Why Thinking Can Be Hard
Embrace Λόγος
My best guess is that thinking is hard for most people because of the way we relate to our ideas and death. Our beliefs, built on ideas, frame our reality. Thinking requires us to be open to and potentially change what ideas we believe, and that, in turn, changes our reality. It is a change that represents a metaphoric kind of death. An old belief dies and is resurrected and reborn as a new belief. The process usually involves the applied use of language – linguistics – known to the ancient Greeks as logos (λόγος).
Christianity teaches that Christ is λόγος incarnate.
In this frame, Christ/λόγος represents thinking – measuring, reasoning, rationalizing, communicating, discussing – and then moving your beliefs closer to God or Truth in alignment with Natural Law.
Bad (or evil) ideas can die and be reborn as new ideas, but only if those bad ideas are sacrificed.
Letting bad ideas die can be the hardest part of thinking.
Most people don't want to do it, and I can guess that it is because they equate all death with something bad.
Indeed, all of the corporeal mayhem resulting from war and human injustice is bad because, one assumes, it is not in line with natural law. Still, suppose we can embrace the killing of the bad ideas that keep us separated from truth – like killing monsters in a video game – to think and apply λόγος by embracing and celebrating the death of bad ideas within ourselves. In that case, there is no limit to the opportunities the world presents us.
Good point! Paradigm shifts are difficult unless truth is more important to you than emotional comfort.
I think the need to fit in and not rock the boat also plays a big role in why some people refuse to accept truth or even recognize it when it's obvious... if the rest of the herd is refusing. Safety in numbers. We're programmed that way. Being outcast is a difficult experience which is why shunning is such an effective societal management tool.
This was especially evident during covid among doctors who enjoy high status in society. They almost unanimously agreed to pretend masks were effective against viruses despite knowing full well they weren't. The ones who told the truth were dismissed, both from their positions and from the club.
Mike Wells (Abiding Life Ministries) understood what it meant to "die" metaphorically on the cross (in terms of letting the bad ideas die off to allow the birth of the "new creation"... i.e. new ideas). I continue to be amazed at how substituting Jesus (Yeshua, or Λόγος as you've eloquently put it), allows us to relax, disconnect from the irrelevance of this "world" we live in, and apply importance to the relationships we form with one another. The sharing and growth of life (or Λόγος: reason!) is of utmost import to our longevity (and humanity!) as a spiritual consciousness. There is a darkness always willing to swallow us... but to know it has already been defeated, allows us to grow unencumbered. Thank you for sharing everything you've gathered and learned over the last few years. I see nothing inconsistent with the teachings of Christ that you have brought to light.