Thinking is something we do every day, almost without noticing. It hums beneath our habits, colors our conversations, and shapes the stories we tell ourselves. Yet, if someone stops to ask, “What is thinking?”—most of us would pause, caught off guard. We know it when we feel it. But we rarely reflect on what it truly is.
Jonathan Baron, in his influential work Thinking and Deciding, opens this question not as an abstract puzzle, but as a practical map for living. Thinking, he suggests, is not just the movement of thoughts through the mind. It is a response to doubt. It begins when we are uncertain—about what to do, what to believe, or what we want.
Thinking Is Purposive
Baron describes thinking as purposive. It isn’t idle musing or background noise. It is directed toward something — a question, a problem, a possibility. We think when we are confronted with ambiguity, and we want to resolve it.
For instance:
- You think when you’re unsure whether to leave your job.
- You think when you’re deciding whether someone’s compliment is sincere.
- You think when you’re wondering whether your life is aligned with your deeper goals.
These moments may vary in scope and consequence, but all involve the same underlying process: a desire to move from uncertainty to clarity, from fog to form.
The Three Pillars of Thought
According to Baron, thinking often revolves around three core areas:
- Decisions: What should I do?
- Beliefs: What is true?
- Goals: What do I really want?
Each of these invites a different kind of inquiry — a different shade of doubt. And each requires us to search within and around ourselves for possibilities, evidence, and criteria.
- A decision might be about which path to take in your career.
- A belief might be about whether a piece of news is accurate.
- A goal might be about whether you value security more than freedom.
Good thinking, in each case, is about making the invisible architecture of our minds visible — so we can build more wisely.
The Search-Inference Framework
One of Baron’s most important contributions is the search-inference framework, which he uses to describe the anatomy of thought. In essence, thinking involves:
- Searching for possibilities (What are my options?)
- Searching for evidence (What do I know? What can I find out?)
- Searching for goals (What matters to me in this situation?)
- Making inferences from all of the above (Given this, what should I choose or believe?)
Imagine choosing between two job offers. One pays more. The other offers more flexibility. You search your memory for what matters most. You gather information. You imagine scenarios. You weigh trade-offs. Eventually, a pattern emerges — a direction becomes clear. That’s thinking in motion.
Thinking Is Often Messy — And That’s Okay
We tend to romanticize thinking as linear or logical. But real thinking is recursive. We jump between options, revisit doubts, feel the tug of conflicting desires. And sometimes, we get stuck. Baron doesn’t shy away from this. He acknowledges the complexity of our mental lives and the many ways we don’t think well — from bias to wishful thinking to self-deception.
Yet, that’s also where the opportunity lies. If we understand the architecture of thinking, we can improve it. We can think more deliberately. More generously. More clearly.
Rationality: A Humane Definition
Baron redefines rationality not as cold, robotic logic, but as the kind of thinking that helps us achieve our goals. It’s about aligning our thoughts with our best interests — not in a selfish sense, but in a coherent one. It means stepping back from impulse, examining our assumptions, and acting in a way that makes our future selves proud.
In this sense, rational thinking is a kind of self-respect. It is how we honor our time, our choices, and the lives of those around us.
Why Thinking Matters Now More Than Ever
In an age of noise, where opinions scream louder than truths and speed outruns reflection, thinking has become a radical act. To pause. To question. To consider. These are not just intellectual moves. They are moral ones.
Thinking well means caring enough about your life to live it consciously. It means treating your decisions with the seriousness they deserve — not with fear, but with presence.
It means asking not just, “What should I do?” but also, “Why am I here? And where am I going?”
Final Thought
So, what is thinking?
It is the art of moving through doubt with courage.
It is the science of aligning desire with direction.
It is the quiet skill that sits at the root of every meaningful action.
And it is available to us all — in any moment we choose to listen not just to the loudest voice in our head, but to the truest.