Thinking is hard. Really hard.
I remember reading somewhere that most of what we might call ‘thinking’ is actually performing a routinized task of some sort. In that sense, it’s more like remembering than thinking.
I suspect that this is why people don’t like change. What they’re actually recoiling from is the prospect of having to do thinking, which is work. The familiar is comforting because it cushions us from real effort.
For instance, right now I have taken a moment to post to this blog instead of thinking through a problem I’m having on my weekend project. Learning a new skill requires real hard thinking, which my brain is fighting against constantly.
What’s interesting about this to me is that it isn’t obvious that thinking is work, but my natural reaction to the prospect of real thinking is similar to my reaction when confronted with physical labour: the lazy panic of procrastination through television, internet surfing and familiar, useless hobbies.
Case in point.
Not Unreasonable 