It is often the nature of our society to look for "quick fixes." Speed is of primary importance because we are so conscious of time, or the lack of it. This "quick fix" mindset finds its way into daily life through our thoughts about to-do lists.
"I need to do laundry, get groceries, finish that work assignment, etc..." Then our mind switches to, "I can start the laundry and get the groceries, start the work assignment, finish the laundry, etc..." Our ability to think, organize and solve problems helps us a lot. It makes us efficient.
Efficiency is beneficial, but it can also be harmful. There are certain activities that require slow thought and time for intuition and great ideas to manifest. Mostly creative and scientific work require this "thought time." These endeavors seek new ideas and stimulation from synthesizing information to adding onto it with insight.
As much as a computer is likened to our brains, the two are fundamentally different, and disregard the Imitation Game and Turing's theories for now. I mean to say that while our thoughts have a flow of various ideas, there is a limit to how much we can absorb. We created machines like computers to do the work that we can't do alone. Thus, if the computer is able to calculate or dispense information to us, we should be able to do our part and use that data/info to create new ideas.
However, the "quick fix" society is concerned with getting to the answer quickly. Since speed is valued. The time needed for ingenuity and creative ideas is not given its full weight and not appreciated.
Perhaps, as a writer, you can recall times that the story got stuck. Your mind began working at the problem, the moment it occurred, but you couldn't see the full picture. So you put it to bed and took time away, perhaps to sleep yourself or some other activity. Later, in the process of something else or as you wake up, the answer comes to you, as magically as waving a wand. It would be nice if those ideas hit us in the moment, but our brains can't operate at the pace of society. We need our own time to reflect and think, which is why there seems to be a battle between "quick fixes" and the slow thinking required to cultivate intuition.
The more time we take to think, the more the rhythm of thinking and imagining become easier to manage and slip into. The issue occurs when we don't give ourselves time or berate ourselves for slow thinking. It's a necessary process and natural. We're so focused on getting things done, one after the other, that we lack the creative thinking which gave us the power of technology and the ease of other devices.
You might be wondering why the focus of this post is technical and contemplative. Partially because I'm in school again and reading articles always sets my mind spinning, but also because I think it is important for people to be aware of this.
If you get the chance, read "No Time to Think" by David M. Levy. The history and scholarship mentioned in the paper is fascinating. It's useful to learn about the historical intentions for current processes that we take for granted. Perhaps the article will send your mind spinning too.
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