Is Thinking Necessary to Survive?

 

 

Is Thinking Necessary to Survive?

If yes, then, why is thinking used for Death & Destruction?

By default, we should have been dead the moment we were born! But then, why are we still alive? Something must have been keeping us away from the certain end of life.

That something is our thinking!

Survival happens through protecting oneself from a threat or preying on food available within the environment. Our thinking decides what is threatening to us, and at the same time, our thinking decides what is edible to us. Our perceptions and emotions are molded by our thought processes.

Some animals use emotions like fear and anger excellently well, whereas others are excellent in perception and see the world differently. As humans, we have an exceptional mechanism of thinking to guide our survival.

Variation is the name of the game

Thinking changes everything that is the same

Levels of Thinking

Humans are called ‘thinking animals’ because of their ability to carry on with complicated thinking. Our actions are regulated by these internal functions so that we can live successfully.

Over generations and civilizations, we have moved away from the question of bodily survival. Our thinking has resulted in the protection from threats and the vagaries of climate. We have ensured the availability of food, water, and clothing. We can build houses, roads, dams, bridges, etc. so that physical survival is not in question. Let us call this “Defensive Thinking”.

The majority of us do not go out of the way either to hoard what we consume or to destroy the threats. They don’t snatch someone’s food to eat. They may work hard to get it, wait for it to be given to them, or resign to the fact that they have to make do with what is available to them. Let us call this “Neutral Thinking”.

To make sure others don’t threaten us by snatching what belongs to us, we start attacking those threats. Whether those threats are real or apparent, we are not sure, and we don’t want to be sure. Our thinking tells us that our survival depends upon someone else’s annihilation, and we start taking measures to make sure the threat is eliminated. Let us call this “Offensive Thinking”.

Every job we do and every tool we use requires thinking. Each interaction and relationship demands clarity in our thinking. So, presently, thinking is necessary for psychological and social survival, too, along with physical survival.

What happens when humans live together?

Unlike animals, we don’t fight only when we are threatened, we fight all the time.

Unlike animals, we don’t collect food only when we are hungry, we hoard more than we can eat.

As we move from physical survival to psychological survival and social survival, our thinking changes from defensive to neutral, and then to the offensive. Consequently, we act according to the threat perception.

Physical survival initiates "Defensive thinking" that results in a "Reaction"

When you are hungry or thirsty, you go in search of food or water. If you are hungry for a long period, most of your thoughts are centered on food and water.

The same thing holds good when you are denied sleep. Your thoughts get clouded and only sleep can bring you back to normalcy.

The need to defecate is as important as these. You can control your bowel and bladder only for a limited time. Once the urge is strong, all your thoughts get concentrated around defecation.

All other physical needs have a similar force that initiates defensive thinking that leads to a reaction, which helps in fulfilling the need.

Survival is threatened not only by lack of food, water, sleep, etc. but also by the threat to life one has to face. The loss of life may happen due to an attack, an accident, or a natural disaster. Thus, our thoughts are centered on how to protect us from such a mishap.

 You must have seen plenty of videos and pictures where all kinds of animals are present near a watering hole. Animals don’t hunt until and unless they are starving or threatened.

Psychological survival initiates "Neutral thinking" that results in "stress"

Unlike us, animals don’t hoard their food, and they don’t think about the next meal. Once they are satisfied with whatever they have eaten, they wait until the hunger sets in once again.

As humans, our needs transfer into a necessity where we can think of not only the next day but also a lifetime. The fact that most of us get into employment and business is to ensure that we can take care of our physical needs permanently.

Unlike animals, our sexual need is not regulated by hormones alone and is not seasonal. Our psychological necessity makes us think of a mate for life.

This is where stress becomes part of our lives. Stress is induced because of work, non-work, etc., but things don’t go according to our wishes. Our hopes, desires, plans, goals, fulfillment, etc., are thwarted either because of our shortcomings or because of someone else hindering us.

As we are unsure of the outcomes and thereby our psychological survival, stress becomes part and parcel of our lives. Arguments and quarrels become common and regular.

We use our intelligence to compare ourselves with others, judge others, and control others. Not all our attempts are successful, and hence this leads to greater perennial stress.

Social survival initiates Offensive thinking that results in “Anxiety”.

To ensure that our psychological needs are fulfilled permanently, we get into social life. Once we have children, we desire to make them better than us, and we always judge our children in the light of what society expects from us.

We not only plan for our physical, psychological, and social survival, but we also start thinking about our children’s survival. We start controlling almost everything around us, and this leads to anxiety.

Anxiety is the fear of the unknown. We are not sure of what we are afraid of, but the fear is so pronounced that it results in a state of total restlessness and tension.

We start thinking of other families, colleagues, and strangers as rivals and try to outsmart them. Most of our thoughts are centered on how to win over others. Once we win over one set of people, we look for another group of people. This is what leads to battles and wars.

We lose hope of including everyone else in society, and we start exercising our supremacy over others. We don’t realize that the other groups are also aiming at similar hopes.

Anxiety, in turn, leads to scores of diseases and disorders, and we try to manage them by setting up institutions. We set up schools to make sure our children get better opportunities. Our desire to improve our standard of living becomes a never-ending exercise, and thus we fall prey to the state of free-floating anxiety. 

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In short, thinking becomes necessary to survive. Our consciousness is filled with the kind of thoughts depending upon the type of survival. Physical survival requires defensive thinking so that we can make appropriate reactions. Psychological survival involves neutral thinking that results in stress. Social survival necessitates offensive thinking where our thoughts turn to destroy others’ existence and this leads to anxiety.

Thus, thinking is used more for death and destruction because "we think" that our physical, psychological, and social survival is always in danger.

How does thinking in Mathematics differ from other subjects when all thinking appears similar?

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