Learning to think for yourself.
I wish I had known the value of thinking for myself like 10 years ago. Growing up, I kinda just let myself believe whatever my teachers and my family told me to think. There were no political or scientific debates around the dinner table at my house. There were no consequences for thinking one way or another and nobody questioned any of it.
Then God wrecked my life.
I became a Christian in high school, but I didn't become a thinker until college. When I came to college, I realized I would have to defend my faith on an intellectual level. Suddenly, my entire way of thinking about others, about God, and about the world didn't work anymore, and I felt attacked by most of my professors and thier curriculum.
Also in my life at this time, I was spending a lot of time with Ivan. He is someone who grew up experiencing "thinking for yourself" in a very different way. His family would have big discussions over the dinner table about all sorts of things. And Ivan grew always questioning everything...always curious about everything (its one of the things that makes him so charming). Every time he is confronted with a viewpoint different than his, he examines it carefully from all sides before making a decision about it, rather than following one way blindly.
I am eternally grateful to Ivan for causing my to have to step outside of my box a lot more often than I would like to. Things are always interesting when he's around.
Still, I am just a beginner at thinking for myself, and that's sad. I am determined that my kids won't have that same struggle.
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