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road less travelled

M. Scott Peck’s Road Less Traveled and Beyond is the sequel of his other book Road Less Traveled. His book’s theme is “there are no easy answers.” He believes that the only way to acquire answers is through better thinking. He says that even this is not that easy. He divided his book into three parts and several chapters each. The first part is “Crusade Against Simplism” and the chapter I am reviewing is thefirst chapter entitled “Thinking.”

Peck says that thinking is difficult and complex. He defined thinking as a “process with a course or direction, a lapse of time, and a series of steps or stages that lead to some result”(p.26). As we go on with our life, we always work hand on hand with thinking. We always think, we decide, we judge. He shares the common errors related to the failure to think well which he had observed based from his experiences as a psychiatrist. First is simply not thinking. Another is making assumptions in thinking, through the use of one-dimensional logic, stereotypes, and labeling. Another is assuming that thinking is a waste of time, which is a particular factor in the quiet rage we experience around the failure to solve many social problems.

Thinking is not just simply thinking. People usually do not allot time in thinking because they think that thinking is simple and nothing to waste so much time. For M. Scott Peck (1978), “to think well is laborious, often painstaking process” (p.26). And since it is a process, it is not always easy. There are barriers and circumstances that may hinder the acquisition of answers to the hanging questions. No two things occur exactly in the same way. Do not be very confident that things will always follow the way you’ve planned it. There will always be exceptions. There will always be chances that things won’t fall into proper places. He says that, “if we are to think well, we must be on guard against simplistic thinking in our approach to analyzing crucial issues and solving the problems of life” (p.26).People assume that they know how to think and communicate right.But it’s not because they are either too self-satisfied to examine their assumptions about thinking or too self-absorbed to invest the time and energy to do so. And when the chances come when they really have to engage on deep critical thinking, they often end up frustrated because they don’t know how.

He quoted Hamlet’s “to be or not to be?” At this point of human evolution, it is tantamount in saying “to think or not to think?” This will be the stepping stone in combating simplistic thinking. Thinking is one of the distinct characteristics of human beings among all other creations of God. He said in his book in the article entitled “The Point of Having a Brain,” “One characteristic that distinguishes human beings from other creatures is the relatively large size of our brain, compared to our overall body weight (1978, p.28).” We are given a big brain compared to other creatures. The brain consists of three components – the old brain, the midbrain, and the new brain. The old brain monitors physiological needs such as respiration, heart rate, sleep, appetite and others related. On the other hand, the midbrain, which is bigger and more complex, is involved with our emotions while the new brain is involved with instincts and locomotion. The biggest difference between humans and animals, aside from the size of our new brain, is the part called frontal lobes. The frontal lobe is involved in motor control and cognitive activities such as planning, making decisions, and setting goals (Zimbardo, 2005, p.71). This lobe is involved in our ability to make judgments and it is where thinking takes place.

The study of split-brain leads to the field of epistemology which suggests that it is better to use both the left-brain and the right-brain thinking. Split-brain research shows that the left side is the analytical brain. Peck is a proponent of androgynous thinking. Androgynous means you display the characteristics of both sexes. It is said that man is more of a left-brain and woman is more of a right brained. A man, being a left brain, is very particular with physical parts and at the same time is having a hard time understanding with all this romantic candle-light stuff before getting down the “real business.” Unlike a woman who is very emotional and particular with the “be slow” and “getting to know each other” first.

In various institutions of society, in their failure to teach to think well, people tend to think simplistically. This is often found among the society, family, church and the mass media. They serve as our guide in this world. Their words leave high impact on us. What they say affects our beliefs and views in life. They form the group of the majority. They are very influential. Since they are being believed easily by many, they have the power to fool and manipulate us. Sometimes they promote half-truths. It is always assumed that if everyone is thinking this, it must be normal and correct. We are easily entertained, influenced and convinced by the commercials we see and hear on televisions and radios. It is very important to think. Sometimes we are easily blinded the media, which has a very big influence to the mass. What they say and promote usually marks the trend of the present.The time we are born, media is already there. Since we are used to it, we don’t bother to question the real story behind every words they proclaim in the whole world.

“Stereotyping typically involves labeling and categorizing people and things in a simple minded manner then making judgments on the basis of the assumptions we attach to these categories”(p.38). It is linking the characteristics of one to the whole group and judging a person basing on the affiliation he or she is in. It is making a generalization that because he or she belongs to a certain group, he or she would be “like this” and “like that.” This is a form of simplistic thinking. We fail to question our conclusions. We merely base them on labels. When we label persons by their affiliations, we are also discriminating them. When we discriminate them, we are taking away their rights. But labeling has its purposes. There are times when we have to think very fast and decide at once. There are circumstances that require us to easily make judgments especially when it is already your life that is at stake. For an instance, you are walking down the street and you noticed that a man has been stalking you for a couple of minutes. It’s not bad to make temporary conclusions that he is a snatcher or a kidnapper until you already have more information at hand. Just keep it in your mind and judge later when you are already sure of what is happening. If you later learn that he is a family friend and is on the same way as yours because he is about to visit your parents, forget the thought.

To think is to be considerate. You think first before you say anything. Think first of the pros and cons and circumstances. It is better to think first and consider the consequences of a word you want to say or act you want to do to others. I believe there are always reasons behind every happening. It’s not fair to judge people at once without considering their reasons of doing so. There could be some sort of history why the act takes place. Always think of possibilities. Never negate others unless you have your proofs. Even if you are already very certain with the information at hand, think first of what you have to do. Are you doing it for a good cause, for personal reasons orare you slightly becoming tactless.

Peck points out that one of the major dilemmas that we are facing both as individuals and as a society is simplistic thinking. Reading the book, I encountered for the first time the word “simplistic.” At first I thought simplistic meant being simple and I got confused. I never thought that there would be a person who would write a book and criticize simplicity.But later on I realized that simplistic means treating complex things as simple ones.

Vox populi is a Latin word which means voice of the people. We live in a very influential world. Most lives of people are driven by world trends.We are easily entertained by the media. Sometimes, we even live by the words of others, especially when these words are published and spoken by famous personalities. Later, they become our belief, principle or conviction without thinking if it’s true or immoral.Another factor is the number of believers. If many people are into it, people will easily indulge into it also. Only few will have second thoughts of it analyzing the thing. One example is that a new foreign hit song was largely patronized by many, and the song is aired from many different stations. But the foreign song was supposed to be a cursing song. They just learned it a little later. We are easily deceived by what we sense. A worse case is when one is already boasting what he got, and then later embarrassed. In a chess game, during a player’s turn, he immediately moves the queen ready to kill the opponent’s king in his next move.Because he is not checking the surroundings, and is very focused in mating the king, he didn’t notice that the knight was on guard and the king was killed. It is a result of simplistic thinking, deciding at once without deep thinking and planning.

Simplistic thinking is being narrow-minded. Why should we limit our thinking capacity? We should maximize it.Humans are rational beings meaning we are capable of thinking and reasoning.We judge people easily and discriminate them. We judge acquaintances at first meet. We make conclusions based on limited information. We judge a person as a snob because she never smiled when introduced to another friend. But it’s just that she’s currently not in the mood for talking because all her files in her flash drive was corrupted, finals is one week ahead, and her mind is focused on how she’s going to retrieve it. It’s a matter of being considerate. It’s a matter of not being so judgmental. It’s a matter of not thinking negative against them abruptly. It’s somehow related with making assumptions. I would say that I agree with Peck’s crusade against simplistic thinking because it’s hard and somehow irritating to talk to people who think simplistically. You are what you think. You are what you think most about. Yes, it could be true for some. But there are some exceptions because there are some people who are very mysterious that they can hide their real selves far from what they really think. It could be intended really because of the desire to camouflage his or her identity from the rest of the majority.It is true for some that when you think simplistically, you face problem in an easy go lucky manner. You don’t take things seriously. You always expect simple solutions, obvious answers and clear results even in complex situations. We have to keep in mind that deciding is a very crucial task because it often involves risking things. Peck called it “inbetweeness” of uncertainty.You try to weigh thoughts and feelings but persons involved should know how to sacrifice some things.

In this world, nothing is permanent. Everything is changing. Change is very inevitable and accepting the change or not still depends on the person. We grow, we change. Change can either make life easier or more complex.Many people run away from changes necessary for growth. They run away because they don’t see what’s inside the box when they allow change enter their present lives. Peck also said that we have to live with illusions. Healthy illusions, as psychologists call them, sometimes serve as motivation for some. Having an illusion that it is better to raise children when they are at their teens would encourage you to become more patient until such time. Then you think that it will be easier if they are already in high school. When time comes, you think that it is will be easier to deal with your children when they are already married; so on and so forth. This kind of illusion gives hope to individuals to go on with life. It serves as their motivation to overcome a particular level. The illusion that children will be easier to deal with at a future time is the stimuli that directs them to a particular response which is to be patient with them and go on taking care of them even if they are very bully and naughty. “What kept the mother on being patient to the children?” is the ultimate question of motivation. Just as long as you know when and where to use illusions, they won’t be harmful. Sometimes, people are hesitant to think well because of family backgrounds and environment. They are hindered by the thoughts of negative feelings from others. Sometimes he doesn’t want to be recognized as a thinker, a geek or a nerd. But it should never be. Listening well is a two-way street, and to be effective communicators, we must all listen well to each other. One-way listening can be equated to driving down a one-way street the wrong way (Wildemann, 2000). “When we extend ourselves by attempting to listen and communicate well we take an extra step or walk an extra mile” (p.52). Bracketing, the temporary giving up of your own opinions and prejudices, is one important element of listening. When it is practiced, there would be extensive exchange of information. Each can get down to the other’s shoes. They go deeper and know each other. If we listen, there should be concentration because it extends reaches the other’s feelings making the other one feel valued. This way you also learn through others. We have to think efficiently. We know how to sort out priorities and we give them importance. Being efficient doesn’t mean that we have to plan everything that we have to do. Even if you schedule things, for sure it will not be followed as is. It is about being prepared so that when emergency situations arise, you are always ready. Peck said that one paradox in life is that life itself brings pain but is also accompanied by an unfathomed joy once we get past the pain. It means that in every tear, happiness always follows. There are many paradoxes in this life and all of us have the capacity to think paradoxically. To understand paradox is necessary in the process of sorting through illusions, half-truths, and outright lies. With this, we now use to the fullest your frontal lobes. We avoid simplistic thinking. We have to think well. Let’s not take it for granted.

References:

Zimbardo, P. G., & Gerrid, R. J. (2005). Psychology and Life (17^th edition). United States of America: Pearson.

Wildemann, T. (2000). The Art of Listening. Online Newsletter. Retrieved March 23, 2007, from http://www.itstime.com/apr2000.htm#focus.

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