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About this quote

What does it mean?
He notes that avoiding complex reasoning is not difficult but rather a simple choice.
In plain terms
Choosing not to think deeply is easy for anyone.
What can you take from it?
Intellectual effort is a choice, not a burden.

Where it applies

  • education
  • decision making
  • critical thinking

Putting it to work

  • challenge assumptions
  • practice reasoning
  • avoid mental shortcuts

Questions to consider

  • Why do we avoid thinking?
  • Is thinking always a choice?

Another view

It overlooks barriers that make reasoning difficult for some.

More from Alfred North Whitehead

  1. The aim of science is to seek the simplest explanations of complex facts. We are apt to fall into the error of thinking that the facts are simple because simpl…

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  2. He gave them speech, and they became souls.

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  3. Rightness of limitation is essential for growth of reality. Unlimited possibility and abstract creativity can procure nothing. The limitation, and the basis ar…

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