Think for Yourself
As a teacher, I challenged students with the following statement: “If you believe everything I say, you may be an idiot.” Please, the goal of that statement is not to call anyone an idiot, it’s just to raise awareness that we need to focus on what we believe and stand for. Our environment and socialization can sometimes make it challenging for us to form our own thoughts and opinions. Especially with today’s internet and social media, we can be easily persuaded to conform to social norms or what's expected from us. We shouldn’t always believe everything everyone says.
As we become better at thinking for ourselves, it may put us in situations of questioning, challenging and disagreeing with others. This can be a very positive thing as long as we can disagree in an agreeable way. We must approach questioning others with respect and basic social understanding that they have different values, backgrounds and point of views. If in the end we agree to disagree, then we do not need to hate one another. These skills are essential for creating lasting relationships and a strong society.