“We deconstruct in order to reconstruct. Protest but also suggest. Question adamantly yet propose what one can offer. All of these presuppose thinking.”
“Man can think in the sense that he possesses the possibility to do so. This possibility alone, however, is no guarantee to us that we are capable of thinking. For we are capable of doing only what we are inclined to do.” (M. Heidegger:
What Calls For Thinking)
To think is a task, and if it is, then it is not just a mere passing state but an act. Being conscious in a moment is different from thinking, and many mistook a mere presence as the arduous intellectual task of thinking.
Sadly, the prowess of intellectual activities has been equated and measured through stacking so many things in memory. To recall is different from thinking. But what is to think? Are we really thinking if we limit ourselves to the things we are inclined to? If we are inclined to some things, are we just simply recalling? And if we are, are we thinking or are we just following what is given?
The challenge is to create, to mold, and to innovate. But so far, it is easy to simply follow and accept what is given without a thought.
Thinking is equivalent to critiquing as it implies the human shaping and molding of the world. If humanity does not critique, then humanity renders the world static and unchangeable and submit to the order presented.
“Philosophers have interpreted the world but the point is to change it,” says Karl Marx. The aim is not to be “the philosopher,” but the main point is to live out what it means to be a thinking being. However, thinking and critiquing yet remain a possibility for the vast majority.
Ideas must solidify in reality in order to test its worth and one cannot generate the ideas if one does not think and more so, ruthlessly critique.
We are situated in a wretched world and it cannot be denied. Some say we have to accept it as an irreversible and inevitable fate of humanity and that we can do nothing about it. These people who merely accept the given never learned that slavery was placed under the razor of critiques, thus making many historical events leading to the liberation of slaves. The development of science was a critique to the absolutist claims of religion, thus shaping the future of science and technological advancements.
The world changed because of the efforts of man to think, to critique, and to pave ways in order the make the ideal real. Education has long ever claimed that its mission is to make people critically think; however, it has turned out that the culture placed made more obedient automations rather than individuals who can creatively contribute.
There are those who preach and teach critical thinking yet are facing clamor from those whose brain capacity is limited to obedience. Even political thinkers see the necessity of civil disobedience coming from critiques to status quo as the step to reevaluate a given sociopolitical order.
Thinking is indeed a task, and just like
exercising, some are just fond of the idea of
working out but not actually flexing to sweat.
Unfortunately, the student populace is plagued with apathy, misplaced and directionless dissent. There has never
been truly a community spirit that bonds students as one other than the fact that they just belong to the same school.
Apathy is the result of people refusing to be conscious, to think, and to critique. “Directionless-ness” is the result of not thinking harder and critiquing more. It may appear that thinking and critiquing disturb and destroy the status quo, but the point is not just to subject to destruction but to create.
We deconstruct in order to reconstruct. Protest but also suggest. Question adamantly yet propose what one can offer. All of these presuppose thinking. Yet again, how many can do such? How many can actively build a future and not just be swayed by the flow of time?
When will students think? When will they build a student community? Is it high time to organize as one student body? Is it high time to actively change the static student community that we have right now? If so, think further and then build.
We hated the politics outside our school because of rigged elections, corruption, and incompetence. But if we cannot try to address the similar situation we have right now, how can you even change a larger playing field?
Think what is best for all students, and in time you will start to turn thinking into a habit and then think what is best for our people. Having thought such, then we have a map to change the “now.”
Let us have a play of thought coming from Noam Chomsky’s “Responsibility of Intellectuals” and Francis Bacon’s “knowledge is power.” If knowledge is generated from rigorous thinking, then when one starts to think, then one enters into task that one ought to be responsible for.
When we think, we think for ourselves and for others. With great thinking comes great responsibility. With great thinking comes great ability to respond. Respond in order to change.
