| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 6:31:22 AM | People WANT to be individuals....but only,IMHO,if that individuality comes w/ limited or no responsibility and little or no negative ramifications.
While the Western World has more freedom for the individual than does the Eastern, that individuality is only respected when it exists in narrowly defined limits. Anything beyond those limits is subject to ridicule,harassment and ostracism.
IMHO,people WANT to be individuals...but are too scared to really be a such. | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 7:14:14 AM | I'm not.
I'm NEVER afraid to think for myself thank you very much.
It's the way I've always been.
Most of the time I couldn't give a rat's ass about what the rest of society is thinking (unless it’s something worthwhile thinking about).
Rock on individuality!
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 10:31:06 AM | A Word of Caution: In the so-called "Hippie Movement" of the 1960s, all the Hippies wanted to be "different" and show their individuality by breaking away from the "establishment". (They wanted to be "different" ... just like all the other Hippies did! And so they ended up not being very different from each other at all!  ) Therefore, if you really want to "think for yourself", be sure that you are doing so because you want to, and not because it might seem like the "fashionable" thing to do.  | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 10:34:55 AM | Think about it. If I just copy people then I am not responsible. Its a great way to avoid standing out or standing up. Some folks, most perhaps , are comfortable with the role of lemming as it gives them all the rights but none of the responsibility. it allows them to fit in and avoid being lonely or an outsider. Lots of points to it. Not that I agree with it, nor do I personally do it, but hey most folks feel ok with it. And its not a new phenomenon either its pretty much across time. Most folks are not leaders they are followers.  | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 11:06:27 AM | | Does anyone else find it ironic that in a thread about people copying/following others, the majority of the responses are in agreement? (at least the ones that actually address the thread topic) | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 11:08:15 AM |
Does anyone else find it ironic that in a thread about people copying/following others, the majority of the responses are in agreement?
Well, he sounded like he knew what he was talking about, so I just figured... | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 11:55:05 AM | | Power, my friend. It's all about power. Politics, religion, are all about conning people into thinking you're a more superior human than them. When people give away their power of rationality & sovereignty, that's when they become sheep & led to their slaughter. | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 2:35:58 PM | Hippies...?
That was a real burst of individuality -- I wish I could remember it -- but I was there -- so I can't --- anyway peace and love -- well war and sex -- the love wasn't flowing the way it should have been.
The biggest problem is so many people don't know how to think -- it is not encouraged, taught, highly valued or rewarded. | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 3:34:15 PM |
The biggest problem is so many people don't know how to think...
...Because it is not in the interest of the PTB to have people thinking too much. Consequently, public education no longer stresses the liberal arts & critical thinking; it stresses "training" people to prepare them for a "career."
As John D. Rockefeller said: "I want a nation of workers, not thinkers." I guess ol' John got his way. | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 3:39:30 PM |
Our society is not much better than a pack of lemmings; everybody just mindlessly follows the swarm. They merely "copy-cat" whatever they see somebody else doing, and never seem to ask themselves why they are doing it. That's how most people learn. They watch someone else, and copy them.
I never seemed to be able to grasp that. I just didn't pick things up very well by imitation. I've had to figure things out for myself, and use lots of experiments to see what works for me. I usually ended up doing things very differently than most people.
I found most people thought it very odd. They just didn't grasp why I would do different than anyone else. But they didn't have any idea if what I did would work or not, unless I told them it didn't, and then they were sure it didn't.
My lecturers in university used to say I solved the homework differently to everyone else. I asked them if my methods were wrong. They would say, no, just that they were different.
It's not so much that people are lemmings. It just takes a lot of work to figure it all out for yourself. For most people, it's a hell of a lot easier to just copy someone else who's already found a way of doing it, as it involves far less thinking. | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 5:58:32 PM | It's great to see someone else has their eyes open to a repulsive society with a forcefed code of "how to be" " how to think" etc etc.
Lemmings , yes they are .
The structure (like most organised religion) is built open one leader and one way, everything in today's society is predictable and meaningless.
I mean you dont have to look far on this site to see total idiocy and herd mentality at it's utter peak.
I think theese opinions could sure run way deeper than just mere comments on fashion sense and general idiocy , it's something that lies way deeper than constructing the next big brother idiot .
I know i wouldn't want ever want to bring a child into this world where it's " cool" to blurt out some "text language" and listen to some moronic, talentless superficial "idol" telling me or my family how to live our lives. | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 6:17:08 PM | I think work makes for a prime example of why people go with the flow... How many of us have followed our bosses orders knowing their wrong or that there is a better way of doing things? How many do it anyways because they know when stuff goes wrong all they got to do is point the finger at the boss? How many of you have done it your own way and succeeded yet still had to explain yourself as to why you did what you did just to save face?
Then there's the genetic thing...We are 98.6% baboons, we aren't some highly evolved superior being,lol, drop the average north american off in the wilderness and they'll be dead in 2-4 weeks depending on fat content and access to water | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 6:18:56 PM | Mr. Logic
Of course it matters that you used the term "Lemmings" to describe humankind. Besides the irony that you introduced by doing the exact thing you abhor, it illustrates why we do mimic each other. We are a societal animal with intricate communication skills. And what you did was use a commonly accepted metaphoric symbol to bring across your meaning to people who would understand the symbolism. Lemmings, grace of Walt Disney, are thought to follow each other even to their peril. Everyone understood this symbolism even if the original premise was false.
Reminds me of the Star Trek NG episode where Captain Picard is captured and sent to a planet to fight a rival who speaks solely using historic comparisons. Picard had to understand their history and culture to understand how to communicate with this being. This is exactly why we have words like "workaholic". Although originally grammatically incorrect, the comparison with "alcoholic" is so strong that it elicits an immediate comprehension. I would guess that that' why it stuck.
Love your posts, BTW. Very original. I bugged my kids with the how to pronounce "2010" year and they were frustrated by my making them think...But thanks to you, I made them think, and I agree that we don't do that often enough
So, what are your thoughts on global warming? | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 7:21:19 PM | It is the way of the sheeple, my friend. What we are experiencing is the death of critical thinking in recent years, coupled with a basic human (group) instinct to want to "belong".
You have it all wrong. It is chic to say thay you are capable of critical thought without ever attempting it. It is everywhere these days. Even football players with beards are big on "critical thinking" these days.
Even I can do it. I saw it on television once, and I mastered the technique.
You know, you just talk about a famous scientists opinion, and all of a sudden, you are a "critical thinker." It's the bomb. | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 8:17:44 PM |
...Cold beer frees the mind and opens it up to the possibilities of things as they could (and hopefully will) be.
Hangovers are a small price to pay for the benefits of Utopia.
Whats a lemming to do eh?  | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 8:37:15 PM | | I started out thinking for myself, and that led me to reading the works of others who thought for themselves, and at some point I noticed that all that thinking for oneself was the same. There's no way around it. When you take a unique approach to the same destination you eventually wind up there anyway. So I started to think for others, hoping that would provide the originality lacking in thinking for myself. Nope, no dice. Thinking for others brings you back to the same conclusions. The culprit behind this trap is the obvious. Stating the obvious predestines one to say only what matches it. The only escape is fantasy. Fantasy frees one to think anything for nobody in particular. | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/3/2009 9:05:30 PM | | Humans have evolved as herding animals. More so than the much maligned Lemmings of course... It is our evolutionary heritage and dictates all manor of fundamental aspects from mating behaviour to nurturing to maturation and governance. | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/4/2009 1:06:12 AM | Some people are followers, some leaders. I will admit that I emulate people as well, but only to achieve a goal. Does shifting this way increase my trap-speed? Does lifting the bar this way increase my bench? Does buying a pair of name-brand running shoes decrease stress on my joints?
See, some things are worth copying because they benefit you. Others are simply copied because people lack a sense of self and are searching for that "self" by trying what works for others. | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/4/2009 1:54:18 AM |
So, what are your thoughts on global warming?
Ask me about it in December... when everyone is shivering from the cold.
Thats disingenuous; Three years ago in my state, we made a new record for the warmest winter in recorded history where the ground temperatures never dropped below 30 degrees for the entire season, and highs remained very close to fall levels. In fact, pollen levels got so high during the following spring that people in my family that usually had no problems with allergies were sneezing and coughing and hacking. Global warming is real. Just because you still freeze your butt off on an average cold winter day doesn't mean that global warming is false, especially if your chill is from 28 degrees average low compared to 27 degrees average low two decades earlier. The increase may be gradual, but its an increase nonetheless. | |
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| Why is everyone so afraid to think for themselves?
Posted: 7/4/2009 3:46:36 AM |
When you take a unique approach to the same destination you eventually wind up there anyway. 
So it goes for other aspects of life. Maths (not my favourite subject) was one area - and still is - when my way of working out the task was quite different from others.
Why people are afraid...? Perhaps, because media feeds peoples' minds with an answer for everything or bully superiors trying to supress any new ideas of fresh workforce or to some people - in their childhood "being told" has been deeply ingrained in their personalities.
Funny though, I'm sure that everybody found themselves in a situation when one could think and act for themselves. Question was/is ... did/do you dare to step out of your own shadow?I truly hope so, you did and do! | |
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