Philosophical Question #6: How should we think?

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Question number 6:

What is the proper way to think?

Positive vibes 🙂
Forget everything else when you feel like things are finally looking up right away.

I don't have an answer to that question. I only know that one should always remain thoughtful.
How😕🤷

🙂🙂🙂

I honestly believe this is the most profound way to approach any subject:

Fulcanelli's "Thinking with a Hammer"

In "Thinking with a Hammer," the object of our contemplation is approached from every conceivable angle imaginable. The hammer itself serves as a metaphor for striking against our own deeply held convictions and those stubborn prejudices we all carry; it’s about creating a necessary kind of internal friction by maintaining a relentlessly critical stance toward the very act of thinking. It is a concept centered on stripping away that messy emotional component—because isn't it just our nature to tether our emotions to our ideas and stances? We do it constantly, don't we? And in doing so, we create this massive distortion of the "truth," warping both our perception and our subsequent behavior. These emotions tend to flare up almost reflexively the moment our perceived version of reality begins to crack or crumble, and we find ourselves desperately trying to patch those cracks just to preserve our precious illusions.

how should you even approach this?

i guess you gotta have your head in the clouds, but keep your feet planted firmly on the ground☕

Benjamin Moore6 said:This thread will remain open for entries until Tuesday at 9:00 PM (April 22nd).
Each participant is permitted to submit just one single response.
Your entry should not exceed the length of a standard post.
The winner will be selected by the individual who posed the question, and that winner will then be responsible for setting the next challenge.
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During the designated entry period, please refrain from commenting on other people's submissions.
Once the contest concludes, the thread will be opened up for general discussion.
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Self-voting is strictly prohibited.

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Question number 6:

What is the proper way to think?

Let’s be objective here.

The thing is, an opinion shouldn't lean into mindless euphoria—you know, those people who hunt for positivity just for the sake of feeling good—nor should it descend into pure pessimism where you find a flaw in everything.
True thought requires shedding all biases. It demands actual effort; you can't just lounge around being mentally lazy and then try to mask that inertia by claiming some sort of supposed "superior intuition." That's just an excuse for lack of discipline.
Furthermore, thought should never be shackled by the mundane constraints of daily life or mere pragmatism. Even when we are dealing with the most practical, everyday matters, our reasoning needs to reach beyond the borders of our immediate reality.

I was thinking about this the other day while walking through Central Park, and it struck me: when we consider the feet we stand on, we have to weigh them against the concept of wings. If we don't make that comparison, we lose the ability to tell whether we are truly standing firm or if we are actually taking flight. Without that perspective, we won't even know if what we're using are indeed feet at all.

Benjamin Moore6 said:This thread will remain open for entries until Tuesday at 9:00 PM (April 22nd).
Each participant is permitted to submit just one single response.
Your entry should not exceed the length of a standard post.
The winner will be selected by the individual who posed the question, and that winner will then be responsible for setting the next challenge.
Please note that the person who asks the question is also required to provide their own answer.
However, the host cannot vote for themselves to win.
During the designated entry period, please refrain from commenting on other people's submissions.
Once the contest concludes, the thread will be opened up for general discussion.
Following the close of entries, we will hold a public vote to determine an additional "The New York Times" winner.
This voting process will run for exactly one week from the date the thread was launched.
Self-voting is strictly prohibited.

Both winners will receive permanent recognition in our Hall of Fame topic in Hollywood.

Question number 6:

What is the proper way to think?

Slowly... and with some actual control. Your tongue shouldn't be running faster than your brain...

A rather unsettling question 😈

What is the proper way...?
Well, let us dispense with any sense of imperative.
Without dogma.
There is no such thing as an objectively "best" method; if one were to exist, it would simply stifle the individual.
One should live in alignment with oneself—with one's own ideals—while remaining open to influence.

(After all, opinion is something that defies control; it breaches every barrier and moves faster than the person holding it.)

Is it actually possible to achieve a state of absolute mental silence? If the answer is "no," then the question itself kind of falls apart. I mean, think about it—if you truly had total control over your cognitive processes, you’d be able to just switch everything off whenever you wanted. But if you can't pull that off, then you aren't really the one "thinking"; you're just acting like a filter, tossing out the thoughts you don't like and clinging to the ones you do. In that scenario, what we call "thinking" is really just us rearranging and shuffling through a pre-selected pile of ideas. Maybe that’s where the real truth lies... maybe thinking is just a glitch in our biological programming, triggered by our subconscious resistance to whatever this perceived "reality" happens to be. Perhaps pure, untainted perception—completely untouched by thought—is actually the only true form of "opinion" there is.

ps: I realize my response is more of a new riddle than an actual answer, so I won't be submitting it for any prizes... just a heads-up!

I think there are two big things at play here (I’ll call them dialectical and phenomenological, just for the sake of argument).

The first part is basically practicing opposites. Once I’ve sat with my own opinion on something, I try to start from the assumption that everything is actually the exact opposite of what I think—just to see if that counter-argument actually holds water.
Most of the time, it does. 😁
(Actually, 😉 Borges used to be super clever and had a blast with this kind of thing—looking at stuff from the weirdest possible angles in his stories.
)

But man, that can lead you straight into total relativism. And total relativism usually just turns into this lazy sophistry where people decide "well, it's whatever I want it to be."

Think about it: it gives you this sense of freedom in your thinking, being unattached to your own biases (which feels great), but at the same time, it makes you unattached to the truth (which leads to that empty "anything goes" mindset).

The second part—the thing that should act as an anchor to steady all that wild, "could-be-anything" relativistic freedom—is basically hitting the pause button on your thoughts. It’s about observing without overthinking and just acknowledging reality for what it is. What is, is. There’s no "choice" involved; it just is how it is. 🙂 Truth binds us together, so yeah, truth provides that connection.

You need both of these moments to actually move forward. It’s like walking: you’ve gotta have one foot planted firmly on the ground while the other one stays free to take that next step.

🤷

At the risk of sounding like some cheesy self-help manual🙂, here it is:

First off, I guess you’ve gotta learn how to stop thinking in such a straight line. You should just let all the good stuff flow into your life without overanalyzing everything to death.
A "real person" isn't afraid to get their hands dirty, because they know that if you want something that actually belongs to you, you've gotta put in the work and make some sacrifices.
A "real person" doesn't discriminate, insult, or look down on anyone. They accept themselves for who they are, so they don't feel the need to project all their weird little complexes onto everyone else. Someone like that actually finds joy in listening to what others have to say—it’s not just about being heard, it’s about actually trying to understand people. They aren't weighed down by societal norms, or suffocating under the pressure of endless PTA meetings, grocery runs, or unpaid bills, yet they still try to keep that spark alive.
A "real person" allows themselves to soak up nature, music, great food, books, philosophy, friendship, and love, even while knowing there’s probably a million things on the to-do list waiting for them tomorrow.

Man, I am so far from being that ideal...🤣

How should we actually think?

Maybe the best approach is to steer clear of that whole idea of thinking "correctly," as if there were some arbitrary standard or checklist one could follow to satisfy a question like, "how should I be thinking?"
I mean, how should you love?
How should you listen to music?
Or how should you dream?
Those kinds of questions just don't make much sense when you really sit with them. But if we’re talking about a specific method—a disciplined way of processing things where the goal is to strip away the noise and get closer to the actual essence of what we're observing—then yes, I suppose there is a pursuit there. In that case, you really ought to strive to refine and polish your thoughts through constant mental effort, almost like you're trying to carve out a perfectly clear crystal of pure understanding.

Nah, I don't need any orders. No imperatives here... Someone’s gonna tell me, "Hey, just stop thinking then," but if I do that, I lose my whole damn self. Without the thinking, I basically vanish. In those little gaps between thoughts? There's nothing there. I think, therefore I am... that's just how it works.

So, look—if you're thinking, you exist. If you aren't thinking, then there isn't even anyone around to realize they aren't thinking! That's why thoughts are everything... without them, there is absolutely nothing.

If you're gonna think, then think for real. Think exactly how you think, because if you tried to think any other way, you wouldn't really be you, would you?

visualizing

We should think in a way that aligns with how we actually live our lives. At least when we're casting a vote.
Whether it’s through gathering facts or being creative, everything stays within certain boundaries. If you step outside those bounds, you end up hurting yourself. It might seem counterintuitive, but if we realize that thinking can actually expand those boundaries, then it's obvious: we need to learn as we go. By gaining knowledge, we build wider frameworks that allow us to thrive more easily.

People ought to just think whatever they can, really, provided they make an honest effort to keep their outlook positive...

Innovative and revolutionary. Heroically bold. We must remember our pursuit of the truth, and truth is inherently beautiful. The principle of "fleeing" from toxic thoughts should serve as the very foundation of one's mindset; after all, you can't step into a world of beauty while wearing mud-caked boots.

Use your own damn brain!

When people who clearly haven't spent a single second contemplating actual philosophy try to lecture us, it’s nothing more than a total farce, turning every debate into a hollow display of sheer pretension...

"To think, or not to think"—is that really even a question?!😂