Why Don't We Think in Straight Lines?

Why does arranging thoughts in a coherent way seem harder than just producing thoughts? Why don't our produced thoughts come pre-packaged in a coherent manner, ready for consumption, so to speak?

If I'm to borrow an analogy from nature, the most fitting one could be a river system.

Raw thoughts emerge like myriad of mountain springs that are scattered, unfiltered, flowing in every direction.

And only through the nature's deliberate work of channeling, merging, and directing do these streams become a coherent river that can actually transport something meaningful to its destination.

We might as well be put into this Earth to make problems and solve them, as there's no better way of learning and growing than wrestling with challenges that stretch our capabilities.

The Problem-Solution Industrial Complex

Of course, we do accuse or rather observe the powers that be doing the same thing more or less.

Create problems and sell the solutions, with the twist that these solutions often become seeds for more problems down the line.

Image Source

Think of social media platforms that "solve" loneliness by connecting people, then create new problems of comparison and fragmented attention that seemingly require more digital solutions.

Having the same set of entities on both sides of the equation already skews the problem-solution feedback loop in a way that prioritizes perpetual engagement over genuine resolution.

Phantom Problems

Some of these created problems like the idea that we must be constantly productive or need the latest gadget to be complete do not actually exist in any fundamental sense.

They're manufactured anxieties that feel real precisely because they tap into genuine human needs (for meaning, connection, etc) while offering only synthetic substitutes.

If you really think about it, much of modern consumer culture is all based on this principle and also it is a main contributor to this increasingly superficial nature of our modern world.

Many conversations, relationships, and experiences lack depth because we're constantly chasing the next synthetic solution rather than sitting with the discomfort of genuine problems long enough to understand them.

Why Coherence Is Hard Work

Now, back to the original puzzle. Our minds naturally generate a flood of associations, memories, reactions, and half-formed ideas, much like that mountain spring analogy mentioned above.

This abundance of production could actually be viewed as a feature, since it allows for unexpected connections and adaptive thinking.

But coherence requires something different too. Which is selection, organization, and especially the courage to leave things out.

It means taking responsibility for what we're actually trying to say, which forces us to confront whether our ideas can withstand scrutiny.

For example, consider how we often start writing with a vague sense of wanting to say something important, only to then later realize through the process of organizing and reorganizing do we discover what we actually think.

I think this is why writing can be so clarifying, the act of seeking coherence becomes a form of thinking itself.

Perhaps, the difficulty of organizing our thoughts coherently serves as a natural filter of sorts that tries to ensure that only ideas we're willing to work for, refine, and stand behind make it into the world in a form that can genuinely help others understand something possibly new.

It is said that we should think, before we speak, lest we say something we can't take back.

In this situation, if our thoughts came pre-packaged and coherent, would they really be ours to speak or take back?

The difficulty itself is the point. For some unknown reason, there's immense joy in earning your keep as opposed to having it handed to you undeservingly.


Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.