Start Thinking

Yesterday on Outside the Box, I did a post with regard to writing that encouraged you to stop thinking.  Today, though, I thought I needed to do an opposite post in regard to living to encourage people to start thinking.

And I'm sure this doesn't apply to you, but here it is anyway.

You've got that big melon on your shoulders for a reason, and it's for more than keeping your ears at an attractive distance from each other.  Think. 

When presented with something online that seems in the least bit hinky... Think.

When presented with something that seems perfectly rational... Think.

Consider everything from every aspect.  Always.

It's a lot of work, I know.  Sometimes it's easier to simply accept what people are telling you.  But it's worth the work. 

Years ago, I had a close friend call me in a tizzy asking me to find out if something she'd received in her email, from a trusted source no less, was true.  I did some research and found a bunch of sites proclaiming the truth of what she'd been told.  And a bunch of sites denouncing it as bunk.  In the end, I figured out it was, in fact, bunk.  And I eased her mind.  (No, she did not have internet, so she couldn't have done the google-fu herself.)  Lucky for her, she was already doubtful enough to contact me.  She was thinking.

I have people tell me things all the time that sound suspicious.  'If you see a bobcat during the day, it must have rabies.'  Umm, no.  But I did the work and confirmed the truth.  'You've got fire ants in your tree.'  I didn't need to do research to debunk that one.  'There's a black panther living in these parts.'  Unless and until I see it, it's a myth.  'I had a mountain lion in my yard. Here's a picture of it's footprint in the mud.'  Umm, that's a canine track.  See the claw marks...

Anyway, those are simple examples, but I don't want to get into some of the HUGEly stupid political/social things I've heard recently.  And people are passing them around like a cold in a Kindergarten classroom.  Think. 

Because, really, we have enough ignorance in the world already.