Are you an independent thinker?

Here’s a great test. Go to any college or high school classroom, and ask for a show of hands. “How many of you feel you are independent thinkers?” Virtually every person in that class will raise his or her hand. But to an adult, most of those kids are all dressed relatively the same. If you really want to get to them, follow up your first question with questions like these:

•    How many of you are wearing tennis shoes?
•    Guys, how many of you are wearing pants?
•    How many of you are wearing jeans?
•    How many of you like rap or hip hop?

You could go on and on, asking them all the things young people like to listen to, wear, or eat, and you’ll get them to keep raising their hands. Pretty soon you’ll start to either hear snickers as they catch on to what you’re doing, or you’ll see defensive scowls as you have just pointed something out to them they didn’t want to hear: people aren’t as independent as they think. Especially young people who are desperate to stand out in a sea of mediocrity.

Let’s take that one step further… Ask the guys in the class how often they wear a dress in public. After the laughter dies down, everyone realizes your point. In our society, “independence” is a relative term.
I wish I could take credit for the above scenario. When I was in college, one of my humanities professors did that to my class, and even though I don’t even remember that professor’s name, his point was well taken and I’ve never forgotten it.

We already know that people tend to think more highly of themselves than others do, and this transcends into their beliefs that they are independent thinkers, when they are not. Looking at my story above, imagine a person from another country coming to yours and looking around. Certainly you would look and sound very much like the rest of your countrymen.

One of my favorite quotes related to the arts is “Insanity verges on genius” because sometimes it takes extreme thinking to be truly creative. Sometimes what is seen as “on the edge” today becomes mainstream at a later time. That’s not to say that there is anything wrong with mainstream thought. In fact, I believe mainstream thought is often overlooked – especially when it comes to weight loss – because it is considered too safe.

If you really want to push yourself intellectually, think of the story above. Think of the foreign visitor to your country. Are you just a slight variation of the people around you? Or do you think outside the box of mainstream thought in order to come up with new solutions and new ideas? This is what separates the leaders from the followers, between playing it safe and reaching higher. To play it safe is to follow all the rules, theories, and dogma society has created. To reach higher is to find new and better ways – more effiecient ways – to solve problems and improve the quality of life, whether at home or work.

Embrace mainstream thought when it works, but don’t be afraid to chuck the whole thing and think from square one. Never be afraid to suggest what might seem like an insane solution, because sometimes insanity verges on genius.