Paulson Post

I believe most of us are very practical in our thinking. Practical thinking is assessing if something that we plan to do is doable. For example, Bungee jumping. The observation that so many people have done it, and they are doing it makes me think that I can do it also. So, I do it. That is practical thinking. However, though we often confuse practical thinking with pragmatic thinking they are different. In simpler terms the pragmatic decision also asks another question—though it is achievable, will it lead to some useful results? Bungee jumping is again the example. I can plunge into the ravine with one end a rope tied to my ankle and the other end firmly tied to a post, with all life-saving systems on stand-by. But what am I going to get out of it? In real terms, nothing useful is going to come out of it. So, though it is practical it is not pragmatic. But if I am descending to the ravine to save a person fallen into it, that Bungee jumping is not useless; the decision ...