Jamie Massey

The secret is inside your skull. Develop your reasoning ability and then trust it. That's the key to our success, even to our very survival. Why then is thinking one of the most underrated of human activities? There have long been many people who would rather you not think, just accept how they have it figured. Bah humbug to that! We are human beings, not fleecy little lambs.

 

Most adults say they're too busy to think. They're working, watching TV, listening to the radio, and steering through traffic, but not thinking is a habit many people fall into. Some are so out of shape mentally they need to schedule time to reflect on life, and if that's what it takes, then do it! Take a long walk and get some blood pumping to your brain. Your dog may need deserve a walk too, but go alone and ponder. Dare to have an original thought.

 

Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Question with boldness even the existence of God, for if there be one, he must more approve of the homage than of blindfolded fear?" You don't really believe that there's a hell for those with an honest difference of opinion. Try to trust your wits. If you conclude what you were told as a child is true, then bravo to you for examining your presuppositions. Just remember that when you were forming your image of the world you were being told lies about Easter bunnies, Santa Claus, ghosts, fairies, and a whole lot of nonsense.

 
We will need our brains in the future even more desperately than we need them now. Overpopulation, the spread of nuclear weapons, and global warming will mean a far different future than any of us have imagined. With rigid minds and a belief in our own inadequacy, how can we possibly adapt?

 

What can we do to prevent disasters? Belief in imaginary deities didn't stop the Plague that devastated Europe in the Middle Ages, the influenza epidemic that killed 20 million in 1918-1919, the horrors of World War II, or the genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, and Rwanda. (Where are those guardian angels when you really need one?) People look for answers in books written when little was known about successful human relations, biology, medicine, chemistry, physics, or astronomy? Please do better.

 

If you become a thinker, not all of your conclusions will be happy ones. Please don't feel rushed or compelled to believe anything. If you must believe in something, believe in yourself. Better yet, believe that with intellectual integrity we will not just survive but flourish and make it a better world. It's not an outer space fantasy. With strong, rational minds we will find happiness. We will live long and prosper.