So the neuroscientists and daydreaming poets are in agreement:
if you’re serious about solving problems and creating new things, stop thinking so hard and let your mind wander more freely.
But it’s not exactly a popular message, at least in modern Western society.
We take enormous pride in our intellectual accomplishments, and
venerate those who are reputed to be ‘great thinkers’. Children are
taught to ‘study hard’ – furrowed brows are praised and rewarded, while
daydreamers are rebuked for staring out the window.
When applying ourselves to the pressing problems of business,
science, education, politics and the environment, the unspoken
assumption is that we need more thinking – not less.
If we consider someone’s point of view or behaviour unacceptable, we say they are ‘irrational’ or ‘unreasonable’.