Prompt #3:
Tell us about a book you have read that you found especially challenging, stimulating, or provocative. Explain why it made an impact on you.
Think, without thinking. Or as Malcolm Gladwell puts it, Blink.
It is not a power exclusive to the elite, but a power everyone - you and I - share. More often than not, we fall prey to our rapid cognition, which lies behind the locked doors of our subconscious mind. Although it is hard to believe that it is conscious reasoning that denies us access to this unchartered territory, this is undeniably true. I cannot help but wonder whether in the midst of progress, we are actually regressing.
Blink set me thinking about life - whether in the midst of progress, we are actually regressing; whether in the pursuit of information and speed, we have neglected the power of our intuition.
We live in a knowledge-based economy, where information is prime in making decisions. Agencies pay for market research, schools bombard students with content, and the Internet brims with data that can occupy us for more than a lifetime. Everyday of our lives, our mind is clouded by the overwhelming information we receive that we fail to function intuitively. Soon enough, we will lose this innate ability.
It is funny how humans pride ourselves for our intelligence, yet not shame ourselves for losing the primal instincts we nurtured to emerge as who we are today. Information is dead, but our mind is alive.
What lies beneath a laugh, a smile, or a frown? Who is blatantly lying, and who is telling the truth? Aren't these the life skills that we genuinely need to read our body language, interpret our minds, and make life more liveable? Perhaps schools should teach students how to make use of their rapid cognition rather than supply them with content that mostly will not be of any use in their future careers.
We have planted too many trees in our forest that we have forgotten what it was like when the land stood bare, except for that lone tree which always guided our path. Instinct should not be only thing we rely on, but we cannot leave it in obscurity too.
Essentially, life has moved on too rapidly for us to slow down and make sense of what we are doing. We are too caught up with wealth, or with knowledge, that we forget to make use of the most fundamental ability we have. Even when we do, we often try to reason out our actions, warping our instincts in the process.
When will we realize that we are actually dehumanizing ourselves in the race to be the best? We say we think, but do we really think?
More is less. There are no three words that can better describe the crisis that has plagued the human race. Save the creature comforts and technology we have, we are no better than a herd of lost sheep wandering aimlessly in the woods.
I Blinked, and I peered into life more critically than I would ever would have.
*end*
Tell us about a book you have read that you found especially challenging, stimulating, or provocative. Explain why it made an impact on you.
Think, without thinking. Or as Malcolm Gladwell puts it, Blink.
It is not a power exclusive to the elite, but a power everyone - you and I - share. More often than not, we fall prey to our rapid cognition, which lies behind the locked doors of our subconscious mind. Although it is hard to believe that it is conscious reasoning that denies us access to this unchartered territory, this is undeniably true. I cannot help but wonder whether in the midst of progress, we are actually regressing.
Blink set me thinking about life - whether in the midst of progress, we are actually regressing; whether in the pursuit of information and speed, we have neglected the power of our intuition.
We live in a knowledge-based economy, where information is prime in making decisions. Agencies pay for market research, schools bombard students with content, and the Internet brims with data that can occupy us for more than a lifetime. Everyday of our lives, our mind is clouded by the overwhelming information we receive that we fail to function intuitively. Soon enough, we will lose this innate ability.
It is funny how humans pride ourselves for our intelligence, yet not shame ourselves for losing the primal instincts we nurtured to emerge as who we are today. Information is dead, but our mind is alive.
What lies beneath a laugh, a smile, or a frown? Who is blatantly lying, and who is telling the truth? Aren't these the life skills that we genuinely need to read our body language, interpret our minds, and make life more liveable? Perhaps schools should teach students how to make use of their rapid cognition rather than supply them with content that mostly will not be of any use in their future careers.
We have planted too many trees in our forest that we have forgotten what it was like when the land stood bare, except for that lone tree which always guided our path. Instinct should not be only thing we rely on, but we cannot leave it in obscurity too.
Essentially, life has moved on too rapidly for us to slow down and make sense of what we are doing. We are too caught up with wealth, or with knowledge, that we forget to make use of the most fundamental ability we have. Even when we do, we often try to reason out our actions, warping our instincts in the process.
When will we realize that we are actually dehumanizing ourselves in the race to be the best? We say we think, but do we really think?
More is less. There are no three words that can better describe the crisis that has plagued the human race. Save the creature comforts and technology we have, we are no better than a herd of lost sheep wandering aimlessly in the woods.
I Blinked, and I peered into life more critically than I would ever would have.
*end*