Lazy Thinking

It’s OK to be wrong, but lazy thinking isn’t OK. In politics, in spirituality, in life, and in relationships, it’s easy to not process things intelligently. When we discuss ideas, we want to get to the root of those ideas. We need to understand how and why things work. We need to ask good questions.

In the things that matter, we can’t afford lazy thinking. Yet this is most often what we get. Churches are full of lazy thinking preachers. News agencies are full of lazy thinking reporters. Businesses are full of lazy thinking employers.

Often, it’s not their fault. Active thinking requires effort and training. Most people never take the time to get out of lazy thinking patterns.

If you want to break out of lazy thinking, here’s some questions that might help:

• What has already been written on this topic? – Find it and read it.
• Why is this the case? – When you discover why, ask “why” again. Go deep.
• How can I make this better?
• How do the principles I believe apply to this situation?
• What do I believe that almost everyone else believes?
• What do I believe that almost no one else believes?
• What does the data say?

If you ask those questions of any problem you have, you’ll be well on your way to finding a meaningful answer. Let’s stop being lazy with our thinking.