Mains Practice Questions

Approach

• Highlight the importance of thinking as a human quality
• Analyse how our thinking and self-reflection impact actions
• Give examples wherever needed
• Conclude by briefly mentioning the importance of thinking in contemporary times

Introduction

According to APJ Abdul Kalam, thinking should become our greatest asset because thinking helps our mind to explore every aspect of life. Humans have unparalleled ability to conceive ideas and thoughts which in the past has ensured individuals’ as well as collective progress of human race. Thinking is so innate to human existence that one of the enlightenment philosophers, René Descartes, gave the message that “I think, therefore I am”.

Body

The vicissitudes of our lives offer little scope of reflection and reasoning . In times of adversity as well as prosperity, thinking should be our most valuable indulgence. During hard times, thinking enables us to overcome our predicament and in times of affluence it rescues us from “pleasure without conscience”. Emphasizing on the importance of thinking and self-reflection, Swami Vivekanand said that ''Talk to yourself at least once a day, otherwise you may miss a meeting with an excellent person in this world.”

Our thoughts determine our actions and when we harbour negative thoughts, our actions consequently yield negative results. But when we focus on being positive, our thoughts transform into desirable positive action.

As our world is becoming increasingly tech savvy and fast, we are expected to take decisions in split seconds. The entire edifice of modern ‘attention economy’ rests on click bait consumerism where we buy products without thinking. On social media platforms, people in general are responding to hateful content and fake news due to their impulsive mindset. This is having wider implications on our social fabric by spreading fake news and fueling tensions between different communities.

Conclusion

In order to mitigate these worse tendencies of the human mind, people should develop a spirit of self enquiry.Thinking also broadens our imaginative horizons which inspires creativity and innovation. In contemporary times when our world is gripped by climate change, degradation of natural environment etc, only innovation and new ideas can mitigate these crisis.