Embracing Einstein-Entry Two

“Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.” Yes, again, that quote is from Einstein.

Of course, I read. I read and read and read. I read so much, it occurs to me now that I am not taking in information and knowledge and wisdom as I have told myself for so many years, but that I am using it as a distraction. Much like I use food or TV. I am not broadening my mind and heart or even gaining insight. I am avoiding. I am numbing myself through seemingly intellectual activity.

Hah! So with all that education and brilliance, Einstein did really get that intellectualism may be praised in our society, but it’s really often nothing more than busy work. Something to keep our hands busy, so to speak, until we leave this mortal coil.

Feel free to challenge this idea. Go to a party or chat room or lecture and talk with people who you consider well-read and intelligent. What are they doing with all this knowledge? Please let me know if they are doing something other than showing those standing nearby how clever they are. I will retract every word. But my experience has been that almost all of those who have spent their lives earning degrees and writing theses and waxing philosophical are doing nothing more important on this needy Earth than merely showing off or seeking your approval.

This week, don’t read. Unless you must for work, do not read. You will see, as I have, that it is an addiction. It stops original thought. It closes imagination. It may enhance your ability to visualize someone else’s imagined thought, but that is not the same as developing your own imagination.

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