Know
why I am doing a series on this?
What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Distorted Thinking?
Social survival dictates that we learn offensive thinking and we fail to regulate our thinking. Our education is more prone to chasing money. Is thinking restricted to humans alone or distributed over all living beings? If at all it is unique in humans, how is it so? Is this What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Distorted Thinking?
We
often come across the word “uniqueness”, whenever psychologists talk about
thinking. They make it sound as if humans are the only creatures on this planet
who are capable of thinking. As a student, I was told that a human being is a
“thinking animal”.
Some
psychologists differ from this point of view and say that there is nothing
unique in humans and that all living beings are capable of thinking.
Both
these groups are right but at the same time, they are wrong. Thinking is indeed
common to all living beings, as we shall see below, but certain types of
distorted, corrupted, contaminated, and polluted thinking are possible only
among humans.
As
we have seen in ‘What
Psychologists Don’t Talk About Endured Thinking?’, humans
engage in defensive, neutral, and offensive thinking to ensure physical,
psychological, and social survival. Even animals and plants do the same.
For
instance, animals can show complicated emotions and convey exactly their
feelings. This emphasizes the psychosocial survival of animals.
Plants
are also seen interacting with the environment. Watch the video below.
If
we look at it objectively, living beings have been occupying the Earth for
millions of years, and yet have not done anything to disturb the flora and
fauna. They have been adjusting to the demands of the environment. A few
species have become extinct in the process, but they are not responsible for
it.
However,
humans have entered the arena just recently, but already are manipulating the
environment to such an extent that they not only corrupting it but also
polluting it. The most shocking aspect is that even animals that are in
constant contact with humans are also showing aggressiveness, guilt, and other
harmful emotions.
In
the name of creativity and intelligence, humans have ignored nature’s inherent
potential. Nature can be both benevolent and malevolent, which is why our
ancestors revered and worshipped it. They identified five basic elements (Pancha Bhutas) – Fire, Air, Earth,
Water, and Space that are essential for any life to exist. Watch the video
below to learn more about it.
The
more we interfere with nature, the greater the nature hits back at us. This is
something we have not realized. Such large-scale attempts at polluting the
Earth will not matter much to the planet, but we, the so-called intelligent
beings, will not be there to see it.
Along
with polluting nature, we are trying to pollute our minds. The basic difference
between other living beings and humans is that we can choose to be dishonest.
Just have a look at some of the words that corrupt and pollute our thought
processes: lying, cheating, falsifying, misleading, manipulating, blackmailing,
gaslighting, craving (addiction), laziness, aggressiveness, suicide, homicide, etc.
The English dictionary is filled with hundreds of such words that are unique to
humans.
Merely
by going through the current events, we can see the deterioration in human quality
of life. We should, at least now, start wondering where and when this is going
to end. I have already discussed this deterioration in morality in ‘What
Psychologists Don’t Talk About Value System?’
If
you have a look at the kind of movies that run to packed houses, the kind of
OTT serials that have violence and sex as their major content, the amount of
alcohol and drugs that are used in modern music concerts, and the vulgarity
used in some comedy shows, then you will not stop yourself from concluding that our
thinking is being twisted.
Just
like we have polluted our food to almost 70% with chemicals, we are distorting
our thinking to almost 70% with dishonesty. We are trying to turn organic in
our consumption, but then a lot of so-called organic foods are once again
chemically treated. Watch the video below.
Humans
are worthless without tools. All our intelligence has been used to create a
variety of tools. Now the situation is that we need tools to create more tools.
However, whether it is a stone axe or an algorithm, every tool has the
potential to be misused. It is only when we clean our consciousness that we
will be able to think productively.
At
present, unnecessary hype has been created about the efficacy of artificial
intelligence. The stronger the tool is the greater it poses a danger to
humanity. Just have a glimpse at the video below and try to draw your own conclusions.
I
found a relevant book explaining how modern education is being used to
manipulate and distort the thinking of young minds in India: “Who is Raising Your Children?” by Rajiv Malhotra and Vijaya Viswanathan.
All this talk about development is nothing but a
merry-go-round. Unfortunately, the phrase “Living Together” has given rise to
“Living Better”. Very few people understand that “Better” is a
mirage. The more you try to chase it, the farther it keeps running away. Our
thinking has been hijacked and we are yet to realize it. This is What
Psychologists Don’t Talk About Distorted Thinking?
Know why I am doing a series on this?
Let me know if I am wrong. I have started this series because there
are hundreds of things psychologists don’t talk about. I feel that it would
benefit everyone if they did so. I hope at least now, they will make a
beginning.
This is
an attempt to bring to the fore what has been hidden for a very long time.
Previous:
What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Endured Thinking?
What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Regulated Thinking?
What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Educated Thinking?
Next:
What
Psychologists Don’t Talk About Nurtured Thinking?
What
Psychologists Don’t Talk About Structured Thinking?
What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Heightened Thinking?
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