Thought Slavery
If “You are what you think” is the latest
and the oldest philosophy you have ever heard, Stop! Sit down some where. Close
your eyes. And now be honest and tell yourself …how many of your thoughts are
original? What I mean is, which are the thoughts that were really created by
you? Not borrowed from some one else. May it be on anything and any topic? Think….think…..try
finding out only one thought……that was not influenced by any one else in
anyway!
Have you found one yet? ……..quite impossible isn't it? Rather if you have found one such very original thought that was ever
conceived by you and you only and is delivered in to this universe……….congratulations…….you
are not a “thought slave”!
I am sure if you are doing this you would've found out by now…………..none of the most of your thoughts are yours! Of all the
thoughts that you think you are thinking are just some one else’s thoughts passed
on to you……..over years….
The moment a child is born and by the time his/her
brain starts developing its cognitive abilities……….he is already prone to listening
to people discussing their thoughts in many different ways on many different
things. There is no other way. Even though I am not a certainly qualified
person to talk about the science and social behavioral patterns of human
beings, that mold the brains and characters of an individual in the society, I
am curious enough to think about how these have built us as particular
individuals that we are today. Simply because we were exposed to things that forced
us to believe in what we agreed as true and false, right and wrong, good or bad
….and so on.
Obviously most of these recognition are not original but are the
lessons taught by our elders to believe it so……..they are not even our experiences……..its
theirs or probably not even theirs but their forefathers and the predecessor’s!
I know….I know…what else could you have
done but be there and done that? Nothing. There was and is a certain age till
when all your thinking is carefully drafted and instilled by your parents, relatives,
teachers and other societal beings around. The fears, the happiness, the sorrows
and the cause-effect analysis of doing something because it was told to be done
so………but for how long?
At the adolescent age obviously the brain
which has also been growing along …..Starts its own magic! Suddenly it starts
questioning the right and wrong! The god and bad! And the so called “just do it”
starts feeling like an unacceptable domination by elders! That’s exactly when you start thinking your
original thoughts! Yeah…..at around 14-16 when you become an indecent child, disobedient
student, etc as they say…..which is a proof that your brain has started
thinking on its own!
Phew….some parents might hate me for this……..but
this is the truth…….until then, all kids are “parental thoughts slaves”………”societal
thought slaves”!
Very well. What’s my point here then? How
many of us have let that part of the brain nourish that started questioning and analyzing? How many of us have used it till certain age and how many more
of us have completely killed it once we
started recognizing ourselves as elders and part of the society?
Millions of us. At one point, which differs
with each individual in life………we stopped being original or we kept on
accumulating others thoughts and ideologies as our own. First, at the school,
then at the public gatherings, thirdly by the influence of talks that we held
with our surrounding circumstances. Every one around convinced us “He said
that, she said that……this is considered good ….this is bad……this is the faith…..this
is the ultimate truth……and everything else is foolish, stupid, and unreasonable
……and hence unacceptable!”…Wow ! And most of us have not really bothered to
question any of these thought dumping into our brains.
There was never a class on “How to think
and how to create your original thoughts”!.......all that we did in the name of
education is to collect the facts of what was the experiences of that
generation……and how they have completely believed that it works best for them!
It was simply passed on…..is being passed
on………we feel so much chained to come out and think is it true at all? Are their
thoughts mine too? Do I have the same experiences? Even if I can identify my
every thought with theirs, am I bound by any certain rules for “not to change
my thoughts with time and experiences”?
There are two things that govern human behaviors always …….one, the profit
that they get out of doing certain acts and the other the fear of experiencing
something undesirable if you did not follow what was told to you…………………yes ,
absolutely nothing else drives anyone to do any action. It is only the “benefit”
or the “fear”.
Have you one day, sat calmly some where and
let all your thoughts about the issues that concern your life to analyse how
true are your instilled perceptions and how it affects your life , if you were
not to follow those?
Some of us may have done that in different
ways but have we done that without attaching any benefits or fears to the consequences
of our actions? Hell no…….we always feared……we always thought that it is a safe
bet to follow some one else and be happy rather than take risk and hit the
arrow in the dark. …………….thought slavery started. We are the slaves of someone
else’s thoughts and some one else’s experiences! We don’t even jump an ant if
someone said that it was wrong! Just because he/she thought so! Just because
they said so……..where is the originality? Where is the novelty? Where is the “I
am what I think” concept? Where am I even thinking on my own?
Here is where…..all of us thought slaves ….are
endlessly stuck and fighting based on racial, communal, religious, political,
social and scientific random preaching
of some one with limited minds , limited experiences and limited rationality
convinced a huge lot of humans to agree with him/her. We kill each other because some one doesn't like some one else……we start yelling and
humiliating each other because some one some day had his reservations about
food habits, dressing sense, social behaviors and music /dance and all other
things…….
How blindly and happily we agree to be
their thought slaves……..without ever questioning anything using our brain and
so called rationality. How insanely we
can get argumentative about what is right and what is wrong for some one to
behave in society in a particular manner. And how irrationally we attach all
these communally created etiquette to our religions and fight over how some one
else should behave and not us!
This is just another “bonded labour system”
……..you have pledged your brains and soul to some one who has convinced you
that he is more capable to decide your life than yourself! Alas, no law or no
other human can come and de chain you from this slavery. It’s just you……and you
alone can stand up to be original and be the master of your entire life!
So get up, wake up and realize that you are
not what some one else thought you should be…….and not what you could be.
All it takes is a moment of your life to
pull down these chains and inspire yourself to be the most powerful master of
your own life. Love your thoughts and you will become what you think………by being
yourself!
