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“I can’t think right now!”
Have you ever heard someone say this after being asked a tough question? Or even a not-so-tough question?
Let’s imagine you’re sitting in a class. The teacher tosses out a question, maybe about water rights, or revolution in Egypt, or the debate over climate change. But you stayed up too late last night texting with your girlfriend. Now you’re tired. None of this seems relevant to your life. You look down, avoid eye contact. You can’t think right now. You choose not to think. Does it matter?
Yes. It matters. It matters very much. The world is not a simple place. You might wish it to be, but it’s not. T.jpg)
here are problems to solve and challenges to overcome, and if you have the skills to deal with them, you might just find that life gets pretty interesting. Interesting in the fun, sort of meaningful way that helps you fill your days with something you’re excited about (as opposed to interesting in a not very compelling way, that makes you wish you were spending your days doing something entirely different).
I recently had the experience of visiting a Google office. You may know that Google makes it a priority to create an inviting, fun, exciting space to work in. Picture climbing walls, Rock Band, cubicle decorating contests that involve the application of advanced engineering skills, catered meals, and kitchens chock full of free snacks and drinks. Seeing all of this up close, I dreamily asked my tour guide just how one gets a job at Google. He informed me that the number one quality the company looks for is the ability to think about problems in innovative ways. You don’t need a particular background, necessarily, but you better be able to think.
The need for that skill is going to be true for all of the really interesting jobs out there. In the 21st century, employers want to hire creative thinkers who like to solve problems, not people who shy away from them.
Outside of work, too, there is no shortage of thinking for you to do. In your relationships, your household, and your community, you have a plethora of opportunities to think.
So just how do you learn how to think? To think critically? To think creatively? To think about complex problems in new ways? The answer is actually pretty simple. You take on the challenge each time one presents itself. Like most things you can get better at, you practice. You also look for opportunities to think in new places, in new ways, about issues that you haven’t thought about before. While there is surely plenty at home to get you going, there really is nothing like travel to give you those kinds of opportunities. So don’t put your head down. Instead, get out and explore. Meet the world head on.
And let’s all of us, right here, right now, commit to never uttering the words, “I can’t think right now.”
By: Andrea DeLorey, Global Explorers Board Member and Poudre School District Social Science Coordinator
