THINKINGAS A SCIENCE, BY HENRY HAZLITT
CONTENTS
- I • The Neglect of Thinking • 1
- II • Thinking With Method • 11
- III • A Few Cautions • 51
- IV • Concentration • 68
- V • Prejudice and Uncertainty • 99
- VI • Debate and Conversation • 129
- VII • Thinking and Reading • 135
- VIII • Writing One’s Thoughts • 191
- IX • Things Worth Thinking About • 207
- X • Thinking as an Art • 237
- XI • Books on Thinking • 248
I THE NEGLECT OF THINKING
EVERYman knows there are evils in theworld which need setting right. Everyman has pretty definite ideas as to what theseevils are. But to most men one in particularstands out vividly. To some, in fact, thisstands out with such startling vividness thatthey lose sight of other evils, or look upon themas the natural consequences of their own particularevil-in-chief.
To the Socialist this evil is the capitalisticsystem; to the prohibitionist it is intemperance;to the feminist it is the subjection of women; tothe clergyman it is the decline of religion; toAndrew Carnegie it is war; to the staunch Republicanit is the Democratic Party, and so on,ad infinitum.
I, too, have a pet little evil, to which in morepassionate moments I am apt to attribute all theothers. This evil is the neglect of thinking.And when I say thinking I mean real thinking,independent thinking, hard thinking.
You protest. You say men are thinking morenow than they ever were. You bring out thealmanac to prove by statistics that illiteracyis declining. You point to our magnificentlibraries. You point to the multiplication ofbooks. You show beyond a doubt that peopleare reading more now than ever before in allhistory. . . .
Very well, exactly. That is just the trouble.Most people