This is a rather broad and abstract claim. But I'll try to justify it here.
Conceptual thought helps us do a lot. We can generalize, qualify, and project, allowing us to anticipate the future with great accuracy. This enables us to take actions that will reliably lead to increased resources (for survival), while simplifying the assessment of a situation so that a minimum of time/energy is required to arrive at a decision.
As an example, by thinking about an orange as an abstract object with parts that are desirable (the inner fruit) and undesirable (the skin and seeds), I can efficiently derive nutrition from it by quickly deciding to eat the fruit and leave the peel and seeds. If I looked at it and only saw colors, or perceived all of the molecules that comprise it, I'd miss it completely, or be lost in thought for days examining it. Either way, I'd starve (or be eaten by a predator adept at conceptualizing me as a potential meal!).
As humans, we've obviously taken conceptualization far beyond simple survival, and understanding what can and can't be eaten -- we've used conceptualization to create powerful systems that support the lives of billions of human beings (farming practices, manufacturing, etc). The development of these systems would be completely impossible without conceptual thought. It is indeed our greatest strength.
Yet I also make the claim that it is our greatest source of dissatisfaction. And how is that?
So long as we live within the world of conceptual thought, our capacity for happiness is severely limited. This is because in the world of conceptual thought, we spend most of our time and effort trying to achieve short periods of happiness. (When viewed from the perspective that time is a resource, we are spending >90% of it to feel good for <10% of the time. That's pretty inefficient.)
For example, I might spend 5 minutes picking over a basket of oranges to find the "good" ones. I conceptualize all the oranges, and based on various perceived attributes, I make my decisions. This time is either spent in a "neutral" or "goal-seeking" state of mind. Not enjoyable in itself. However, the time spent in pleasure while eating that orange is very short -- on the order of seconds. Once the orange is gone, the sweet taste has left, and only a memory remains. Moreover, that sensation (the sweetness of the fruit) could hardly be called profound happiness. At best, it's "tasty" or "sweet".
Suppose instead that I were adept at stopping (or slowing down) conceptual thought, so that only sensations and my mind's direct responses to them remained. Then, rather than focusing on whether a particular orange was good or bad (a rather boring task), I could spend the 5 minutes in complete peace, without worry for which oranges were the best (or any other concerns for that matter). The happiness experienced for those 5 minutes is continuous (lasting for the entire period), and orders of magnitude greater in intensity and depth than that experienced eating a sweet fruit.
Now, extend that analogy to any type of activity, where most of the time is spent dissatisfied and striving, with a small treat at the end of the road. From one perspective, you could say that we are robbed of great peace (which could be potentially experienced for 100% of all moments) by the endless web of conceptual thought.
Seen another way, intense conceptual thought clouds over the mind, and prevents the flowering of deep peace that lies underneath. When we are free of regrets, worries, and obsessive thoughts, the happiness within us rises to the surface.
Why struggle so hard to gain so little, when the greatest treasure is so close at hand?
EDIT: Just wanted to make it clear that I'm not advocating the ending of all conceptual thought! I just wanted to point out that while conceptual thought has in some ways been our greatest strength, it is still the source of great unhappiness. We should veer away from either extreme -- conceptualizing all the time, but also not conceptualizing at all. This post was meant as a reminder that conceptual thought alone will not lead to consistent happiness.
Isn't this sort of a tragedy-of-the-commons situation, though? I'm reasonably open to your argument at the individual level. But of course if everybody tries to minimize conceptual thought, we see the collapse of civilization, 90% of everybody starves, and the surviving 10% has to engage in a decidedly unpleasant struggle for survival.
ReplyDeleteNot likely, I think. But... just pointing out that this is hardly a philosophy that everybody can adopt.
Yeah, it's a bit abstract, and I think I'm talking about this out of context of any holistic philosophy of life. It was more a note in terms of what helps us be at peace, and what doesn't.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think that being at peace is a bit misunderstood. It's not that we turn into useless, happy zombies when that happens. It's just that we stop wasting excessive amounts of time and energy worrying and and being concerned with unnecessary details. Stress is not the only thing that drives people to accomplish great things. Internal drive based on passion to achieve something great is just as powerful. And the nice thing is that this sort of drive is inspiring to others, not stress-inducing. So it's viral too!