Think Like a Mule

First published: 12 September 2025. Updated: 7 February 2026

 Introduction

Life is more than a bumper sticker platitude about birth, babies, and burial. Between these markers lies the real work: personal growth, decision-making, and self-preservation. We navigate countless daily choices that test our judgment and willingness to act in our own best interests.

While technology and artificial intelligence have simplified many decisions, we risk losing our self-reliance by over-depending on these tools. The problem isn't that machines can think—it's that we might stop thinking for ourselves. As life grows more complex, our ability to think critically becomes not just valuable but essential.

This isn't about rejecting AI or external help. It's about never abandoning our own thinking. It's about maintaining a clear view of life's complex pathways and choosing our route wisely, without succumbing to decision fatigue or learned helplessness.

What Undermines Our Agency

Two patterns often sabotage our decision-making: self-handicapping and learned helplessness. Both are strategies we unconsciously adopt to protect ourselves from the pain of failure.

In self-handicapping, we create our own obstacles. Procrastination becomes a shield. If we fail, we can blame the delay rather than our abilities. We magnify minor barriers into insurmountable walls. Whilst these tactics protect our ego, they also prevent us from discovering what we're truly capable of achieving.

Learned helplessness runs deeper. After repeated experiences where our actions seemed futile, we internalize powerlessness. Even when circumstances change and opportunities arise, we remain passive, convinced that nothing we do matters. Depression, defeat, and resignation become our default responses.

Of course, not everyone faces the same constraints. Lack of mobility, economic freedom, support networks, or overwhelming circumstances genuinely limit choices. Cultural norms and social structures create real barriers. This discussion isn't meant to dismiss these realities or suggest everyone can simply "think their way out" of structural disadvantages. Rather, it's a reminder that wherever genuine choice exists, exercising it strengthens our agency. And importantly, seeking help from professionals, friends, or communities is itself an act of agency—self-reliance doesn't mean going it alone.

The Mule Metaphor

Mules have an undeserved reputation for stupidity. They're not stupid. They're discerning. Their so-called stubbornness stems from a keen instinct for self-preservation that makes them remarkably smart.

Unlike horses, which can be ridden to exhaustion or death following commands, mules assess risks independently. They refuse to move when overloaded or when they detect danger, such as a snake, unsafe terrain, or simple exhaustion. While horses flee danger as prey animals, mules pause to evaluate. They're stronger, more sure-footed, and capable of defending herds against predators. A mule won't blindly follow the crowd for the illusion of safety.

When professionally trained, mules are patient, sensible, and calculating. They think about self-preservation, solve problems, and make independent choices. Their hesitation isn't disobedience. It's judgment. No formal study has yet tested mule intelligence, but ask any trainer: a mule won't stand still long enough to be tested anyway.

The mule is a metaphor for the kind of thinking we need. When someone calls you "stubborn as a mule," take it as a compliment. It means you think for yourself.

What Happens When We Stop Thinking

When we surrender our decision-making to external forces, whether technology, peer pressure, or authority figures, we become vulnerable. Passivity and inertia creep in. We lose our resistance to manipulation, making us susceptible to fake news, deceptive advertising, conspiracies, and coercion.

Without active thinking, we drift toward immaturity, being easily bullied, or exploited. When life presents us with a map that looks like a complex highway interchange, it's time to engage our inner GPS and think.

The Three Elements of Thinking

Thinking isn't about processing information reactively. It's the integration of three capacities that keep us grounded: wisdom, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

Wisdom is our compass. It's the ability to judge rightly and navigate life's complexities with balance and perspective. Wisdom reminds us that our choices ripple beyond the present moment and affect more than just ourselves.

Critical thinking is our lens. It helps us pause, question, and distinguish reality from distraction. We analyse information, evaluate sources, consider multiple perspectives, and draw logical conclusions before accepting claims or making decisions.

Problem-solving is our movement. This is where we test ideas, weigh outcomes, and adapt when plans fail. Rather than viewing problems as threats that trigger despair, we can reframe them as uncertainties requiring investigation and resolution. We identify causes, devise plans, test solutions, and revise our approach as needed.

When wisdom, critical thinking, and problem-solving work together, we navigate life with intention. We take paths aligned with our values rather than the quickest or most obvious routes. We don't surrender our choices to noise or convenience. This integration of thinking helps us maintain agency in a world of tangled demands.

Independent thinking doesn’t absolve society of responsibility. But it equips us to engage with society more effectively, not as passive recipients but as active participants.

Conclusion

Whether life delivers hardship or presents straightforward choices, every fork in the road demands our thoughtful engagement. The beautiful irony is that small acts of independent thinking—questioning a headline, choosing our own route, pausing before accepting someone else's solution—build the mental resilience needed for life's major crossroads.

Like the mule assessing the trail ahead, we don't need to rush toward decisions with blind compliance. We can afford to be discerning. We can afford to think. In fact, we cannot afford not to. In a world increasingly designed to think for us, the most powerful act might simply be insisting on thinking for ourselves.

The path ahead will always fork, split, and divide. But with our inner compass calibrated and our thinking skills sharpened through daily practice, we need not fear getting lost. We need only trust that quiet voice within whispering, like the stubborn mule.

"Let me think about this first."

That voice, after all, might just be our wisest guide.

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