Think for
Yourself

There's a name for something I've noticed for years. A thought-terminating cliché. Robert Jay Lifton came up with the term. It's a ready-made line you say when you don't want to answer the point.

"It is what it is." "Do your own research." "Everything happens for a reason." "That's just how it's always been."

They sound like an answer. They're really a door closing. Nobody can argue with them, which is exactly the trouble. Nothing comes after them.

I've caught myself doing it. Somebody makes a point I can't knock down, and out comes a little saying that sounds wise and gets me off the hook. I nod like I settled something. I didn't. I left.

So I'm trying a new habit. When I hear one, from me or anybody else, I stop and ask what question it just shut down.

Usually that's the one worth going back to.

I've noticed "think for yourself" is everywhere lately. Same three words, same order, same tone, typed out by a whole lot of people who all seem to have arrived at it at the same time.

Which is a little funny when you sit with it.

If a thousand people say the exact same independent thought, word for word, I start to wonder where it came from. A slogan doesn't stop being a slogan because it's about not following slogans.

And a big account saying something with a lot of confidence doesn't make it so, either. Loud and right are two different things. They just show up together sometimes.

Thinking for yourself, as best I can tell, mostly sounds like "huh, let me check." It's not a catchy line.

An hour of hard work and you feel fine. Sore, maybe, but fine. An hour of scrolling on your phone and you feel like somebody let the air out of you.

Seems backwards. One of those I did nothing at all.

I've seen folks say they deleted the apps and got their attention span back, like finding your keys in the coat you already checked. I believe it. Whatever that hour of scrolling is doing, it isn't rest. Rest doesn't leave you wanting to lie down after.

I'm not throwing my phone in the creek. But I've started noticing which kind of tired I am at the end of the day. The hard work kind is a lot better company.

This week "think for yourself" is mostly an insult. People throw it the way a Southerner says bless your heart. It isn't an invitation. It's a door closing.

If the phrase only shows up when someone wants you quiet, it doesn't mean anything anymore. The practice is quieter than the slogan. Turn the noise down. Read the thing. Sit with it until you're uncomfortable. Then disagree, if you still disagree.

I read a line that stuck. If you can't think for yourself, you're probably watching the television. If you can, the system is probably watching you.

I don't know if that's clever or just true. The anchors aren't confused. The check clears. The question is still the same one. If they wanted you informed, why do you feel so lost after an hour of news?