It’s hard to understate the importance of being able to make up your own mind.
It sounds pretty straightforward in principle but can be much more challenging in practice.
Think of all the different screens and sources of information to which you have access throughout the day.
Every one of them is a potential source of manipulation, if we’re not careful.
When narrative managers tell us that we must not listen to or consider what another person is saying, they’re not trying to protect us from misinformation.
They’re trying to protect their narrative from facts or ideas that may cause us to question it.
We can be manipulated by them to the extent that we allow them to dictate the limits of what we may or may not consider.
Our job, as seekers of truth, is to consider all pertinent information and then to make up our own minds as to what it all means.
We don’t need to be shepherded into believing what someone in power wants us to believe.
Becoming an independent thinker means refusing to outsource your ability to study things out and to decide for yourself what is correct.
This isn’t a matter of having an inflated sense of knowledge or being the smartest person in the room.
It’s admitting that you don’t have all the answers but you’re willing to work to find them.
It’s good to be open-minded.
It’s also perfectly fine to commit to the truth at some point.
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