Are you a free thinker?

Question

Or are you easily influenced by whatever random ideas people tell you, or write? Will anyone admit to not being a free thinker? I doubt it.

Answer 1

I am only caged by the safety nets I require, still I do try to fly without a net...

I wish not to sway too much, must feel a repetition in ideas presented to feel it's an idea worth considering, so rarely that I swallow and hold an idea newly presented, as part of myself... but it has happened

I maybe have called myself a free thinker, but it's more true that I drift in and out of the thinking wars, and most often hold my place on the side, the observer.... ah but speak to my heart, engage with me about the morsels of knowledge I am quietly fierce about, and I will likely flood the cup you've held out to me...

My suggestion to all and sundry, find an umbrella, then keep it handy, lovely things they are... yet sometimes equally nice to feel the cool rain kisses upon your face...

Answer 2

On the basis that i believe "civilized" sentience is based on language and concept and that therefore thinking is not particularly objective or purely subjective but more an intersubjectivity, i believe that i am not a free thinker. However, thanks to recombination, a myriad reshifting of other-subjective thought and a pretty good imagination i find that i am, at the least an original thinker perhaps.
So-i do admit to not being a free thinker, statements contrary to that are too ego-driven to see the influences of the world at work in themselves.

Answer 3

What is a free thinker? I think either we are all free thinkers or none of us are. Ultimately, don't we all choose what we think, yet at the same time we are all influenced by other people.
Many atheists accuse "religious" people of not being "free thinkers". Would they think I am a "free thinker" if I changed how I felt because they wanted me to? Doesn't make sense to me. They want me to be a free thinker, yet they want me to look at the world through their eyes.

Answer 4

if to be a free thinker u have to be truly unique then no one is, when was the last time u heard a truly original idea? We listen to the ideas around us and pick the ones we agree with most, sure we change somethings but some other person thinks the same as well, ppl have been around to long questioning things for us to be totally uninfluenced. our ideas come from somewhere they are learned from someone. The only thing we can hope for is open mindedness and most ppl are never truly open minded either, we all have things we are closed minded on no matter what. wow I'm cynical :-)

Answer 5

I think most people are free-thinkers but we are all influenced more heavily by some people and ideas in our lives than by others. The real question is how heavily do you allow others to influence your thoughts, decisions, and actions? No one can be completely free from outside influences and if they claimed to be then I'd have to ask them where they got the idea for the term "free-thinking" from in the first place? :)

Answer 6

I would say that noone is truly a free thinker. Every man must submit his mind to something or someone. Those who claim to think only for themselves and "however they please" are most likely not actually free but instead submitting their reason to one or more of their various passions or desires for the sake of something other than thought itself.
I suppose the real question is what is the right thing(s) or right person(s) to be influenced by?
So you doubt wrong- I, for one, am not a free thinker.

Answer 7

I'm influenced by someone else only if what they say makes sense. Other than that I believe I am a free thinker.

Answer 8

depends on what the thought is..... and to be honest we all follow something, usually installed into us via a parental figure or someone else whos had an influence on our life! I cant say that some of us arent free thinkers on most things but in general we all share something that someone else has said and we agree.... now is that free thinking or just following the leader?

Answer 9

I'm a freethinker, as for being a free thinker, I'll say I'm a 9 out of 10.

Answer 10

I don't think anyone starts out as a free thinker because as a child you have adults telling you what to do. But as I have gotten older, and gained more knowledge my ability to freely think gets greater with each passing year. It's a growing process.