The Plague of Shortness of Thinking

The biggest problem in our world today is not a pandemic. Nor is it corruption, or global social inequality, or environmental damage. At the root of all these problems is a lack of thinking. All other problems stem from that one problem.

Pandemics are created and spread, because of the narrow thinking of a group of people in China. Corruption and global social inequality occur, because of the narrow thinking of a group of greedy and uncivilized people. Discrimination, radicalism, and terrorism occur, also because of a lack of thinking. The same thing happens in the matter of environmental damage.

Narrow of Thinking
What is the narrowness of thinking? People tend to abandon their views and refuse to see from other people's point of view. Narrow thinking is also marked by a lack of empathy, namely the ability to feel what other people might feel. As a result, the person is unable to consider the views of others. He always felt right, even though he was not based on common sense or existing facts.

People who are narrow think are not open to change. It is not open to new possibilities that arise. He is full of prejudice against different ways of life, or differences in views. The big problem is when people who think narrowly hold positions of power.

His policies will destroy the common good. Differences in way of life and perspective will be threatened The wider community has the opportunity to experience political chaos, and to become a society that lives in fear of authoritarian rule that behaves at will. Narrow thinking then becomes a new lifestyle that is considered worthy of being followed.

Society is also in danger of being destroyed if narrow people think to become the majority. Law and justice become powerless. Discrimination against people with different ways of life and viewpoints will become commonplace. Violence and ignorance will become part of everyday life.

Shortness of thinking then becomes a plague. Many people have contracted the plague. A high education level and economic status are not a guarantee that people will avoid this disease. There are also many simple people, with mediocre levels of education, which can avoid having a narrow mind.

Narrow Roots of Thinking
Why are people narrow in thinking? 3 roots can be dissected, namely:

• sociological roots
• epistemological roots
• and anthropological roots

Sociological roots refer to a person's social environment. This also refers to the pattern of students, family examples, and the condition of the surrounding community.

Families who think narrowly will teach a closed mindset to their children. Usually, culture and religion are absolute standards that cannot be questioned. The absolutism of this ancient view is the essence of the narrowness of thinking. In an underdeveloped society, with an irrational mindset and a minimum of common sense, narrow thinking is the only thing that is accepted.

Epistemological roots refer to the way a person thinks. Narrow thinking is born, when people do not have adequate knowledge and information. It doesn't read. He refused to look at other, more advanced cultures.

However, there is a paradox here. On the one hand, we live in an information age. A variety of information is easy and cheap to obtain. However, on the other hand, we often get caught up in false information and end up having misunderstandings.

The flood of information also leaves us short of time and energy to reflect. Information is just a collection of facts without meaning. Abundant knowledge. However, wisdom is almost extinct.

Anthropological roots refer to the narrow human side of thinking. Nietzsche, a German thinker, has long warned that humans need to believe in something in their life. Amid the uncertainty of life, moral teachings in culture and religion then become an as if certain hold. The fear of uncertainty, and the longing to believe, drives people to be narrow in their thinking.

Education may be high. Economics can be well established. However, if people live in unreasonable fear, they will become violent. His mind became narrow.

Practicing Openness
The three roots above can be a map for making changes. Patterns of students must be open to differences of opinion. Critical questions must be encouraged, and must not be colonized. This applies from parenting within the family to day-to-day political governance.

Information circulating in the community must also be managed appropriately. Fake news and hate speech must be eradicated. The community is also invited to pursue in-depth information. Only then, information can become knowledge, and form life wisdom.

The enemy of narrow thinking is openness. Openness is only possible if people learn to embrace uncertainty in life. Uncertainty is not destroyed by false certainty but is seen as creative possibilities. Differences in perspective and way of life are celebrated as the colors of life itself.

The human future is determined by the openness of human thinking itself. Will he remain narrow in thinking, and invite conflict and chaos in life together? Will he remain narrow in thinking, and allow environmental damage to continue to get bigger? This is what we must contemplate.