Final text, A critical mess 

 

On confusion and conversation

 

Philosophy. Critical thinking. They have been in my mind constantly the last 8 weeks. This together with all the questions following, - do I practice critical thinking? Is philosophy something I tend to use in my everyday? When I consciously do, do I then become happier? Or is it actually so, that the more I read, the more perspectives I get exposed to, the more confused I become?

 

Can I after these weeks go out and say that everyone should practice more philosophy and critical thinking? – Yes, in one way I believe so. It comes as a direct answer in my head. What else could be as good as getting challenged on your worldview, exploring thoughts and perspectives, examining how we today, and historically see and have seen the world? It is a standardized answer that not many would disagree with.

 

On another level it is much trickier than that, A Critical Mess has showed me so clearly, - so let's practice critical thinking.

 

At one point it feels like you just need to accept the uncertainty, that it is impossible to know if something you do will be good or not. At one point you need to start really on the truths surrounding you. The paradox here is that I need to put away my critical thinking, I need to put away metaphysical thinking in order to create, I need to start accepting instead of asking questions in order to produce. And productivity is what we praise today.

 

A Critical Mess has guided me in the uncertainty, it has forced me to express my thoughts and confusions, it has shed light on my thoughts. It has put all the complexity in front of me and enabled me to make sense of it all. By doing so, the need for conversation has grown, conversations I rarely find in my surrounding today.

 

It might sounds crazy, that I have seen conversation as a rarity. So let's be clear of what I mean when I say conversation. I mean the practice of dialectics, which is when two or more people with different points of view around a subject engage with reasoned arguments in order to establish a truth. This I not debate, this is not arguing, this is about an examination of a subject and different perspectives with a shared goal, to reach some sort of truth.

 

This is a rarity in the world I see around me, today we already have found the truth, a truth that defines the lives we live. It might be an ideology, a way of life or religion. What is the need of conversation then, debate is the only way forward when people around you need to understand what you are trying to tell them. This is the opposite of what dialectic conversation is supposed to be.

 

Social media, politics, schools, workplaces and media institutions produce truths today. So let try to stay critical, let's try to examine our thoughts, let's try to ask question and let's try to conversate more together. But, it might not lead to a happier life, so do you dare to take the chance?