Often, the intellectual journey is alone. Our deepest thoughts and feelings are never shared. Nor echoed. They remain buried within us. And with time bury with us.
But our thoughts do not remain stationary. They produce actions. It might seem that this is a fast process, for thoughts to transform into actions; but as it happens, it is a slow one.
Most of our thoughts remain hidden not because they’re controversial, inherently racist, sexist, or anything blameworthy, but because for thoughts to develop into coherent ideas they need thought-actions.
Thought-Actions are those thoughts that are actionable and that can lead to further thoughts. I am not defining anything new. Rather if from A, B, C, and D set of ideas, I can reach E, then E is a thought-action. (A, B, C, or D could also be thought-actions themselves but not necessarily).
Actions and Thought-Actions
I believe that there’s always a result to everything. It is unconvincing to consider pure randomness. Even sheer confusion, if it leads to more confusion then that would be its result.
For us to reach coherence and beliefs we’re proud of, we have to often come to some preliminary conclusions. I call these conclusions simply thought-actions. They’re “actions” in the sense that we can do something with them.
So thought-actions are not really actions. It is just a helpful idea about how we think of those thoughts that we can do nothing about versus those thoughts that are useful in some way i.e. thought-actions.
Consider, for example, the thought “The world is flat”. This is a thought-action in the sense that I could seriously consider walking the earth and never making a full circle. And now consider the thought, “There is a problem with the universe”. Or a closer example, “Love is blind”. There are no clear actionable from problems with the universe and love being blind. Deductive reasoning is logically bound whereas thought-actions are bound by reality.
Importance of results
For me, results are the clearest indication of development. For intellectual development, not much thought is given to how development can happen and more on how to measure it.
When I have reached a preliminary conclusion, I have come to some form of truth. I have not come to absolute truth nor certainty that I’m proud of, but I have built the building block that will help me get there.
And thinking is useless if it is done for its own sake and nothing more. The ultimate outcome of good thinking is excellent actions that benefit oneself, one’s friends, family, society, and the world.
So thought-actions are building blocks for good conclusions. And good conclusions are building blocks for excellent actions.
Why the intellectual world is inside
What I mean by ‘inside’ is that it is personal. It is in each of our minds. There’s no way we can share our minds with others; at least it’s not yet possible with the current technology we have.
Assuming mind reading and sharing is impossible, our intellectual development happens without any obvious notifications.
Perhaps grades in school, our words, jobs, humor, and actions are some representations of our intellectual maturity. Have you ever met someone who’s an ‘Old Soul’? (On a side note: being an old soul is more about emotional maturity than intellectual).
Our development should then happen without much notice. Certainly without any celebration or party. (Though I would totally be totally down to celebrate someone reaching blue-belt for their intelligence 😅😛) And it should be no surprise to anybody why that is the case.
The limitations of doing it alone
Intellectual production and development, most of the time, should happen alone. I don’t think we can change much in that.
But because our thoughts, beliefs, and actions are not just about us but also as much if not more about the world out there, remaining contained in one’s own box would be only scratching the surface of reaching our fullest intellectual potential.
In our minds, we can create feedback loops. For example, I can question my own beliefs. Though this is helpful, this is extremely limited.
My points of reference are much smaller than the entire world out there. So, by limiting my thoughts just to myself I don’t guarantee that my ideas reach their fullest attention and refinement.
Its fullest potential shall be reached only when this feedback loop is expanded. Thus, in the ideal sense, the feedback loop should be infinite. Everybody’s opinions, thoughts, and ideas are directly important and interact with my ideas and thought-actions.
If we take this seriously (I think we should) then within our boundaries, we’re constantly in friction. Friction with ourselves, I call this the Minor Friction. And there is the Major Friction – friction with the world.
But it is not possible to be involved with everyone’s ideas and thoughts, it’s like counting sand — an impossible task. However, we can pick and choose topics of concern, topics that interest us or affect us in a particular way.
