If you think for yourself, you question the world and offer alternative viewpoints about the way the world is perceived by other people.
When we say think for yourself, we don’t mean ‘think selfishly for yourself’. We mean ‘think independently’. A person who thinks for herself or himself has to have a sense of humility, and of modesty, and of relativity because you have to realise that other people are also thinking for themselves and you’re bound to come out with something a little different from what they are thinking. In order to become a critical thinker, you have to have the ability to listen and the modesty to adjust your point of view as you gather more insights.
By doing the following activity, you can determine if you have the ability to think for yourself. For this activity you will need a newspaper and a pair of scissors. The date of the newspaper is not important, therefore you are welcome to use either an old or a new newspaper.
Activity
Activity 1.4
- Cut out at least seven pictures of your choice of men and group these pictures together on your desk.
- From the same newspaper cut out at least seven pictures of your own choice of women and group them together next to those of the men.
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Activity
Activity 1.5
Compare the pictures of the men and women and ask yourself the following questions:
- Why did you choose the particular pictures of the men?
- Why did you choose the particular pictures of the women?
- What does it tell you about yourself?
- Who is portrayed as being more professional, the men or women? Why do you say so?
- Who is portrayed as being more powerful? Why do you say so?
- What is the message conveyed by the difference in dress between the men and women?
- What are the men in the pictures doing?
- What are the women in the pictures doing?
- What is the message conveyed by what the gender groups are doing?
- Where do you get your ideas about the difference between men and women from?
- What have you learnt from this exercise?
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Activity
Activity 1.6
If I asked you for tips on how to learn to think for myself, which of the following tips would you give me? What would you add?:
- If in doubt, ask a question. Don’t be afraid to question things. Don’t be afraid to offer a question even though other people in your peer group have not questioned before.
- Place experience over authority.
If one reflects upon what the authority figure is conveying to you, does it fit in with your real-life experience? For example, if someone with authority tells you that taxis drive very safely, ask yourself if this fact is confirmed by your experience.
- Understand people.
Does the person communicating with you have an agenda that might be influencing what they are telling you? What is motivating this person? Why do you think they think this way?
- Don’t feel you have to follow the crowd.
Remember the old saying, “If Johnny puts his hand in the fire, it does not mean that you have to do that too.”
- Trust your feelings.
Trusting your “gut instinct” about something is often an overlooked trait. If something does not feel right to you there is probably something wrong (or at least something seriously flawed) with what you are being told.
- Remain calm.
Remaining calm and collected will help you remain objective and help you to think clearly. If you get caught up in a heated debate and lose your cool, your capacity for rational thinking is diminished.
- Gather the facts.
Like any good thinker would do, gather all the facts before making a judgment. Ask yourself whether you have all the facts? Are there gaps in your knowledge that are keeping you from the truth or from the solution to a problem?
- Look at things from different perspectives.
If you are trying to solve a problem, try approaching it in different ways. If one way hasn’t worked for you, try a different one! Try and see ideas or concepts from different perspectives. For example, would someone growing up in Japan think the same way about a subject as someone from South Africa? To think for yourself also means being creative in the sense that you often have to be very imaginative and creative about other possibilities, imagine alternative scenarios and consider different options.
- Cultivate empathy.
It is easier to understand why people think the way they do if you understand their situation. Empathising with people helps you understand that you may have a different opinion about something but that’s OK!
- Be brave.
It takes courage to stand up and say, “I don’t agree with you.” Be kind to yourself, be patient and don’t give up.
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