In early primary school, there was a game called "follow the leader" where there would be one student chosen with the others lined up behind, and everyone had to follow what the leader did unthinkingly. I guess, it was meant to get us ready for our future as adults, where we blindly consume what is put in front of us, and do what we are directed to do, thoughtlessly.
I disliked the game.
I was never a good sheep.
But then, who would admit to being a sheep? Yet, under a little bit of reflection, I suspect a lot of "independent" thinkers are actually just sheep, following a trend. It might not be the mainstream trend that they are slave to, but a trend nonetheless. I think a lot of the conspiracy crowd fall into this group, where they don't actually think through their conspiracy and instead just accept whatever information they consume and believe, and then amplify it. It is often easy to spot when people are using the latest terms in that area.
They are regurgitators, not thinkers.
Maybe it is because we have become accustomed to "feeling right" because we have everything at our fingertips, that we believe that whatever we believe is right also. After all, we feel right, and why would we believe something that is wrong? We can keep on clicking down the rabbit hole, confirmation bias after confirmation bias, feeling correct, feeling part of something, feeling knowledgeable, feeling righteous - without even cursory critical thinking.
This is why religion works.
We are geared to be followers as part of our social evolution, because in order to work together, we can't all be leaders. As the saying goes, "too many cooks spoil the broth". And this has set up a problem which is another part of the reason that society is collapsing, because many believe that they are independent, but also entitled to get what they want, in the way they want it, from shared resources. Not just this, so many consider themselves leaders because they have isolated themselves from other people, but are actually followers who are directed by the massive volume of content they consume. And that content is to make profit, not improve wellbeing - so the actions they are making run counter to what they believe it to do.
Self-care is a term used to justify selfish behaviours.
But the thing is, sheep don't know they are sheep. They are just following what their nature tells them to do, which is to follow what the other sheep are doing. If they had to justify why they should or shouldn't follow, they couldn't, because they don't have that reasoning ability. Yet, we do have that reasoning ability, but what are we using it for?
Justifying why we choose not to think?
Maybe it is because we have so much on-demand supply for what we desire, that we have actively chosen to move away from thinking for ourselves. There is a tool for everything, right? A tool so we don't have to calculate, so we don't have to remember, so we don't have to build or repair, so we don't have to learn. It is all just there, at our fingertips, or a few clicks away for a replacement. We needn't think for ourselves, because we can source thoughts and opinions, answers and theories without using our mental energy. Using our brain is energy intensive and we are designed to avoid it. And with all the tools we have available to us, we can.
But everyone thinks they are thinking.
If we looked honestly at ourselves and thoughts we have created, are we?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
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