite? Then how one thinks in such cases? Let us start our journey into the exploration of many such thought-provoking questions for getting a deeper understanding.

One cannot understand the game of thinking without knowing why to play this game in the first place. It is a commonly known fact that the sixth sense is the one that helps the humans think. This sixth sense is given to us so that we can all behave sensibly, at least try to do so. When one is in a traffic, s/he refrains from jumping a signal while the red lights are still on. This basic sense of why to stop in the red light will help to save a life of a pedestrian crossing the road.

Other than for a sensible behaviour, thinking is also important to bring progress in various domains. An artist cannot survive if s/he is not creative enough to please the audience. Also, a scientist cannot bring new technological developments into existence in society if s/he is devoid of reasoning. Similarly, a reformer cannot bring social change if s/he cannot find ways to spark a mental revolution. In all these cases, thinking becomes non-negotiable.

Now that we understood the importance of the game of thinking, that brings us to the next question. Does this game begin by itself? Certainly not. In my poetic words, “reasoning needs a reason to begin”.

A reason to begin

We tend to refer the reason that compels this beginning as an opposite team. Without competition, a system will not be motivated to improvise. Without the need to improvise, there is no reason to begin reasoning, i.e., thinking. Let us consider an entrepreneur is running a business. When will this entrepreneur introduce new and efficient ways of running a business? Only when the competition is outperforming her/him.

Similarly, in a football match, the players will have the motivation to improve their game strategy only if the opposite team is stronger than them. Thus, the competition helps induce thinking.

But many of us do think in many occasions without an opposite team. Then what makes us think?

Game beyond competition

Many a times, it is not an opposite team but a cause beyond self that stands tall in our mind that ignites the drive to think. Rajaram Mohan Roy was one such person, who begun to think not because of any competitors, but to bring a social change. This social cause drove him to contribute to the Intellectual Renaissance (liberation) in India. His thinking helped awaken rationality, thus breaking many superstitious and evil practices like sati, child marriage, female infanticides and so on.

Besides the socio-cultural reform, even the scientific advancements require a cause to ignite thinking. As pointed out precisely by an old saying – “Necessity is the mother of all inventions”. One beautiful example that illustrates this saying is when Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam contributed to the development of light weight prosthetic leg for polio-stricken children. Thanks to his emotional intelligence that helped him think of an alternative for the heavy 3 kg prosthetic leg, in a 300 g composite material used in missile tech.

While in the game of thinking, Nobel causes help bore fruit to the society. One must also be wary of the risk of losing their mind due to extreme causes or toxic competitions.

Risk of losing the mind

We all are aware that mind is the one doing the thinking. What if the cause is narrow and negative? The answer again is very straightforward – Chaos.

We all remember this dark event in the Indian history, the Direct Action Day. This was the result of a man whose narrow communal interest started to dominate broader national interest. We all know him as Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who led to such a bloodshed for India-Pakistan partition. When one plays the game of thinking initiated with a wrong cause, the consequence is always catastrophic.

Not only confined to history, even in the present times, many driven by wrong cause consider their opposite team as an obstacle to be eliminated rather than an opportunity to improve. For example, athletes opt for doping rather than thinking for a better strategy to win in combat sports. In doing so, they not only affect their health in long-term but also become dangerous to their opponent due to the disproportionate physical advantage it provides to the user. This further degrades the reputation of the sport causing a larger harm to legitimacy of the sport. So, it is necessary to think but without losing one's mind to the extreme cause driven by negativity. That brings us to our final question, how to think without losing our mind?

Let the conscience guide

In the game of thinking, the rules are always clear, to play fair and just. To do that, our actions need to be guided by our conscience which is enriched by ethics from childhood. In this context, the part of parenting becomes paramount. Parents should not only aim to raise an intellectual child, but also a child who can think within ethical boundaries. Adding to that, the importance of moral education is never felt more relevant than in this globalized-modern world. It can help in enriching the conscience with morality, inspiring them to play for a cause beyond self-interest in this competitive society.

Further, it is important to develop the culture of healthy competition rather than rivalry among the children. Even in the school exams, we can see how some parents expect their child to top the class at whatever cost rather than ethically. These unfair expectations not only push them into malpractices, but also lead to mental health crisis on failing the exam. While the expectations should shift from winning-at-all-cost to ethically learning, it is also necessary to foster mental resilience to make the child endure the highs of success and the lows of failure with equanimity. In this game of thinking, this will help them not only to play within their ethical boundaries, but also keep them unshaken mentally while doing so.

Thus, thinking is a process beyond dreaming that involves reasoning. Thinking is what has brought in necessary societal changes for the evolution of the world. It needs an opposite team or a cause to begin. But one must also be wary of the risk of losing their mind if played for wrong cause, which may lead to devastating consequences. So, to train our mind to play within the ethical boundaries set by our conscience is crucial. This also requires the parents and our education system to nurture and raise ethical thinkers in the children in a healthily competitive environment. Such a child will always play the game of thinking not for the self but for global rejoice – “Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu”!

Join the game of thinking, let my views be the opposite team. Share your views below in the comment section.