Question6.com: The gist of our life
We cannot solve our problems
With the same thinking we used
When we created them.
Albert Einstein
22 - Another way to think
You have been told that human thinking is the best thing ever created and we will dominate the universe with our thinking. You can use this idea if you badly need an ego massage and are getting desperate.
Let’s be honest. We have problems with flipping coins. The nature around us is more than we can handle. The molds tell us that there are other ways to solve problems than human thinking. The hypnotist would soon take you out of your pedestal and convince you that you are on a bicycle in the middle of the ocean.
Fortunately, there is something special about human thinking. It is that we can think about our thinking.
We created science. We made computers. We have reasons to hope. What we have done so far is study the nature around us. We become conscious of the world through the information we get through our senses. This is a domain where we can experiment and take measurements. Mother Nature was always on our side to show us our mistakes. Underestimate gravity, and you will get an instant reminder. We learned to think from our senses and the nature around us. That was a good place to start.
But there is a limit.
Our science itself discovered it. The material world around us represents only 5% of reality. It is only the tip of the iceberg. We have to investigate the 95% hidden behind it. What a disappointment! We can keep working on science, but we are turning in our cages. In other words, so far, we followed our senses and looked outside. We have now to make a U-turn and look inside.
You use a glass mirror to see your face.
You use works of art to see your soul.
Bernard Shaw
Look at yourself in the mirror. What you see is a body. What is important is the soul hidden behind it. The time has come to concentrate our thinking on the immaterial soul. That will not be easy. After learning to swim, we must venture to the deep end and explore the remaining 95%.
Keep in mind that human evolution is accelerating. Before the end of this century, we may only have to think of a glass of water, and a robot will bring us water. We may transfer ideas directly from one brain to another without having to pump air and make sounds with our mouths. What is impossible today may soon be standard practice. Not long ago, the idea of going to the moon was ridiculous.
We are in the position of our ancestors when they discovered agriculture. They first watched some seeds fall to the ground and grow more seeds.
There is a possible solution to our problem:
We know we can go to bed with a problem and wake up with a solution. We can wake up with new ideas. This is not much, but it could be a place to start if we find a way to amplify it.
Who looks outside, dreams
Who looks inside, awakes
Carl Jung
The first difficulty comes from a lack of memory. We forget those new ideas as quickly as we forget our dreams. Don’t wait until after breakfast. Get up right away and make a note of those ideas that originate from your sleep. A little dose of sadomasochism would help. To get up also associates some energy with your idea. It might help.
What you get, at first, from your sleep looks like a piece of a puzzle. It does not fit anywhere. You don’t see how to use it. As you get more pieces of the puzzle, a few will fit together. Each one will bring you closer to the general view of the puzzle.
Practice makes everything easier. More ideas will come more often. What started as a small drip will become a continuous flow. It is like getting something in your mailbox. You must empty this mailbox daily, or the flow will stop. With practice, new ideas will come during the day. The wall that exists between night and day will become less opaque.
That leads to the idea that, at night, the souls are free from their strait jackets. They have access to the 95% reality that we are missing. At night, everybody is a genius. The human brain works 24/7, like our heart and our breathing. It is even possible that most of our thinking happens at night. We can improve the communication between night and day. This is what happened to people who became geniuses after an accident. This is the way some people were born. This is what we should investigate.
By turning our thinking inside, we will find the gist of our life.