These are all really interesting insights about the nature of how culture impacts us but I think there’s an aspect of it that rarely gets explored.
The phrase “Think for yourself” is inherently contradictory. By definition, if someone else tells you to think for yourself, you’re doing what other people think you should do.
As a result, it reinforces the very thing it’s trying to get you not to do. You can also create a culture of belief in anti-establishment or “rejecting dominant structures” can become a dominant culture in and of itself. Which creates the problem where you end up realizing this and destroy your own ideas.
I think this is in part what we’re seeing. Halloween is intended to be subversive by dressing up as the thing you’re not so you can go back to your normal life refreshed. At least that’s my view.
Thanks for sharing, Andrew. I don't see advising others to "think for yourself" as implying a contradiction or as alienating. For it to be contradictory or alienating we would need to tell the person to think for themselves while also pressuring them to accept particular and ideas or claims without offering reasoned support. There's simply no way for humans to escape cultural social influence. The very use of language is a consequence of this influence. The distinctive characteristic of genuine freedom of thought and Independence of thought is the reliance on reason rather than arbitrary external authority.
For example if we are being instructed to think rationally as well as independently, we are certainly being given guidance. But this guidance is different from being told x is true and y is true and these must be believed. So I would argue that the fundamental distinction is between indoctrinating people or pressuring them to believe a particular doctrine compared to facilitating free thinking and rational, ethical inquiry. On the subject costumes, I agree that the holiday holds significant creative-subversive potential whereby we could stretch cultural imagination and experiment with new ways of thinking and being.
The massive pressure to conform to grouping is so weighty. Especially for young people. I recall feeling myself to be agonizingly an outsider in high school. I'm still an outsider at 82 but cherish the freedom to build my own thoughts and personality. You brought up an important perspective, Dr. Nall.
Thank you for sharing your perspective and experience. I think we need to acknowledge that authenticity is an achievement, a way of being that requires significant effort and commitment. Ideally we would support each other in being our truest selves while also insisting that this true self adhere to fundamental ethical principles.
These are all really interesting insights about the nature of how culture impacts us but I think there’s an aspect of it that rarely gets explored.
The phrase “Think for yourself” is inherently contradictory. By definition, if someone else tells you to think for yourself, you’re doing what other people think you should do.
As a result, it reinforces the very thing it’s trying to get you not to do. You can also create a culture of belief in anti-establishment or “rejecting dominant structures” can become a dominant culture in and of itself. Which creates the problem where you end up realizing this and destroy your own ideas.
I think this is in part what we’re seeing. Halloween is intended to be subversive by dressing up as the thing you’re not so you can go back to your normal life refreshed. At least that’s my view.
Thanks for sharing, Andrew. I don't see advising others to "think for yourself" as implying a contradiction or as alienating. For it to be contradictory or alienating we would need to tell the person to think for themselves while also pressuring them to accept particular and ideas or claims without offering reasoned support. There's simply no way for humans to escape cultural social influence. The very use of language is a consequence of this influence. The distinctive characteristic of genuine freedom of thought and Independence of thought is the reliance on reason rather than arbitrary external authority.
For example if we are being instructed to think rationally as well as independently, we are certainly being given guidance. But this guidance is different from being told x is true and y is true and these must be believed. So I would argue that the fundamental distinction is between indoctrinating people or pressuring them to believe a particular doctrine compared to facilitating free thinking and rational, ethical inquiry. On the subject costumes, I agree that the holiday holds significant creative-subversive potential whereby we could stretch cultural imagination and experiment with new ways of thinking and being.
The massive pressure to conform to grouping is so weighty. Especially for young people. I recall feeling myself to be agonizingly an outsider in high school. I'm still an outsider at 82 but cherish the freedom to build my own thoughts and personality. You brought up an important perspective, Dr. Nall.
Thank you for sharing your perspective and experience. I think we need to acknowledge that authenticity is an achievement, a way of being that requires significant effort and commitment. Ideally we would support each other in being our truest selves while also insisting that this true self adhere to fundamental ethical principles.