Question about BIP

[hunter s.durden]

I usually don't. I see people happily going about their lives and I leave them alone.
I also see unhappy people that just won't get it, and I leave them alone too.

Occasionally however, I run across someone who knows something isn't right, but can't put it to words. I say "read this, and tell me if it makes sense."

I have found the literature in this forum infinately useful and interesting, so to me it's all been worth it. Nothing pointless about it.

[Sir Perineal]

I usually don't. I see people happily going about their lives and I leave them alone.
I also see unhappy people that just won't get it, and I leave them alone too.

Occasionally however, I run across someone who knows something isn't right, but can't put it to words. I say "read this, and tell me if it makes sense."

I have found the literature in this forum infinately useful and interesting, so to me it's all been worth it. Nothing pointless about it.

But isn't giving someone a pamphlet just providing them yet another prison to fall into?  Or, to put it another way, doesn't putting the words "think for yourself" onto various media and distributing them imply a contradiction?

[hunter s.durden]

No.

If you were to find a BIP pamphlet in, say, a copy of Steal This Book, you are perfectly free to ignore it.
Or pitch it.
Roll it up and smoke it for all I care.
If you think for yourself, you don't blindly follow everyscap of paper you find.

[Sir Perineal]

No.

If you were to find a BIP pamphlet in, say, a copy of Steal This Book, you are perfectly free to ignore it.
Or pitch it.
Roll it up and smoke it for all I care.
If you think for yourself, you don't blindly follow everyscap of paper you find.

This brings me back to "thinking for yourself."  Are we saying that thinking for yourself is better than not doing so?  What does it even mean to think for yourself?  Are we free to do anything?  Is freedom even real?

[hunter s.durden]

Are you happy with your life?

[Sir Perineal]

Are you happy with your life?

How do you define happiness?

[hunter s.durden]

I don't.

[Sir Perineal]

I don't.

Then how can I answer your question?

[hunter s.durden]

Think for yourself.

[Sir Perineal]

Think for yourself.

Okay, but I wanted to know what that means.  You seem to have given me a circular response.

[hunter s.durden]

I already explained it.

[Sir Perineal]

I already explained it.

Oh, I guess I missed it or didn't understand.

It just seems to me that telling someone "think for yourself" doesn't make sense, because isn't that the only thing anyone can ever do?  I guess a better question is, how can anyone not think for themselves?  If they are blindly accepting the ideas of others, didn't they have to decide to do so in the first place?  "Think for yourself" seems like a tautology.

[hunter s.durden]

Keyword: seems

It's not physically thinking we are talking about.

Look at the 4th or 5th post in this thread (my 1st or 2nd post).

We all too often do things because of heavy outside influence and don't realize it.
One instance might be to work a job we hate because we are expected to do it.
Another might be liking a band because they are in the genre you are expected to like.
A discordian may be compelled to say the 23 movie was good, even though they hated it.
It happens everywhere.

[Sir Perineal]

Keyword: seems

It's not physically thinking we are talking about.

Look at the 4th or 5th post in this thread (my 1st or 2nd post).

We all too often do things because of heavy outside influence and don't realize it.
One instance might be to work a job we hate because we are expected to do it.
Another might be liking a band because they are in the genre you are expected to like.
A discordian may be compelled to say the 23 movie was good, even though they hated it.
It happens everywhere.

I think I see what you're saying.

But is it really possible to form your own opinions, as you said before?  It seems like all we ever do is absorb information and rearrange it in our heads, ever since we were born.  Even the way we think about that information is guided by either some instinctual process or by thought processes that were taught to us.  Is instinctual thought somehow better or even truly possible to isolate?

[hunter s.durden]

You are asking many of the very questions pondered and bounce around by our impressive array of BIP contributors.

Short Answers:
1. I hope so. I believe I can, and I have fun doing so.

2.Non-issue for me. I'm content with whatever thought process is happening right now.

Remember, my end all is true contentment. If I'm heading in that direction, i'm good.
Results may vary.