No Time To Think

Too Busy to Create Thinking Time

Let's start with a hard fact. If you don't think and choose to be ignorant, you will be misinformed and miseducated. You will learn things that add no value to your life.

 

This monologue is some sort of an extension of a social aspect of the "Never stop learning" monologue. Learning requires one to be humble and have humility. This is the basis of a thinking mind. If you refuse to learn or be corrected without being offended, you will be ignorant of your ignorance and this may make you an angry and violent person, and every question posed to you will sound like a personal attack. This definitely impedes any form of thinking.

 

Thinking is a special quality that humans have exploited for millennia. Given our weak physical qualities when compared to other beasts, no wonder we had a very low life expectancy of less than 30 years. Our capacity to think (Outside the box) has made us special, including enhancing our ability to strike from a distance using innovative tools (Started with stones and now we have ICBMs). Thinking gives us foresight and hope or remedies for the future. That's why, unlike other beings, we have the capacity to delay instant gratification in the hope of a future benefit.

 

Thinking is an energy-intensive activity and as you know our brains like pleasure. Thinking requires food energy and a lot water (75% of brain matter). An average human brain burns roughly more than 30 calories per hour of thinking. The brain in general burns between 400 and 500 calories a day on normal brain activities. This is roughly equivalent to jogging 5 km. No wonder, we rather just ignore stuff, this is precious energy we can deploy elsewhere. 

Our modern lifestyles seem to have been built around the idea of outsourcing thinking. That's why we mindlessly quote people like Einstein, Churchill, etc, forgetting that guys like Churchill had their own dark side that is currently hidden by Western literature and media. We know we was super-racist. It is asy to quote people because there's Google. Quoting is no longer associated with being a learned person. Our education system does not develop thinkers (Robotic Education). One of the reasons our education does not impact our thinking is because "Education without action and education without a plan is pushing time." Unfortunately, our economies reward this aspect of the system. 

 

Now the ground that the ground is set, let the critique begin. Where can one get  the time to read and think? South Africa is a nation of people who do not read. When can you read Credo when you have Babalaza every Saturday and Sunday? When do you get time to think and reflect on who we are as Africans? A day in the life of a typical black man, from Monday to Sunday is full of "activities". With only 24hrs a day and without a daily diary, it’s almost impossible to manage time. A daily diary will at least give one an overview of daily activities and trends of bad behaviour over time. Realisations are automatic, as long as you write daily.

Writing daily diaries is the best way to find out what activities our time is largely spent on. And also to find time to add more value-creating activities, like time to meditate or exercise. With just 52 weeks a year. Every weekend is precious. Here's a week in the life of a typical Black South African. That is, 60 - 70% of the South African population.

Monday to Friday (5AM to 6PM i.e. daylight (sunrise to sunset)): Work and chores (Both males and females). Working for a minimum and sometimes below minimum wages to pay for transport to and from work, pay rent/bond, buy food, pay school fees (including lunch money), pay mashonisa, and buy branded clothing. 

Waking up at 4/5 to get to the plantation at 7AM. Eating unhealhy large carbohydrates for an instant energy boost to finish-off the day. Arriving at home after 5/6PM and sometimes bathing just before the daughter/son comes back from her "friend's house". The same friend they were with at school. Too tired to help them with homework, but at the same time, who can you help because they are all hooked from Skeem Sam to Imbewu, it's drama after drama on T.V. But there's a saviour, the kids will copy their homework answers from the smart kids tomorrow morning.

Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday: Drinking booze and having a good time. Eish, I skipped Phuza on Thursday, but no worries. The drinking, gambling and h*mping is sort of celebratory, but what are we celebrating, really? What are we dancing for and laughing at? Alright, maybe laugh at your pain and then do something about it. On these days, the South African population experiences growth.

Babalaza Saturdays and Sundays: Simple question, when do the chairman (Husband) and CEO (Wife) have time to re-strategise about the future of their company (Household) and how to get out of mashonisa loans (Bad high interest debt). I mean, develop tactical plans to get out of the entrapment.

No time to think, how many of us knew there was an African New Year? No one ever mentioned it to me until the TikTok algorithm. People used to say Happy Chinese New year and Russian New Year but never posted about African New Year. This is an indication that people don't have time to learn and to think, Lol myself included in this case. I just wonder where's my curiosity.

Black South African have a very busy economy where there's a lot of time and effort/energy invested and very little value/benefit captured. Our economy keeps us very very busy. We don't even have time to read and learn about political party manifestos before we vote. And to critique the learned, when last did you read a government gazette? Don't get me wrong, you know once I start talking about the economy I’m about to give a jab to kasi economy. I am not against kasi economy, just have a few reservations. The township economy or Kasi economy is keeping black people very busy, working long hours for nearly nothing. My view is if we formalize the kasi economy in South Africa we will get growth at the expense of agreeing with apartheid planning and segregatory policies. I advocate for blacks to create real companies that participate in the real economy and think about the future generations. Kinda hard, to think about a legacy when your business is all about making daily ends meet.

Part of a thinking person's life is about sharing ideas, against humility is a prerequisite. If you want think and want to look smart, this is one thing you'll not do. "Weak minds discuss people, average minds discuss events and strong minds discuss ideas". Poor people tend to have weak minds and don't discuss ideas but meaningless TV shows about kasi drama (Keeps the cycle going). That's why that new channel you know very well is such a huge success. It shows the theatrical life of a blacks; full of chaos, crime, noise, comedy, and victimhood. One thing I have realized is that strong minds are usually the people we consider to have made it in life. These guys are always available for a chat and never blue-tick, they usually respond to texts quick quick within minutes or hours. Poor people will blue-tick you for days and months. I did an experiment on WhatsApp status, where I said "I have a monthly lunch budget dedicated to meetups to discuss ideas (Engineering, politics, economics, etc)", to my surprise, people either don't want free lunch or I'm insufferable. But what came out of the invitation, is that the guys I consider the smartest are the ones who responded.

The system keeps us very busy, we don't have time to think about its mechanics and processes. Ever heard that "Keep your enemies close and busy". Seems, like we are someone's enemy here. We are so busy there's no time to teach the young ones our ways and those of your forefathers. That is, educate them on who they are and nurture them to be comfortable in their skin. Unfortunately, the higher you go in terms of achieving career goals, the less time you have to think about yourself, learn about those who came before you, and teach those who will continue from where you'll leave off. It seems like we have given this whole responsibility to our foreign-controlled Big Daddy. 

But at the same time, it appears that without busy jobs we will lose the meaning of life. Joblessness tends to create a lack of meaning in life. A lack of a will to live. Viktor Frankl talks about the existential vacuum and notes that in the existential vacuum, there's excess will for pleasure. This may explain the family structures in townships.

For the African to know himself, he must stop entertaining the colonial carrot (Economic, cultural, social, etc). Only adopt the economic carrot but not the cultural and social. The African must decolonise his mind. Things Fall Apart is the best strating point. A book I know of that I would make mandatory reading for all Africans.

 

Education is the only arrow in the quiver of a typical black South African. Most of us were and are saved because we passed exams. That is, have proof to give a potential employer that we can show up and do our work everyday, and even on weekends. Other groups have an essence that school is not the only way to make a living. I'm not surprised by black inaction in dealing with real issues. Just too busy with no time to think.

Language is a powerful thing. In the process of thinking, language is very important. Pay attention to the words that you say. Say what you mean and mean what you say. And most importantly, don't confuse what you are and who you are. Who you are is greater than what you are. That's why, at the begining and end of the day you are left with who you really are. Do we even understand the languages we speak? Most of us who can speak English also think in English. Unfortunately, the more you are away from yourself and lack true knowledge of self, the more the colonial system rewards you. Our identity and ancient stories are hidden in plain sight/sound, our languages!

In summary, most black South Africans are mentally stuck in a limbo of buziness not business. Too busy to think about things that are not immediate but greatly matter to our future generations. I would like to propose that we as individual families set a day where we have frank discussions and thought about our own families to restrategise and be hopeful instead of phuzing and fighting all weekend.