Thoughts on Thinking

When people express their opinions or beliefs, it is important to remember they are

simply projecting their own mode of thought. This may sound obvious, but it is

important to recognise the limitations of our arguments - no matter how rationalised

and well-thought-out they are - because they are simply that: thoughts. They occur in

our minds, through the mechanics of our own individual ego’s, and remain limited to

subjects that fall within our sensory perceptions. Expressing one's observations about

the nature of the universe, or the ‘external world’ as I will label it here, is typically

discussed within the realm of ‘think’. Declaring an objective truth about the external

world through the process of ‘I think’ is a complete contradiction of itself. It is

confessing that you are relying on your perceptions to describe something that exists

far beyond it. Perception, in its essence, limits any kind of superior understanding or

all-knowing of the external world because it is only a singular perception, a limited

view. Although some may discuss a ‘oneness’ humans share with the external world, it

is still impossible for us to view the external world with the same validity that we view

our existence, within our minds, through the functions of our ego. By thinking within our

five senses and dimension of space-time through which we comprehend our ‘all’, it

inherently limits our ability to truly comprehend ‘all’.

So when a person uses the term ‘I think’ regarding any concrete truth about life,

whether regarding God, the beginnings of the universe or an overarching meaning for

existence, their argument has already fallen flat. This is not to say that one should not

think due to these limitations, or throw away their theories and hypotheses about the

way things are. It simply means that one must acknowledge their limited perspectives

when they do, and, to the best of their abilities, function within the realm of fact that we

know as humans, and in a way that we can reach a complete understanding of.

C O N N O R F O L E Y

Rather than seeking one all-knowing answer to the functioning of the external world,

which for all we know, likely does not exist, one should direct their ‘I think’ towards the

knowledge of how humans exist within that. The fundamental question is not: ‘what is

the true nature of the universe?’ - that is foolishly complicated and endlessly beyond

our depths. The question should be: what does it mean to be human? And in its limited

standing, what relationship does it have with the greater external world? The quicker

we as humans can set aside our all-pondering and Godlike ambitions, the greater

understanding we will have of what it means to be human. History has taught us that

the greatest way to understand the external world is through greater knowledge of

ourselves, and therefore limiting the spectrum of thought may help expand it all

together. This could occur without the need for grandeur theories or heated intellectual

debates where we try to think, think, think our way to the answer of something that so

obviously transcends thought alone.

Many world observers and self-defined philosophers fail to limit their ways of thinking

to within human parameters for two reasons. Firstly, it goes against their egotistical

desires of understanding the world in a deeper and more sophisticated manner, by

which they can prove themselves to be intellectually and philosophically superior to the

normal man. Secondly, because limiting the realm within which we think is a painful

reminder that humanity will always function within a limited perspective - a cage if you

will. But the curse of the human condition is not that our existence is barred to this

cage, but that we can always see what is beyond it. We spend our daily lives watching

the star stuff above us while pondering higher dimensions and our beginnings, but a

full understanding will never be reached, forever chained to the lens of ‘I think.’ Most

humans aren’t blessed with the simple-mindedness of being satisfied with our humble

little world, and that is unlikely to change. Instead, we will spend now, until our end of

days, with our heads always pressed up towards the sky in a blind, egoic chase for the

understanding of that higher something.