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Don’t leave home without your camel

“Someone who automatically disagrees with popular opinion is a grouch. Someone who always agrees with popular opinion is a fool.”

The camel is a self-sufficient, independent creature that can cross vast distances of dry deserts. Its great strength comes from storing thousands of gallons of water. Have you heard of the metaphor referring water for wisdom, “thirst for knowledge.”?

Do you hold, at least three, of your most unwavering views in politics, culture, lifestyle, economics or beliefs? Honestly, how many of them that you hold strongly have you come upon such views after thorough investigation? Or do you have that Ah-ha!  understanding on your own with your independent analysis?

Looking from within, not others– because we can’t read people’s minds unless we are God– we dazzle ourselves so much that our views on positions are really held by the news and popular mass media.

To prove my point, a study might make our face cringe after learning where we actually stand. Because in 1953, Psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a ‘scientific experiment.  In the room,  Asch had secret collaborators and a genuine subject. They were to purport a response to the same advertisement. He showed drawings of various lines and asked everyone to estimate their lengths. When the secret stooges responded accurately, so did the genuine subject. When the secret collaborators/stooges gave a prearranged uniform wrong answer, the subject usually ended up mimicking the same, even with the wildly improbable (not true) figure. And so, Asch’s experiment proved very useful.

Most people permit the largest, loudest group-think that holds the mainstream opinion. Most people allow themselves to be swayed away from their independent thinking and viewpoint— “let’s all agree” no matter how preposterous and obviously wrong the narrative is. This empowerment most people give to or buy into the untrue but popular mindsets can be fatally harmful to us, our finances, our families and our faith.

And by the way, before you leave home,  before you go that long-distance journey—against the extreme irrational conditions of social pressure: Make sure you “fill your cup to overflowing” with wisdom and knowledge.

  • Question of

    Are you a free-thinker?

    Tell us what you think:

    • Yes
  • Question of

    Do you allow the more popular mindset tell you what to think?

    Tell us what you think:

    • Yes
    • No
  • Question of

    Do you allow the more popular mindset tell you what to think?

    Tell us what you think:

    • Yes
    • No

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What do you think?

17 Points

19 Comments

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    • I agree. Your observation is the same that came to my mind while writing my post. In my home, I teach my children to be filled with knowledge and wisdom (weighing things carefully), have deeper understanding, and not just lazily believe everyone says. I tell them to keep asking questions and investigating towards truth.

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        • It’s funny (laughing at myself) you say that about “growing older”. I agree, and I make effort to my mind filling it with knowledge and wisdom. You’re also right about our societies’ dumbing down the younger generation. We should not allow our own children to get duped in to the group-think.

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          • I don’t think society is necessarily dumbing down the younger generation, but children are often told “because I said so” or “it’s just this way”. If they get their “why” questions answered often enough, this may encourage their critical thinking. It’s hard to find the balance when life is so fast and busy.

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  1. @DocAndersen I don’t answer hypothetical questions.

    In fairness, experts USE Internet to let their knowledge, expertise, evidence-based facts, truths be out there to the independent thinkers and diligent learners. Thanks to the network of transmitting information and data people use, the Internet.

    That is an interesting analogy. However, back to the premise of my OP “Camel= independent thinker; desert= the world outside of our own, Water= wisdom.

    Because you refer to the Internet as a pool (pool of water? or pool of fools? —such as the group-think mainstream majority– pooling together inviting unaware jumpers into their ‘snare’ or NET in total agreeance with each other without questioning and investigating the depth and probable danger into which they are jumping into (Refer to my post link above: Solomom Asch experiment 1999). Then, your hypothetical analogy would make sense.

    Thank you for your time and interesting input, @DocAndersen. It makes me think.

  2. News media and medical research if not independent can skew popular opinion to which ever side it wants. Today’s news media in most countries and research is funded by the powers that be and you can judge for yourself how much of the truth the public get to hear.

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  3. i am always nervous when someone argues with me, and then says “convince me I am open-minded.” I learned years ago that no matter what trust but verify.

    check the sources,
    then find the other side.

    if you don’t know the other side, you don’t know your own side.

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    • There’s this thinking-toolbox we, as humans endowed in our brain to use. When we aren’t knowledgeable on a certain subject, the wise thing is to ask authority— somebody who is knowledgeable on the subject. Say, with 30++ years of experience, 30++ years of study-trial-and-error-till-they-get solutions to the problem, 30++years of experience in the business on how to generate money for the economy, family and future generations, for example. Books, lots of books, and extensively studied and recorded in journals are the places to research and investigate, and arrive at own conclusion because of our independent analysis.

      But, being independently thinking humans, we must be extra cautious of this thing called: Faulty appeal to authority. And being sturdy as a camel that drink lots and lots of water (wisdom) for the desert journey, we know and discern who these “sources” that claim the majority and power and popular authority on the subject— beware!

      Unless you become a grouch or a fool. Whichever.

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      • One of the differences in the internet age that has changed things is the reality of the creation of experts.

        30 years ago expertise was proven in journals. The journals had an editorial review, with 2 or 3 experts reviewing your work before publication.

        In that case, you were an expert.

        today far too many people on the internet proclaim themselves experts.

        that reality is a bad thing.

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        • Internet does not ”create experts” or does not “create” authorities on any subject. It’s “a computer network of transmitting data of information and computer networks and protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange.” Because of the Internet, getting information is a lot easier and quicker. Instead of opening my massive and heavy Webster or Macquire Dictionaries/Thesaurus, I just go to the Internet and within seconds, the info of thousands of words are there.

          Books and thousands of scientific journals of 30++ years of fact-based evidence and proof of any knowledge we want to research and study, are now available on printable PDF form.

          Thanks to the invention of the speedy Internet.

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          • interesting.

            I always tell people the following.
            The internet is a pool.
            You are on a 50-foot tower.
            The only way down is to jump.

            if the only pool is the internet would you jump?

            in fariness the internet does create experts. They are called influencers!

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