Think for Yourself: Master Independent Thought in 4 Steps (Patrick King's "The Independent Thinker")
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00:00:00 The Independent Thinker Written by Patrick King Narrated by Russell Newton.
00:00:42 The Levels Of Mastering Independent Thought.
00:01:56 Level 1 - A Patchwork Identity.
00:03:27 Level 2 - Developing trust in the self.
00:06:22 Level 3 - Truly independent thought.
00:14:53 The Fundamentals Of Independent Thought.
00:15:15 Habit 1 - Critical reading.
00:18:10 Habit 2 - Not getting too fond of your own perspective.
00:20:30 Habit 3 - Being O. K. With Being Disliked.
00:23:01 Habit 4 - Always staying curious.
00:29:00 Socrates – teaches us about challenging assumptions.
00:32:09 Niall Ferguson – teaches us the power of counterfactual thinking.
00:34:05 Friedrich Nietzsche – teaches us about perspective.
Are you tired of being spoon-fed information? Do you want to make
smarter decisions and see through manipulation? Independent thinking is
the key to a more examined life. In this video, we'll dive into the
ideas from Patrick King's book "The Independent Thinker"
Transcript
The Independent Thinker Written by
Speaker:Patrick King
Speaker:Narrated by Russell Newton.
Speaker:What does it really mean to be an
Speaker:independent thinker?
Speaker:In the spirit of originality,
Speaker:let’s begin not with the perspective
Speaker:of this book’s author,
Speaker:but with yours.
Speaker:When you opened this book,
Speaker:you had a few expectations about what
Speaker:you’d find inside,
Speaker:as well as some idea of why you were
Speaker:reading such a book.
Speaker:These expectations may be unconscious,
Speaker:or you may be more aware of them.
Speaker:But whatever they are,
Speaker:they’re an excellent starting point
Speaker:for the themes and ideas we’ll be
Speaker:exploring in the chapters that follow.
Speaker:The Levels Of Mastering Independent
Speaker:Thought.
Speaker:In choosing this book,
Speaker:you’ve already shown a desire for,
Speaker:or interest in,
Speaker:independent thought.
Speaker:Some part of you is already independent.
Speaker:And yet,
Speaker:ironically,
Speaker:in picking up a book that guides and
Speaker:teaches you how to be more independent,
Speaker:you must necessarily already lack this
Speaker:characteristic.
Speaker:If you were truly independent,
Speaker:you would not need the book,
Speaker:right?
Speaker:Take a moment to imagine in your
Speaker:mind’s eye everything you associate
Speaker:with an “independent thinker."
Speaker:Imagine it now,
Speaker:before you read on.
Speaker:Imagine what it looks like,
Speaker:sounds like,
Speaker:and how you envision you’ll be once
Speaker:you are a more critical thinker,
Speaker:a more authentic individual and
Speaker:self-governing agent able to live in
Speaker:the integrity of their ideals,
Speaker:instead of other people’s.
Speaker:Now,
Speaker:this somewhat disheartening start is
Speaker:simply to illustrate that many people
Speaker:are merely imitating autonomy in the
Speaker:personal development world.
Speaker:They have a picture of what they think
Speaker:this looks like,
Speaker:and they try their best to perform that
Speaker:image.
Speaker:Level 1 - A Patchwork Identity.
Speaker:Maybe in your mind,
Speaker:you’re attracted to the “cool
Speaker:guy” aesthetic that certain
Speaker:celebrities,
Speaker:authority figures,
Speaker:historical personages and fictional
Speaker:characters put forward.
Speaker:Maybe you like the attitude of the
Speaker:rebel,
Speaker:who is confident,
Speaker:a little arrogant,
Speaker:and so,
Speaker:so appealing.
Speaker:Maybe,
Speaker:without realizing it,
Speaker:you mimic the mannerisms,
Speaker:beliefs,
Speaker:thoughts,
Speaker:and speech patterns of people you
Speaker:admire.
Speaker:Or maybe you buy into certain shared
Speaker:cultural ideals of what intelligent,
Speaker:independent,
Speaker:enterprising or creative people ought
Speaker:to look like.
Speaker:Teenagers are masters at mimicry and
Speaker:creating patchwork identities from bits
Speaker:and pieces they find in their world.
Speaker:It’s as though you show up to the
Speaker:great Identity Marketplace,
Speaker:being a blank slate yourself,
Speaker:and pick and choose the costume and
Speaker:role you like best.
Speaker:It’s not a personality so much as a
Speaker:curated collection.
Speaker:While a 13-year-old going through a
Speaker:goth phase in the 90s may be a blatant
Speaker:example of this,
Speaker:we all do it to some extent.
Speaker:We even do this when we’re explicitly
Speaker:trying not to do it (i.e.,
Speaker:“I want to be a truly unique
Speaker:individual!
Speaker:Now,
Speaker:let’s Google some other people who
Speaker:are doing that and see how it’s
Speaker:done…”).
Speaker:This is the first level on the path of
Speaker:independent thinking.
Speaker:Level 2 - Developing trust in the self.
Speaker:If you’ve been in level 1 for any
Speaker:length of time,
Speaker:you’ll notice something obvious -
Speaker:it’s uncomfortable,
Speaker:and it doesn’t really “work."
Speaker:You don’t feel like yourself because
Speaker:you aren’t yourself.
Speaker:No matter how compelling and
Speaker:well-crafted the patchwork is,
Speaker:it’s still just a mask,
Speaker:and it doesn’t contain you.
Speaker:Now,
Speaker:this isn’t a problem.
Speaker:Humans are social creatures,
Speaker:and imitation is a normal and healthy
Speaker:part of engaging the external world.
Speaker:But eventually,
Speaker:as we develop and mature into our
Speaker:authentic selves,
Speaker:imitation is not enough.
Speaker:In level 2,
Speaker:you gradually experiment with being and
Speaker:acting in the world as yourself,
Speaker:without a mask and the influence of
Speaker:other people.
Speaker:You begin to tire of other people’s
Speaker:filters and interpretations and become
Speaker:curious about your own,
Speaker:which you realize are valid.
Speaker:In all honesty,
Speaker:becoming an independent thinker can
Speaker:feel scary,
Speaker:awkward and outright weird.
Speaker:It can also feel lonely,
Speaker:like you are suddenly far away from the
Speaker:warm,
Speaker:comfortable crowd and have to suddenly
Speaker:take full responsibility for your own
Speaker:reality.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:in this stage,
Speaker:you are experimenting with being more
Speaker:independent,
Speaker:falling back into convention,
Speaker:playing with trial and error to test
Speaker:your perceptions,
Speaker:and developing resilience for being
Speaker:truly autonomous (yes,
Speaker:autonomy is a muscle that needs to be
Speaker:strengthened!).
Speaker:You realize that dependence on the
Speaker:external has its advantages and that it
Speaker:comes with a cost.
Speaker:While it can be intimidating to tune
Speaker:out other people’s opinions,
Speaker:culture,
Speaker:society’s expectations and so on,
Speaker:it can also be incredibly rewarding to
Speaker:remind yourself of your own sense of
Speaker:right and wrong,
Speaker:your innate feeling of what you want,
Speaker:and your deepest core values.
Speaker:Level 2 can be tricky,
Speaker:because it’s here that we start to
Speaker:encounter our own mindsets,
Speaker:biases and assumptions at a level
Speaker:deeper than their superficial
Speaker:presentation.
Speaker:We realize that we,
Speaker:like everyone else,
Speaker:possess a reality filter.
Speaker:We don’t encounter reality,
Speaker:but reality as it appears after it’s
Speaker:been pushed through this filter.
Speaker:The filter takes shape according to our
Speaker:past experiences,
Speaker:family history,
Speaker:cultural environment,
Speaker:religion,
Speaker:education,
Speaker:the historical period we live in,
Speaker:and class… .
Speaker:We all take in the same data,
Speaker:but we come to different
Speaker:interpretations of what that data means
Speaker:because of our different perspectives.
Speaker:The question at level 2 is,
Speaker:are the filters working for you?
Speaker:What do you want the filters to be?
Speaker:Can you live without filters at all…?
Speaker:Level 3 - Truly independent thought.
Speaker:Follow that line of reasoning long
Speaker:enough,
Speaker:and you start to understand something
Speaker:important - choice.
Speaker:As an individual,
Speaker:you can choose what material you take
Speaker:in,
Speaker:choose how you respond to it,
Speaker:and choose what you wish to create and
Speaker:put out into the world.
Speaker:And in that act of choosing,
Speaker:you express and experience your own
Speaker:perspective,
Speaker:desires,
Speaker:and will.
Speaker:When you choose,
Speaker:you self-create.
Speaker:When you allow others to choose for
Speaker:you,
Speaker:then they create you.
Speaker:When we are independent thinkers,
Speaker:we have our own weight and gravity,
Speaker:and stand strong in ourselves,
Speaker:regardless of what others are doing or
Speaker:thinking.
Speaker:We are tuned into our inner compass,
Speaker:values,
Speaker:and selfhood.
Speaker:We look within and evaluate actions and
Speaker:ideas according to our own criteria,
Speaker:and not criteria we’ve borrowed from
Speaker:others or had foisted on us when too
Speaker:young to realize.
Speaker:We are free,
Speaker:and we are consciously participating in
Speaker:our life rather than passively
Speaker:receiving it,
Speaker:pre-digested by others.
Speaker:We take responsibility for our
Speaker:worldview and perspective (yes –
Speaker:it’s our responsibility to know and
Speaker:maintain the state of being we choose)
Speaker:and engage with the external world with
Speaker:an unshakeable sense of our own dignity
Speaker:and value.
Speaker:We are comfortable testing our own
Speaker:assumptions and the assumptions of
Speaker:others.
Speaker:We don’t just think but reflect on
Speaker:our thinking (i.e.,
Speaker:metacognition),
Speaker:and we realize that we always have the
Speaker:power to choose our behaviors,
Speaker:thoughts and beliefs.
Speaker:We try to understand things from the
Speaker:inside out rather than happily
Speaker:believing everything we’re told.
Speaker:We are no longer an echo of someone
Speaker:else’s values or actions or
Speaker:perspectives,
Speaker:but our own original voice.
Speaker:Sounds great,
Speaker:right?
Speaker:“Think for yourself” is something
Speaker:people say,
Speaker:but it is an incredibly difficult thing
Speaker:to do.
Speaker:The world is filled with readymade
Speaker:opinions,
Speaker:untested assumptions,
Speaker:unintelligent biases,
Speaker:lazy thinking,
Speaker:denial,
Speaker:escapism,
Speaker:imitation,
Speaker:and unchecked ego.
Speaker:Ask yourself,
Speaker:when was the last time you had a truly
Speaker:independent thought?
Speaker:Something that your own mind generated,
Speaker:and which didn’t come directly from
Speaker:more forceful personalities and
Speaker:ideologies around you?
Speaker:The conventional,
Speaker:unadventurous thinker goes out into the
Speaker:world and asks,
Speaker:“what are the rules of the game here?
Speaker:What am I supposed to be doing?"
Speaker:In this way,
Speaker:he passively asks for the external
Speaker:world to tell him what to value,
Speaker:focus on,
Speaker:feel,
Speaker:and want.
Speaker:The independent thinker goes out into
Speaker:the same world and instead asks,
Speaker:“what can I create here?
Speaker:What’s happening,
Speaker:and how can I learn more about it?
Speaker:What could potentially be?
Speaker:What do I want to do?"
Speaker:There is only one way to think and be
Speaker:for conventional thinkers,
Speaker:and they figure that out by looking
Speaker:outside themselves - other people’s
Speaker:opinions,
Speaker:culture,
Speaker:politics,
Speaker:whatever.
Speaker:But to think independently,
Speaker:you need to turn within and generate
Speaker:your own original response,
Speaker:your own authentic perspective and your
Speaker:own view on life.
Speaker:This is infinitely more valuable than
Speaker:anything you’ve simply been told,
Speaker:because you value yourself,
Speaker:and you trust what you know,
Speaker:and what you’re capable of.
Speaker:It's a guarantee that almost all the
Speaker:content you encounter out there in the
Speaker:world is,
Speaker:essentially,
Speaker:telling you what to do,
Speaker:think,
Speaker:feel,
Speaker:or focus on.
Speaker:News headlines,
Speaker:social media noise,
Speaker:junk on the T. V.,
Speaker:advertising pasted on every square inch
Speaker:of your life,
Speaker:peer pressure,
Speaker:endless political squabbling... You
Speaker:just drift along and go with it without
Speaker:your own independent thought.
Speaker:But the next time you see a talking
Speaker:head on a pixelated screen,
Speaker:realize that you have a choice.
Speaker:You can become conscious in that moment
Speaker:and ask yourself,
Speaker:“this is what this person is creating.
Speaker:That’s them.
Speaker:But what do I think?
Speaker:What do I want to create?"
Speaker:Independent is not the Same as
Speaker:Contrarian.
Speaker:When I was a teenager and just becoming
Speaker:aware of the possibility of independent
Speaker:thinking,
Speaker:I got into the habit of mistaking
Speaker:cynicism and distrust for critical
Speaker:thinking.
Speaker:I had correctly learnt that the media
Speaker:often lied,
Speaker:and so every time someone mentioned a
Speaker:news article,
Speaker:I would say something like,
Speaker:“come on,
Speaker:you don’t honestly believe everything
Speaker:you read,
Speaker:right?"
Speaker:This annoying habit had come from the
Speaker:unconscious belief that if I wanted to
Speaker:stand apart and be independent,
Speaker:all I had to do was push against the
Speaker:popular opinion.
Speaker:I would never have admitted it at the
Speaker:time,
Speaker:but I assumed that intelligent,
Speaker:switched-on people were necessarily
Speaker:argumentative and oppositional.
Speaker:However,
Speaker:I was a contrarian,
Speaker:and not a truly independent thinker.
Speaker:What’s the difference?
Speaker:The clue is in the name - a contrarian
Speaker:is contrary to,
Speaker:or against something.
Speaker:You know the bratty two-year-old who
Speaker:will tell you the sky isn’t blue just
Speaker:because you said it is?
Speaker:This is the position that has,
Speaker:as its essence,
Speaker:the fact that it’s not some other
Speaker:position,
Speaker:but that’s all it is.
Speaker:It’s the “anti” position.
Speaker:However,
Speaker:an independent thinker forms their
Speaker:opinions and ideas from scratch,
Speaker:not merely in opposition.
Speaker:They do not care about what they
Speaker:disagree with or dislike.
Speaker:For them,
Speaker:critical thinking is not a competition
Speaker:with a winner or a loser.
Speaker:Something within them guides the
Speaker:formation of their opinions – their
Speaker:own experience,
Speaker:logic,
Speaker:reasoning,
Speaker:desires and values.
Speaker:Sure,
Speaker:the outcome is often at odds with
Speaker:convention.
Speaker:But being at odds is not the goal.
Speaker:There’s usually a hearty dose of
Speaker:emotional bias,
Speaker:excitement,
Speaker:passion,
Speaker:or ego driving their resistance for a
Speaker:contrarian.
Speaker:For independent thinkers,
Speaker:though,
Speaker:the thought process is less flashy,
Speaker:more reason-driven,
Speaker:and,
Speaker:well,
Speaker:not as glamorous!
Speaker:Meanwhile,
Speaker:for contrarians,
Speaker:the goal may be to bolster a certain
Speaker:ego-image,
Speaker:or it may be a deeply unconscious
Speaker:psychological need to dominate,
Speaker:to be heard,
Speaker:to stand out,
Speaker:or to protect against assumed attack.
Speaker:The focus and direction of such
Speaker:thinking is external – it pushes
Speaker:against other people and attempts to
Speaker:certainly affect other people.
Speaker:Some find them fun and interesting and
Speaker:creative and brave,
Speaker:while others find them annoying and get
Speaker:tangled in arguments with them.
Speaker:But for independent thinkers,
Speaker:other people are… beside the point.
Speaker:The goal is to understand.
Speaker:To figure things out.
Speaker:What other people think?
Speaker:Largely irrelevant.
Speaker:Now,
Speaker:contrarians and independent thinkers
Speaker:often arrive at the same conclusions,
Speaker:but the question is why they end up
Speaker:there.
Speaker:They’ll often do the same actions
Speaker:(for example,
Speaker:“question everything”)
Speaker:but for very different reasons.
Speaker:Often,
Speaker:a genuinely independent thinker will
Speaker:win the admiration of others,
Speaker:who then attempt to mimic that person
Speaker:(see level 1 above)
Speaker:and attach themselves to that worldview
Speaker:to be contrarian.
Speaker:But the independent thinker does not
Speaker:consider the popularity of his position
Speaker:as an indication of its value – he
Speaker:isn’t interested in fame,
Speaker:but he also doesn’t relish notoriety!
Speaker:The Fundamentals Of Independent Thought.
Speaker:Let’s look at ways to develop
Speaker:autonomous,
Speaker:critical thinking in ourselves.
Speaker:Independent thinking is not a
Speaker:personality trait or fixed behaviors
Speaker:but a continually refined attitude
Speaker:expressed in habits.
Speaker:Habit 1 - Critical reading.
Speaker:To practice and strengthen your ability
Speaker:to generate your own opinion,
Speaker:you need to take in information from
Speaker:various sources and engage with it.
Speaker:Passive reading merely absorbs the
Speaker:content with no individual response.
Speaker:But critical reading is where you
Speaker:practice passing the material through
Speaker:your filters,
Speaker:turn it over in your mind,
Speaker:and examine it on many levels.
Speaker:There are two ways to read - Reading
Speaker:the words (i.e.,
Speaker:comprehending the surface level meaning
Speaker:being conveyed),
Speaker:and.
Speaker:Reading beyond the words (i.e.,
Speaker:not automatically assuming the words
Speaker:are a perfect and truthful
Speaker:representation of reality,
Speaker:and becoming curious about how and why
Speaker:the words have been written as they
Speaker:have).
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:you may read a popular current events
Speaker:magazine piece about the dazzling new
Speaker:frontiers of cryptocurrencies and how
Speaker:tech empires are being built to reshape
Speaker:the digital world.
Speaker:If you are just reading the words,
Speaker:you merely try to comprehend and absorb
Speaker:the material as it’s given.
Speaker:You assume the excitement and optimism
Speaker:in the piece is natural and obvious,
Speaker:and the author’s opinion is an
Speaker:objective reflection that this topic is
Speaker:exciting.
Speaker:At the end of the piece,
Speaker:you think what the author thinks.
Speaker:Or you could read the words,
Speaker:and also read what isn’t written -
Speaker:What is fact,
Speaker:and what is just presented as fact?
Speaker:What are the assumptions the author is
Speaker:making?
Speaker:In what ways is the reader being led,
Speaker:convicted or even manipulated?
Speaker:Why was this piece published and not
Speaker:literally any other piece?
Speaker:Who is this author,
Speaker:and what is their incentive –
Speaker:economically,
Speaker:psychologically or culturally?
Speaker:Who benefits from you reading this
Speaker:article and going along with its
Speaker:premise?
Speaker:What is the evidence for the view being
Speaker:put forward?
Speaker:Independent of what the author thinks,
Speaker:what do you think about this topic?
Speaker:You could read to find out what other
Speaker:people’s opinions are so that you can
Speaker:have them too.
Speaker:Or you can read to gather information,
Speaker:analyze it,
Speaker:and use it to inform your own position.
Speaker:It’s a mistake to think that
Speaker:“critical reading” means exposing
Speaker:yourself only to that material you
Speaker:already like and agree with.
Speaker:But an independent thinker is not
Speaker:threatened by low-quality or
Speaker:challenging information – because
Speaker:they trust their ability to appraise
Speaker:and evaluate whatever is in front of
Speaker:them.
Speaker:Habit 2 - Not getting too fond of your
Speaker:own perspective.
Speaker:Don’t be the person who finds their
Speaker:position and then clings onto it
Speaker:forever after,
Speaker:no matter what.
Speaker:Humans have a natural bias for
Speaker:protecting and defending the opinions
Speaker:they already hold.
Speaker:They naturally seek information that
Speaker:confirms these opinions,
Speaker:and work hard to discount everything
Speaker:that directly challenges it.
Speaker:To be an independent thinker,
Speaker:you need to get into the habit of
Speaker:poking holes in these cherished
Speaker:opinions.
Speaker:Now,
Speaker:this is not a cognitive or intellectual
Speaker:exercise.
Speaker:It’s a psychological one.
Speaker:Most people have ample brain power to
Speaker:see the plain truth.
Speaker:However,
Speaker:even ultra-intelligent people
Speaker:jeopardize themselves when allowing
Speaker:bias,
Speaker:ego and fear to control them.
Speaker:Getting too attached to your
Speaker:perspective means you don’t abandon
Speaker:it when you should – i.e.,
Speaker:when confronted with ample evidence
Speaker:that something is rubbish.
Speaker:Many people like to style themselves as
Speaker:smart philosopher types yet only seem
Speaker:to invoke their vast intellectual
Speaker:powers to reinforce sloppy beliefs and
Speaker:opinions they formed without a second
Speaker:thought.
Speaker:Be independent of other people’s
Speaker:opinions,
Speaker:but free yourself from the chains of
Speaker:your own outdated opinions,
Speaker:too.
Speaker:This takes two things - humility and
Speaker:curiosity.
Speaker:Thinking novel,
Speaker:original thoughts means we have to go
Speaker:outside our comfort zone.
Speaker:The biggest threat to generating a
Speaker:truly unique and new idea is the
Speaker:assumption that you have the best idea
Speaker:already!
Speaker:Independent thinkers can think outside
Speaker:themselves and try different worldviews
Speaker:for size.
Speaker:They genuinely want to see the world
Speaker:through the eyes of people different
Speaker:from them.
Speaker:That means that they don’t engage
Speaker:others to argue or win them over but to
Speaker:actively expand their own understanding.
Speaker:They don’t read new material,
Speaker:get into conversations about the idea
Speaker:that they need to defend themselves,
Speaker:or forcefully make their point until
Speaker:the other person recognizes them as the
Speaker:winner!
Speaker:Habit 3 - Being O. K. With Being
Speaker:Disliked.
Speaker:Independent thinking means thinking
Speaker:that is not dependent.
Speaker:But,
Speaker:dependent on what?
Speaker:The thoughts,
Speaker:opinions,
Speaker:reactions or behavior of others.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:you think what you think even if other
Speaker:people don’t agree,
Speaker:don’t understand,
Speaker:or actively don’t like you because of
Speaker:it.
Speaker:It comes down to how you view the
Speaker:purpose of thinking - For conventional
Speaker:thinkers,
Speaker:an opinion or thought is an identity
Speaker:marker,
Speaker:or a stick to beat others with.
Speaker:It’s something done to win other
Speaker:people’s approval or comply with
Speaker:norms and fashions.
Speaker:They engage at the superficial level,
Speaker:i.e.,
Speaker:within the realm of other people’s
Speaker:thoughts about reality.
Speaker:For independent thinkers,
Speaker:the primary goal is always to learn,
Speaker:understand,
Speaker:and directly engage with reality.
Speaker:Therefore,
Speaker:having their thoughts and opinions
Speaker:disliked is not a problem.
Speaker:It’s far more satisfying to be
Speaker:respected than to be liked.
Speaker:Being the same as people around you can
Speaker:outwardly make you feel safe and
Speaker:accepted.
Speaker:Isn’t it better to witness and
Speaker:appreciate the differences in one
Speaker:another and still respect them and
Speaker:cooperate,
Speaker:not in spite of differences,
Speaker:but because of them?
Speaker:Mature adults can disagree without it
Speaker:threatening their relationship or
Speaker:causing trouble.
Speaker:They also don’t expect everyone else
Speaker:to be identical to them as a condition
Speaker:of their friendship or affection.
Speaker:They enjoy and relish challenges and
Speaker:differences.
Speaker:They like the friction and find it
Speaker:useful and generative.
Speaker:A group where everyone thinks the same
Speaker:is not experiencing true harmony and
Speaker:closeness;
Speaker:rather,
Speaker:they have all merely agreed to mimic
Speaker:one another in non-threatening ways.
Speaker:There is one big difference between the
Speaker:contrarian thinker and the independent
Speaker:one - the ego.
Speaker:For the former,
Speaker:the most important is the ego,
Speaker:and their way of thinking and being in
Speaker:the world is present to serve that.
Speaker:Meanwhile,
Speaker:the most important thing is genuine
Speaker:insight,
Speaker:understanding,
Speaker:creativity,
Speaker:and mastery for the latter.
Speaker:If the selfish ego hinders that,
Speaker:then that ego is dropped,
Speaker:every time.
Speaker:Habit 4 - Always staying curious.
Speaker:The ego wants to have all the answers,
Speaker:like a precious possession to be
Speaker:hoarded and guarded from others.
Speaker:Conventional thinkers prefer the
Speaker:feeling of being seen to be right than
Speaker:they do actually being right.
Speaker:One final habit that sets independent
Speaker:thinkers apart is their commitment to
Speaker:curiosity,
Speaker:instead of clinging to assumed
Speaker:“facts” and never questioning them.
Speaker:Genuinely questioning the world is a
Speaker:lot harder than it looks.
Speaker:How many of us assume that if someone
Speaker:quotes a scientific paper in their
Speaker:argument,
Speaker:this is automatically sound and has to
Speaker:be accepted?
Speaker:How many of us see statistics and
Speaker:assume that it is correct – because
Speaker:numbers are more trustworthy than
Speaker:words,
Speaker:right?
Speaker:How many of us believe that if a Doctor
Speaker:of Philosophy expert in their field
Speaker:says something,
Speaker:it must be true?
Speaker:Well,
Speaker:this information may be true.
Speaker:But if it is true,
Speaker:it’s not because it was in the right
Speaker:publication,
Speaker:or written by the right author,
Speaker:using the right terminology.
Speaker:It’s true because we could find
Speaker:enough sound evidence to support the
Speaker:fact.
Speaker:This is a subtle but major distinction.
Speaker:As independent thinkers,
Speaker:we question everything,
Speaker:including the ingrained and culturally
Speaker:sanctioned methods of questioning what
Speaker:others have taught us!
Speaker:You are most at risk for sloppy and
Speaker:useless thinking when you are most
Speaker:blind to your own shortcuts,
Speaker:assumptions,
Speaker:prejudices or expectations.
Speaker:It’s great to challenge all the
Speaker:biases you’re already familiar with,
Speaker:but what about all those biases
Speaker:currently invisible to you?
Speaker:How are you going to uncover them?
Speaker:Independent thinkers are driven not by
Speaker:the desire to conform and win
Speaker:everyone’s approval,
Speaker:but they are also not reacting
Speaker:defiantly by being automatic rebels.
Speaker:Instead,
Speaker:they care most about real,
Speaker:valuable ideas,
Speaker:thoughts they generate themselves,
Speaker:and using that power of thought to its
Speaker:maximum potential.
Speaker:Independent thinkers are driven by a
Speaker:passion far greater and more lasting
Speaker:than the compulsion to aggrandize the
Speaker:self – they want to improve in life,
Speaker:learn,
Speaker:grow,
Speaker:and bring illumination and
Speaker:understanding to the world in general.
Speaker:It’s a much bigger prize,
Speaker:isn’t it?
Speaker:What independent thinking actually
Speaker:looks like.
Speaker:At this point,
Speaker:let’s clarify a few characteristics
Speaker:of the independent thinker -
Speaker:•They can gain awareness of their own
Speaker:thinking as thinking,
Speaker:and take conscious control over it
Speaker:rather than passively and unconsciously
Speaker:going along with others.
Speaker:•They trust their own perceptions,
Speaker:will,
Speaker:desires and interpretations and do not
Speaker:automatically privilege other people's
Speaker:over their own.
Speaker:•They are comfortable going outside
Speaker:their comfort zone,
Speaker:and don’t mind admitting errors or
Speaker:being disliked for their positions.
Speaker:•They take in enormous amounts of
Speaker:information but actively engage with
Speaker:it,
Speaker:not just on a superficial level but
Speaker:also critically.
Speaker:•They know their cognitive biases,
Speaker:expectations,
Speaker:blind spots,
Speaker:and the ever-present ego and try to
Speaker:minimize any disturbance to their
Speaker:genuine understanding.
Speaker:A conventional thinker occupies a
Speaker:mental model unconsciously,
Speaker:and the model they use may be something
Speaker:of someone else’s creation.
Speaker:An independent thinker knows many
Speaker:mental models,
Speaker:and owns their responsibility to choose
Speaker:which one to occupy,
Speaker:and for what reasons.
Speaker:This section will look at a few key
Speaker:historical figures who are broadly
Speaker:considered to embody the above
Speaker:characteristics.
Speaker:These thinkers and theorists have
Speaker:demonstrated thoughts and opinions so
Speaker:genuinely novel and independent,
Speaker:that they always have changed the
Speaker:course of history or else drastically
Speaker:broadened the existing paradigm.
Speaker:But in reading about these people,
Speaker:we are not trying to answer the
Speaker:question,
Speaker:“how can I be more like them?"
Speaker:That is simply level 1 thinking!
Speaker:Instead,
Speaker:we want to see what we can learn from
Speaker:their experience,
Speaker:and understand what it says about our
Speaker:own.
Speaker:You may wonder if independent thinkers
Speaker:are always philosophers and scientists.
Speaker:Independent thinking can manifest as
Speaker:the scientific method,
Speaker:but this is not all it is.
Speaker:Seeking evidence,
Speaker:establishing the truth through
Speaker:experiment and falsifiability,
Speaker:and using reason and logic are all used
Speaker:in the sciences,
Speaker:but they are more rightly a part of a
Speaker:broader approach to reality.
Speaker:You need not be a scientist to be an
Speaker:independent thinker!
Speaker:As long as you are questing for deeper
Speaker:understanding and will consider your
Speaker:role in the equation,
Speaker:so to speak,
Speaker:then you are a critical and independent
Speaker:thinker.
Speaker:The people we’ll discuss below all
Speaker:liberally used analytical,
Speaker:logical,
Speaker:conscious,
Speaker:and reflexive mental models.
Speaker:These models gave them a richer and
Speaker:more lively perspective on reality than
Speaker:people who merely swallowed convention
Speaker:without a second thought.
Speaker:You could argue that independent
Speaker:thinking should just be called…
Speaker:thinking.
Speaker:Everything else is a knee-jerk
Speaker:reaction,
Speaker:habit,
Speaker:ego,
Speaker:coping mechanism or piece of culture.
Speaker:Let’s see what we can learn from the
Speaker:independent thinking heavyweights.
Speaker:Socrates – teaches us about
Speaker:challenging assumptions.
Speaker:Socrates was basically a one-trick pony.
Speaker:That trick?
Speaker:Asking questions.
Speaker:That’s it.
Speaker:Socrates wanted to understand.
Speaker:He wanted to dig dep,
Speaker:and when he thought he found an answer,
Speaker:he questioned that.
Speaker:He knew that correctly honed mental
Speaker:faculties were humanity’s saving
Speaker:grace,
Speaker:and he took it as his mission to use
Speaker:dialogue,
Speaker:logic and reason to uncover the truth.
Speaker:Besides Socrates’ philosophy,
Speaker:he was known for what’s now called
Speaker:Socratic dialogue.
Speaker:Reality is revealed to us when we
Speaker:engage with our ignorance.
Speaker:In curiosity,
Speaker:we ask questions,
Speaker:and keep on asking them.
Speaker:We question even our questions,
Speaker:and our means of interpreting the
Speaker:answers.
Speaker:We start from the bare bones,
Speaker:assume nothing,
Speaker:and take small logical steps to
Speaker:discover what we absolutely can know.
Speaker:Socrates would demonstrate this
Speaker:dialectic to uncover hidden assumptions
Speaker:in a literal conversation.
Speaker:Step by step,
Speaker:the Truth is revealed.
Speaker:In classical Socratic dialogues,
Speaker:two people discuss higher concepts like
Speaker:virtue,
Speaker:the nature of knowledge,
Speaker:and art.
Speaker:But we can use a similar approach to
Speaker:uncover assumptions in our everyday
Speaker:lives.
Speaker:We can ask questions such as - “What
Speaker:do I mean by X. Y. Z. ?"
Speaker:(what assumptions have I made about
Speaker:definitions?)
Speaker:“What is my evidence for thinking
Speaker:this?"
Speaker:(do I have any reason to believe it?)
Speaker:“What do I know here?"
Speaker:(and what am I simply guessing?)
Speaker:“What am I (or you)
Speaker:not seeing?"
Speaker:(I may have made an error by omission)
Speaker:Getting a handle on your own
Speaker:assumptions means being willing to
Speaker:think from scratch.
Speaker:Consider even what you think is obvious
Speaker:and ask,
Speaker:is it really that obvious?
Speaker:Is it a given?
Speaker:You might ask yourself a series of the
Speaker:above questions five times in a row to
Speaker:get to the root of your deepest held
Speaker:assumptions.
Speaker:This process might not illuminate the
Speaker:truth,
Speaker:but it will show you more clearly any
Speaker:impediments to seeing that truth!
Speaker:“I think I’ve got cancer."
Speaker:Is that so?
Speaker:“Well,
Speaker:I’ve got this weird lump,
Speaker:and I know what that means… cancer!"
Speaker:Does a lump always mean you have cancer?
Speaker:“Well,
Speaker:I don’t know.
Speaker:But I’ve read that it’s a big
Speaker:warning sign."
Speaker:Is what you read absolute proof that
Speaker:you have cancer right now?
Speaker:“Well,
Speaker:no,
Speaker:obviously not.
Speaker:But I could."
Speaker:What is the evidence?
Speaker:“There’s no evidence exactly…”
Speaker:So,
Speaker:what do you really know?
Speaker:“Uh.
Speaker:I guess the only thing I really know is
Speaker:that I have a lump."
Speaker:Niall Ferguson – teaches us the power
Speaker:of counterfactual thinking.
Speaker:Famously a historian who wrote about
Speaker:alternative history (specifically,
Speaker:what life would have been like if
Speaker:Germany had won World War I. I. ),
Speaker:author Niall Ferguson was a master of
Speaker:using the all-powerful phrase,
Speaker:what if?
Speaker:Counterfactual thinking is an
Speaker:out-the-box approach that is
Speaker:intrinsically innovative and creative.
Speaker:Every independent thinker must be
Speaker:familiar with the process of seeing
Speaker:what is… and being curious about what
Speaker:isn’t.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:in business,
Speaker:you could use counterfactual thinking
Speaker:to look at past failures and imagine
Speaker:how things could have played out
Speaker:differently,
Speaker:thus devising an improved strategy that
Speaker:prevents those mistakes in future.
Speaker:If you’ve asked a question and gotten
Speaker:a puzzling answer,
Speaker:it’s counterfactual thinking that
Speaker:helps you imagine what the right
Speaker:question would look like.
Speaker:This thinking style is a little strange
Speaker:and unfamiliar to those used to working
Speaker:only with what’s right in front of
Speaker:them.
Speaker:Still,
Speaker:for those natural inventors and
Speaker:creatives of the world,
Speaker:thinking about what could be is as
Speaker:important as thinking about what is.
Speaker:When you ask what if,
Speaker:you step out of your comfort zone,
Speaker:drop all assumptions and pet theories,
Speaker:and take a leap into the possible,
Speaker:potential,
Speaker:and theoretical.
Speaker:This is where novel solutions are
Speaker:found,
Speaker:new ideas are explored,
Speaker:and fresh views are taken on old
Speaker:situations.
Speaker:In a way,
Speaker:Socrates was also a counterfactual
Speaker:thinker in the sense that he repeatedly
Speaker:asked,
Speaker:“what if everything I think I know is
Speaker:actually wrong?
Speaker:What then?"
Speaker:Friedrich Nietzsche – teaches us
Speaker:about perspective.
Speaker:Nietzsche was a philosopher who knew
Speaker:how much ego stood in the way of
Speaker:understanding,
Speaker:and he made liberal use of teasing,
Speaker:criticism and humor to poke holes in
Speaker:the prevailing yet unexamined
Speaker:ideologies of the time.
Speaker:Rather than being a nihilist,
Speaker:Nietzsche was instead keenly aware of
Speaker:the fact that every person inhabits a
Speaker:particularly conditioned perspective,
Speaker:informed by where they’re born,
Speaker:when,
Speaker:how they’re educated,
Speaker:who their parents are and what their
Speaker:culture teaches them.
Speaker:Unaware of their impact,
Speaker:we are slaves to these influences.
Speaker:But if we become aware of our
Speaker:circumstances,
Speaker:we give ourselves choice.
Speaker:We master ourselves and the world at
Speaker:large,
Speaker:and become the creators of our
Speaker:experience rather than at its mercy.
Speaker:Nietzsche believed that one way to get
Speaker:outside of these perspectives was to
Speaker:liberally try on as many as possible,
Speaker:and genuinely see the world through
Speaker:other people’s lenses.
Speaker:Nietzsche said,
Speaker:“There is only a perspective seeing,
Speaker:only a perspective "knowing";
Speaker:and the more affects we allow to speak
Speaker:about one thing,
Speaker:the more eyes,
Speaker:different eyes,
Speaker:we can use to observe one thing,
Speaker:the more complete will our "concept" of
Speaker:this thing,
Speaker:our "objectivity," be."
Speaker:Thus,
Speaker:all there is in the world for us as
Speaker:human beings are different subjective
Speaker:perspectives of that world.
Speaker:But if we can appreciate as many
Speaker:perspectives as possible,
Speaker:we gain a richer and more intelligent
Speaker:view of that world.
Speaker:For Nietzsche,
Speaker:there are no facts,
Speaker:only interpretations,
Speaker:and every person adopts their worldview
Speaker:and mental models to serve their needs.
Speaker:Our egoism is merely a narrowing of
Speaker:perspective;
Speaker:to free ourselves as much as possible,
Speaker:we need to widen that perspective and
Speaker:mix it up.
Speaker:One great way to do this - find a point
Speaker:of view that is diametrically opposed
Speaker:to your own,
Speaker:and pretend it is your own.
Speaker:Make arguments for it.
Speaker:Imagine that,
Speaker:in its way,
Speaker:it makes complete and perfect sense.
Speaker:Genuinely engage with people who
Speaker:disagree with you – imagine that in
Speaker:doing so,
Speaker:you are accessing another aspect of the
Speaker:issue that you were previously blind to.
Speaker:Your world becomes bigger.
Speaker:Summary -
Speaker:•Independent thinkers can think
Speaker:logically,
Speaker:clearly and autonomously,
Speaker:outside the pressures of their
Speaker:cultures,
Speaker:upbringings,
Speaker:past experiences or historical period.
Speaker:They are conscious and aware,
Speaker:rather than reactive and automatic,
Speaker:and can truly think (and experience)
Speaker:for themselves.
Speaker:•Cultivating independent thought
Speaker:takes time and effort.
Speaker:The first stage is to assemble a
Speaker:patchwork identity as an independent
Speaker:thinker,
Speaker:and mimic others we see around us.
Speaker:The second stage is to gradually
Speaker:develop trust in our own perceptions
Speaker:and intellectual faculties,
Speaker:while occasionally deferring to
Speaker:convention.
Speaker:The final step is truly independent
Speaker:thought.
Speaker:This free,
Speaker:adventurous,
Speaker:creative,
Speaker:and proactive thought originates purely
Speaker:within us.
Speaker:•The fundamentals of critical thought
Speaker:include learning to take in information
Speaker:(especially reading)
Speaker:critically,
Speaker:dropping the ego so that you don’t
Speaker:get stuck in any one perspective or
Speaker:opinion,
Speaker:having the bravery to be disliked for
Speaker:being different,
Speaker:and maintaining an open and receptive
Speaker:rather than closed mind.
Speaker:Conventional thinkers differ from
Speaker:independent thinkers in their approach
Speaker:to reality itself,
Speaker:and how they see the function of
Speaker:thinking.
Speaker:For the former,
Speaker:it’s to bolster the ego.
Speaker:For the latter,
Speaker:it’s for the thrill of encountering
Speaker:reality directly.
Speaker:•Independent thinking is a way of
Speaker:being that can be practiced and
Speaker:nurtured.
Speaker:We do this by cultivating awareness,
Speaker:dropping ego,
Speaker:and learning to engage critically with
Speaker:the information we take in.
Speaker:This is not the same thing as being a
Speaker:contrarian,
Speaker:who goes against the grain merely to
Speaker:rebel.
Speaker:•Many famous independent thinkers
Speaker:throughout history shed light on how we
Speaker:might develop the capacity in ourselves.
Speaker:Socrates teaches us the power of asking
Speaker:questions and uncovering our
Speaker:assumptions by taking nothing for
Speaker:granted.
Speaker:Niall Ferguson teaches us about
Speaker:counterfactual thinking,
Speaker:and imagining answers to the question
Speaker:“what if?”,
Speaker:and Nietzsche teaches us the value of
Speaker:perspective-switching to enrich our
Speaker:perception of the world.
Speaker:This has been
Speaker:The Independent Thinker Written by
Speaker:Patrick King
Speaker:Narrated by Russell Newton.
