Thinking Too Fast
John Cleese (yes, that John Cleese) wrote an interesting column for the December issue of Edutopia magazine from the George Lucas Foundation. Called Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind, he talks about how creative thinking not only isn’t a quick process, it is almost necessarily a slow process. The conditions for it seem to run counter to our current business and educational models.
I worry about the role that technology plays in this as well. How many of us keep our mental time chock full of email, web pages, music, television, and other easy media distractions? Our brains really do need some down time, and not just when we’re asleep. I’ve made a habit over the last year of not reading or listening to any news stories in the morning getting ready or going to work. (I have been reading webcomics, but I’m trying to stop that, too.) I’m trying to have at least one period during the day when I cut down the too-available distractions and just let my mind have a chance to process.
Even my tech-savvy daughter mentioned the idea of buying a desktop next time she bought a computer, because she felt like the laptop’s portability was giving it too much control over her life. At least she’s thinking about it.
Hmmm. When the kids were little, we used to do something called “old-fashioned night.” Everything electrical but the refrigerator was shut off, and we built a fire in the fireplace and lit candles and kerosene lamps for light. We either read books or played board games. I think I’m going to try to do that again, even if just for myself. I need to let my tortoise mind out of the cage for awhile.