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Quote by: Isherwood  A major component of free thinking is to become aware of those influences. Once you become aware of them, they lose much of their power over you. For example, if I believe Bob is an expert on a particular topic and accept everything he says about it without question, I'm not thinking. Once I realize Bob may not be absolutely correct in everything he says, I become free to question his assertions. The more I question, the more information I have to base my own thinking on. Awareness and skepticism are enemies of blind acceptance. |
Bingo. A free thinker is not someone unaffected by outside influence, but rather a person who is aware of that influence and seeks to understand how it can affect his every decision and his thought process.