In Praise of Thinkers (Not Doers)

In Praise of Thinkers (Not Doers) It starts with a really terrible picture spreading like a bad cold around LinkedIn. This picture, in particular.Like most viral content, its oversimplified, didactic, and supposedly funny. Ittaps into the zeitgeist, gainingstrength (and shares) by simply confirming the things people already believe to be true. It, more than any other viral picture in recent memory, bothers me to no end.The message of this little cartoon is clearthe thinker is a lazy intellectualwho sits around all day the doer why, hes outdoingthings, accomplishing goals, changing the world, selling his startup for gobs of money, dating supermodels, etc., etc.Be the doer, not the thinker.The doer embodies what The New Statesman calls the modern cult of spontaneity,thepervasive school of thought that fetishizes fast action, instinct, and reflex and shunsthose who take the time to think things thro ugh. The cult of spontaneity takes some of its cues from the anti-intellectual movements which have long plagued the American population(Isaac Asimov once said, The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge). The cultis also obsessed withauthenticity, a vaguely defined buzzword that gets thrown around in everyday life as often as big data and disrupt get thrown around by well-meaning tech companies. Per Steven Pooles aforementioned article in the New Statesman we have a ordnungsprinzip 1 brain that delivers snap, intuitive judgements through unconscious processing, and a System 2 brain that does the slow, cold reasoning.Now, which of those brains is the spontaneous one? Why, System 1, of course, the blinking, unthinking brain, the site of hot cognition. The weirdly anti-rational weather of our age, indeed, insi sts that this intuitive System 1 is who we really are. Because our rationality can be infected with errors by System 1 biases, or so this story goes, we should give up all hope of being reliably rational.Doers Are Just OlderChildrenWeve established why this cartoon is so virally successful it oversimplifies the world (youre either a thinker or a doer) it carries an easily digestedmessage(be the doer, not the thinker) it taps into the zeitgeist (spontaneous actiongood Thinking bad) and its supposed to be funny (I think?).Now, lets establish why this drawingbothers me so much. Its not the oversimplification (though, I do dislikethat). Its not thecondescending didactic manner of the cartoon (but, yes, I do dislikethat, too). Its not even the reinforcement of puerile pop culture myths or the total lack of humor (as you probably guessed already, I dislike those things as well).No, what really bothers me is how patently wrong this cartoon is. You dont want to be a doer. You want to be a t hinker. You want to takethe time to plan, reason, and investigate before you do anything at all. This leads to better results when youdofinally act.You know who thinks before they act? Michael Phelps. As Danielle Schlanger explains at Business Insider, Olympic swimmer and14-time gold medalistMichael Phelps reviewsevery possible scenariothat could occur during a race before he even gets in the water. Schlanger also mentions Captain Sully Sullenberger, famous for landing his disabled plane in the Hudson River, saving the lives of everyone on board. Its a good thing Capt. Sullenberger decided to think things through, rather thaninstinctively heading for the nearest airport.Heck, even fruit flies think before they act.You know who doesnt think before they act? Children. Do you know why children dont think before they act? Because they cannot comprehend the consequences of their actions, think about future events, or realistically gauge how other people view their actions.Children litera lly lack thehardware to do this. The neural network responsible for these behaviors is not fully developed until 13 years of age.But, sure, lets throw away the complex and powerful capacities our brains develop over time. Lets revert to the childish way of behaving.Dont think Just doUnless, of course, youd like to be successful. Ill take the example of Michael Phelps over that of the neighbor kids any day.