Be Careful Where You Let Your Mind Go
There are no chaste minds. Minds copulate whenever they meet.
Eric Hoffer
We are the victims of a dangerous illusion.
No, it’s not a conspiracy theory.
It’s more like a complacency theory.
We think that we think for ourselves.
We notice that others are influenced by the people around them.
We, however, are made of sterner stuff.
We collect our own data and draw our own conclusions.
We are not even influenced by advertising.
Or so we think.
We are influenced by every person we encounter, whether in person or virtually.
Every book we read, every film we watch, every song we listen to leaves an imprint on us.
The less aware we are of this, the more dangerous it is.
But there is a much greater danger.
We naturally surround ourselves with people who think like we do.
This leads to intellectual inbreeding.
We know that some people think and believe differently than we do.
But we avoid those people best we can.
We’ve heard that people in some cultures eat insects, but we are not likely to sit down to a meal of grasshoppers.
However, if we had friends who eat insects, they might eventually convince us to try a bug or two.
To our surprise, we might discover they don’t taste as bad as we thought.
Similarly, we are repulsed by those with different ideas and ideals.
So, we feed ourselves a diet of opinions that agree with our own.
Sure, some people think differently, but they probably eat insects too.
We begin to believe that all sane people think the way we do.
However, if everyone thinks alike, soon no one is thinking.
People say that science is self-correcting.
But this is not quite accurate.
Scientific progress depends on rogue thinkers who challenge common sense, who question what “everybody knows.”
If everyone disagrees with us, we quickly begin to question our sanity. If no one disagrees with us, we never question our sanity.
And that can be dangerous.
Leaders often feel that they get nothing but complaints.
Yet, it’s well documented that people are reluctant to give negative feedback to leaders.
Imagine driving without being able to see the road.
Without negative feedback, an organization or business will eventually crash and burn.
Humans instinctively seek comfort.
We don’t like to be too hot or too cold.
Wouldn’t it be great never to have our beliefs and opinions challenged?
We can achieve that state if we are determined.
It’s called insanity.
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