Foresight is a tool we should all have in our war chests.
However, many of us disregard this critical thought
process. If I drink this much and drive my car, I just might
crash, killing myself or someone else. If I talk about my
boss behind his back to the wrong person, I could get fired
for some trivial reason.
Almost everyone knows the difference between right and
wrong, but do we all apply thinking with consequential
logic before committing our wrongs? Probably not. The
reasons are plenty, but simply put, many of us are too lazy
or careless.
If it is lazy, that can be more easily fixed than that of
careless. Lazy is just that, lazy. Working a little extra hard
by churning the brain with logic before minor or major
decisions creates a more seamless living environment for
not only yourself, but everyone around you.
Careless is more difficult to fix because the person is caring
less about something that requires someone to yield more
care. This is a fundamental disregard for the situation or an
inadequate comprehension of the dynamics of that
particular situation or decision.
Usually people other than yourself are involved, assuming
you have careless tendencies. Let me clarify with an
example: You are on a roof reshingling with a working
partner, but you are a level below him/her and this person
would like to get down to your level. They ask if you
could set the step ladder up so they can get down, so you
do. By not holding the ladder tightly as the person
descends, they fall and die.
This is a blatant example of disregarding someone else’s
safety by not caring enough. It could also be construed as
lazy; however, in this situation it is more likely that
carelessness trumps laziness big time.
In this hypothetical example, if this person thinks with
consequential logic, they would know that leaving the
ladder unsecured while this person is stepping down could
have deadly consequences.
This mindset should be on automatic pilot all the time.
However, many people think their logic is fine when they
pass another car when climbing a hill. Their thinking is it
shouldn’t matter because it’s a new V6. This is skewed
thinking because logically you should, under any
circumstances, never attempt this maneuver. However,
putting too much hope and faith into something and
thinking that everything will be just fine is always asking for
trouble.
When thinking under a more controlled mindset, logic will
prevail and instead of always wearing the rosy glasses
hoping everything will turn out fine, you will have
assurance knowing certain variables need to add up before
a decision is made.
If this mindset is not taken seriously, problems, trouble, and
dysfunction in relationships and employment will more than
likely always follow.
Taking the extra time to pause and let the brain logically
process any given scenario without obscuring its reality, can
only benefit any perspective person. Life will consistently
throw curve balls at you, but using consequential logic
when critical thinking or not, makes for a better life.