DAY TWENTY-TWO CONTEMPLATION
Stop for a few moments and take time to really think about what you saw, what you heard or what you read and give that some serious thought by turning it over in your mind. As you think about it, consider how it affected you. Was it a surprise or was it something ordinary? Extraordinary? You might give a name or a label to your thought response that would help identify or categorize it to see where it belongs. There was a parlor game years ago called “20 Questions” using deductive reasoning and creativity to guess an object or topic by asking questions about its size, shape and function.
You can ask yourself similar questions, not to guess what it is so much as to see how you might see something differently than at first glance. Think about how what you saw, heard or read might be useful or merely entertaining. Think how others might see it similarly or differently.
Conventional wisdom or a popular response may suggest one response while a more unconventional or more radical interpretation could suggest another quite different reaction.
Contemplation is a time-honored exercise that you can undertake any time even if for a few minutes or longer when possible. It is holding other thoughts in abeyance while giving attention to just one or two thoughts and how you might put them together for a more meaningful response to add to your repertoire. Thinking has been described as a subversive activity. What does that mean to you? In a historical context the Enlightenment period in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe dominated the intellectual and philosophical movement. It was also called the Age of Reason and the Great Awakening. What else can you call this Age of Information? Age of Social Media? Digital, Computer, and App Age? Age of Mass Confusion? Age of Increasing Humanity? As you contemplate, create your own terms and see how they are dominant in your environment.
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Comments (2)
I think social media has shown us our common humanity and allows us to learn about different cultures from the people in those cultures. However, I think it is terrible that it has been weaponized for political gain. Perhaps this is an example of technology outpacing laws and ethics. Hopefully, moving forward there will be laws to prohibit the spreading of disinformation. Sadly, social media has proven that we can be easily manipulated. 🙂
Right you are! When we have the tools, all depends on whose hands those tools are in and how they will be used. A knife can be in the hands of a skilled surgeon or in the hands of someone seeking to hurt another. There are other, numerous examples that show us the blessings and the burdens of what is available, either for our benefit or to our detriment. The more of us who speak up for that which is good, right, true and beautiful, the greater our chances for a better world. Thanks, T, for sharing your good thoughts.