"Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece."
-- Ralph Charell
Good advice, but isn't it a bit obvious? Like "don't stand in the rain"?
Or rather, people who need that advice, do you think they understand it?
13 comments:
If you follow his advice, are you thinking independently? Are you being your own man? It seems like everyone conforms to one group or another, and the truly original, independent thinkers are very rare.
Don't stand in the rain? And why the hell not? Sure, you'll get wet, but you'll get wet in the shower as well... I'll never understand why people think sun is good and rain is bad. One word: cancer.
This world needs independent, responsible thinkers. And movers.
Thanks for that, anonymous, you crazy bastard. Don't sleep in the subway either. Good advice.
If the student is ready he'll understand what he's told. This is a sort of transitional wisdom in that it tells you what to do but it doesn't tell you how to do it. I imagine it's a teacher or a parent coming to somebody that's nearing adulthood, saying, "You're old enough to stand on your own. Stop leaning on other people." Many don't realize when this time has come, or they're too afraid to step out on their own. That's where a quote like this comes in handy.
People who GIVE that advice, do you think THEY follow it?
"Hey, let me tell you something: don't ever do what anyone else ever tells you to do."
Hmm ...
I was going to quote "The old man in the shack", but I couldn't remember the full quote. I did Google "would you like to sing to my cat", and landed on a ZZ9 plural Z alpha page, but not with the full quote.
Shame, because it was really a very apt quote, and quite funny too.
Don't sleep in the subway? Why the hell not? I can assure you that it beats spending all night walking home. And by all night, I mean all 8 hours of it. And yes, you can be damn sure I'll never be doing that again.
Good advice, but isn't it a bit obvious? Like "don't stand in the rain"?
The majority of people would probably say that you should go with the crowd. Most people seem to believe that conformity is good.
Nearly all the people in the world believe conformity is good. There are a few psychotics who recommend a wild cacophony of disparate ideals, but mostly we all of us want people to conform to what we think of as decency and goodness and effectiveness and humaneness.
The question isn't whether conformity is good; the question is TO WHAT are you conforming?
Define conformity. Is this all about independence of mind / thought, or not? Is this the leaders / followers debate?
Someone (a rather questionable character of history) once said "What luck for rulers that men do not think....".
Advice can be a good thing, as long as the receiver is equipped mentally, socially, rationally, to absorb, digest and assimilate into a decision (or lack of) on what to do with it.
But ultimately, it all depends on a combination of factors that weave the tangled web of history and future.....Mans constant struggle with interacting with itself....
It's about individuals making their own decisions in their own life.
Amen. and about living in the circumstances that allow them to do so. :-)
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