To respond specifically, if learning the correct way to learn makes it easier to learn, then there is still merit in this idea of thinking less.

Laziness and efficiency are sometimes mistaken.

I don't see how if learning the correct way makes it easier to learn, there is merit in thinking less.



There are always things to learn, and even after we learn something, we could still revise our thinking. Heck, we may even find out we were wrong all along. But what sort of efficiency are you speaking about? I'm still not certain we are even speaking about the same thing.

Helping someone learn to ride a bike is specific, but helping someone learn how to go about learning other things is less specific. So if it takes more effort the first time, then put that effort into teaching someone how to learn efficiently and they have less effort learning other things for the first time.

Alright, and what has this to do with thinking less? You mean that if we learn how to learn efficiently, we have to think less? Well maybe about that particular thing since we would have learned it faster, but we shouldn't think less in general. And it is also possible that that learning technique only applies to one category of things which can be learned. Perhaps, for instance, the same learning technique used to learn to ride a bike or swim, would not work for learning a foreign language or learning modal logic.

But you are right, we can all become more efficient learners. We must train smart, not just hard.

Alright, and what has this to do with thinking less? You mean that if we learn how to learn efficiently, we have to think less? Well maybe about that particular thing since we would have learned it faster, but we shouldn't think less in general. And it is also possible that a particular learning technique only applies to one category of things which can be learned. Perhaps, for instance, the same learning technique used to learn to ride a bike or swim, would not work for learning a foreign language or learning modal logic.

But you are right, we can all become more efficient learners. We must train smart, not just hard.

Some actions, like tying your shoes, are better is they become "automatic" and you don't have to think about them, so that you can think about more important things while (for example) you are tying your shoes. It would be a pain unless you could tie your shoes without thinking about it.

There is a mental state (and I don't recall the word for it) that some people can temporarily attain whereby there is a feeling that they don't have to think as they act.

Some people refer to this as a slowing-down effect. Example one, many people report a slowing-down effect just prior to a vehicle accident. They say that time seemed to slow down. Example two, if you are driving very fast and suddenly approach much slower moving traffic, you may experience the feeling that you can get out and walk. You may have the strange sensation that you can safely roll your window down and reach out and touch other cars because you're so in-tuned to the multitude of transpiring events. Example three, if you play Tetris at very high levels, you may reach what some call the zone where it seems like you really don't have to think as you just let your mind react as you play. Example four, experienced martial artists who have become very proficient in their field can sometimes jump into and out of this mental state, and it may help explain their lightening fast acuity. Some study their whole lives trying to get to that point.

What is going on at least in the first two examples is because of a sudden rush of adrenaline, the brain kicks into super high gear and begins processing information at incredible speeds--so fast that their very own perception of time changes. This is some very exotic and interesting stuff, but I have not really described cases where there is no thought; in fact, it's close to being the opposite. It's where people think (or at least perceive) very fast, and it's so fast that the person may actually believe they are acting without thinking.

Right, akin to Scotty's bicycle example.

I just wasn't sure what exactly the issue was since the OP spoke of perfection initially. I think he was getting at that if every thing that has the potential to be thought about was "automatic", like the tying of our shoes, we would be perfect. So, thinking was just a means to an end, and once we've reached that end with every thing, thinking was not needed, and if something was thought of (not automatic), that showed we did not grasp it entirely. And so the goal was to get to a point where every action or thought was "automatic". I am not exactly sure what that means, though.

Thinking can pollute, confuse and impede the innate you (me, us).

I think it's possible to think too much.

I suspect we have an innate, instinctive wisdom within our unconscious mind, which can be enormously beneficial and powerful. Many people are shut off from this IMHO.

The question I always have is where does this innate, instinctive wisdom come from in the first place?

Do you believe (or anyone reading this thread) that wisdom can come from nowhere?

And is wisdom the same thing as knowledge?

Wisdom come from effective experience. It differs much from knowledge, but in a way - A person with knowledge can be considered wise. On the contrary a wise person can have little knowledge but have enough experience to make wise decisions in life.

Have a look at this:

YouTube - Daniel Tammet - The Boy With The Incredible Brain [1/5]



Then read this:

Conversations on Creativity with Daniel Tammet - Part I, Embracing the Wide Sky | Psychology Today




How is that state of mind triggered? It's quite amazing to say the least.

---------- Post added 02-18-2010 at 10:07 PM ----------




Wisdom come from effective experience. It differs much from knowledge, but in a way - A person with knowledge can be considered wise. On the contrary a wise person can have little knowledge but have enough experience to make wise decisions in life.

people who smell something and literaly see a color).

Doesn't knowledge also come from effective experience?
What about ineffective experience?

I don't know how a wise person can have little knowledge.

Would you go to a guidance counselor who has little knowledge, but offers
wise advice?

Wise person not going to school? Yet lives life accordingly. That's more wisdom than knowledge. But could also become knowledgeable because of the latter.

Ineffective? In my opinion.. No.. But I don't know how other people absorb information without effectively interacting with it or its source.

Guidance counsellor would be assumed to have knowledge as that is what puts them in that position in the first place doesn't it?