Well here goes for post number two …
One of my passions is learning, especially about how the world and its infestation of humans really work. Not how you or I think the world and its infestation works, but based on verifiable evidence, how they really work. By understanding some of the deeper mechanisms of the world and of people, it is possible to understand, predict, and maybe even control some aspects of what goes on around us; at least up to the limits allowed by complexity. And that is another of my interests, complexity theory and complex adaptive systems, but more on that in later posts.
The title of my blog (and registered company) requires a little explanation. As alluded to above, I have an aversion to thinking, particularly when the term is used in a sentence such as “… I think it will work …,” or “… I think it will be alright …” I know I’m being a little bit picky, but when someone has done their homework, has checked the situation, or has relevant and deep experience, they do not say “I think it will work,” they are more likely to say “it will work because I checked …,” or “it will work because I checked and it is exactly the same as situation/case XYZ and it worked then.” I derive no comfort when someone says that they think something will work. I would not be comforted by my surgeon saying “yeah, I think that should work …” Ok, I know some people are a little bit casual with their communications, and that’s fine, but it does pay to enquire and to check the basis of their assumptions and confidence.
And in the interests of full disclosure, NO, I am not really against thinking. In fact, I’d like to think I am a deep thinker, so I can hardly in all fairness discredit the activity per se. But my work experience is derived from Information Technology, and in that arena, even when systems or applications are 99.99…% ok/correct/etc., it does not mean that whatever the topic of interest is, it is going to work or actually be reliable; in that context, I prefer 100%. I prefer people to say “it will work because based on the verified testing we have done, it passed all tests.” Evidence again.
So, I actually encourage thinking, lots of it in fact, but more as a formulation of ideas and hypotheses that need testing and verification as the context, importance, and urgency allows.
So my advice is, don’t solely depend on thinking, check!
