Are we Killing Critical Thinking?
- Keith Power
- Dec 23
- 2 min read
Not long ago, getting somewhere new meant unfolding a map, asking for directions, or, heaven forbid, getting lost and figuring it out as you went. Today, most of us couldn’t drive five miles without a satnav calmly telling us where to turn. That small convenience points to a much bigger shift.
We no longer navigate - we follow.
We no longer explore - we execute instructions.
And it’s not just driving.
When we don’t know something, we don’t sit with the question anymore. We Google it, right? Or, more likely now, we ask ChatGPT. We skim answers instead of wrestling with ideas. We outsource thinking instead of developing it.
Books used to demand effort - concentration, disagreement, reflection. Lectures required presence - listening, questioning, synthesis.
Learning was slow, sometimes uncomfortable… but it changed us.
Today, speed has replaced depth. Convenience has replaced curiosity. Answers have replaced understanding.
The danger isn’t technology itself.
The danger is unexamined dependence.
When every question has an instant answer:
We lose patience for complexity
We avoid ambiguity
We weaken our capacity for original thought
And over time, something subtle but profound happens - we stop trusting our own thinking.
In leadership, this shows up everywhere:
Executives seeking frameworks before forming a view
Teams waiting for direction instead of exercising judgment
Opinions borrowed, not built
The question isn’t “Is ChatGPT useful?” It clearly is.
The real question is: “What happens to us if we never struggle with ideas anymore?”
Because thinking well is a muscle. And muscles that aren’t used… weaken, they atrophy.
Perhaps the quiet challenge of our time isn’t learning more, but reclaiming the discipline to think for ourselves again.
Less instant certainty.
More reflection.
More original thought.
Less following the route.
More choosing the direction.
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