{"id":809,"date":"2008-08-04T10:00:29","date_gmt":"2008-08-04T17:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/"},"modified":"2019-03-08T05:55:04","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T13:55:04","slug":"how-to-think-for-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Think For Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ThinkForYourself.png\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be a buffalo.<\/p>\n

When buffalo were still common in North America, Native American hunters learned a trick to hunt the herd animals.  Buffalo don\u2019t look up when moving as a group.  In fact, if a few buffalo in a herd were startled into running, the entire herd would charge, even if most of the buffalo had no idea what they were running from.<\/p>\n

The Native American hunters learned that if they encouraged a few buffalo to start running towards a cliff, the entire herd would run off the edge.  The buffalo followed the group thinking, and couldn\u2019t stop themselves\u2013even when it meant their own deaths.<\/p>\n

Although you\u2019re probably not gullible enough to run off a cliff, it\u2019s easy to stop thinking for yourself.  It\u2019s easy, because you don\u2019t realize when you\u2019re doing it.  Thinking for yourself takes effort, and it\u2019s easy to be tricked into going over the edge.<\/p>\n

Why Think For Yourself?<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m not an expert on 99.99% of the areas of human knowledge.  In the other 0.01%, I probably have adequate knowledge, far from being complete.  Although this may sound like an exaggeration, I think it\u2019s fairly common.  The amount of knowledge available in the world is so vast, and the time needed to learn only a few percentage points is decades.<\/p>\n

Given this handicap, doesn\u2019t it make sense just to follow what experts tell you?  How can you \u201cthink for yourself\u201d when you are completely ignorant about most of the knowledge in the world.  Thinking for yourself sounds noble, but shouldn\u2019t you just give up and rely on people with specialized knowledge to tell you what to believe?<\/p>\n

I think a lot of people have fallen into this trap.  Overwhelmed by the amount there is to know, and surrounded by experts willing to offer canned opinions, many people just give up.  They stop thinking for themselves because it seems easier than sorting through the jungle of human knowledge.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, when you stop thinking for yourself, you give up control.  Other people can manipulate you into believing, not what is true, but what benefits them.  Even when their motives aren\u2019t so sinister, you lose the ability to make decisions for yourself.<\/p>\n

Sacrificing the ability to think for yourself, often leads to sacrificing the ability to make decisions for your life.  In cultures that promote strict adherence to a set of beliefs, the natural coupling is strict adherence to a way of life, whether it is a religious cult or political totalitarianism.<\/p>\n

Intellectual Independence<\/h2>\n

The world is becoming increasingly reliant on information as a source of power.  While this affords more opportunities, it also means intellectual independence is more important.  Whenever knowledge becomes a source of power, it can be used as a weapon against people who aren\u2019t thinking for themselves.<\/p>\n

Intellectual independence isn\u2019t easy.  If you can only hope to amass a sliver of the entirety of human knowledge in your lifetime, you\u2019re going to take shortcuts.  You\u2019re going to need to use expert opinions and you\u2019re going to need to accept some conclusions without rigorously researching the evidence.  You just don\u2019t have the time.<\/p>\n

But just because shortcuts are inevitable, that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t think for yourself.  Thinking for yourself means you need to be careful about what shortcuts you take.  It means watching the ideas you are exposed to and avoiding the mental viruses that can infect you and disable your ability to think.<\/p>\n

Mental Viruses, The Plague of the Future<\/h2>\n

A virus is an organism that sits in the void between life and non-life.  Composed of bits of genetic instructions, it\u2019s mission is to hijack the life it occupies in order to make copies of itself.  Computer viruses are named because they have a similar strategy, although it is digital, and not biological.  A computer virus will infect a machine, tricking it into creating copies of itself, often causing damage to the host computer.<\/p>\n

A mental virus acts in a similar way to a computer virus.  Except, instead of being transferred in bits and bytes, mental viruses are transmitted through thoughts and ideas.  Ideas that, while appearing harmless, they hijack the thinking of the individual and are designed to keep that person from thinking for themselves.<\/p>\n

Mental viruses sound like something out of science fiction, but they are cleverly disguised into modern day life.  A mental virus is a dogmatic system of ideas.  It\u2019s a system of ideas that not only claims to be true, but is designed to force belief, even when it doesn\u2019t make sense or fit the available evidence.<\/p>\n

An example of a particularly deadly mental virus would be the religion created by Jim Jones in the 1970s.  Convinced of the ideas presented in the People\u2019s Temple, the followers of the cult all committed suicide, one of the largest mass suicides in the last 2000 years.<\/p>\n

A far less deadly, but still viral set of ideas is in place in the system of many political parties.  By organizing political beliefs, which are diverse and complex, into simple parties, many people vote for candidates the way they would cheer for a sports team.  These people support a party on principle, even when they support some political ideals they don\u2019t believe in.<\/p>\n

Another example of viral philosophies is the organization of many religions.  The teachings of the religion themselves, aren\u2019t viral.  However, most religions have adopted the idea that \u201cfaith\u201d or support of the religion, in spite of reasoning or evidence.  This trick turns an otherwise supportive set of beliefs and ideals into dogma, preventing followers from thinking for themselves, turning into a mental virus.<\/p>\n

Viruses Aren\u2019t Evil, But You Still Need to Be Vaccinated<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m not trying to attack organized religion or political parties.  They can have benefits, even if many of them have adopted virus-like features.  Thinking for yourself doesn\u2019t mean immediately rejecting everything that looks like a virus.  If you did that, you\u2019d have to reject huge systems of organized thinking which have unfortunately adopted viral features.<\/p>\n

Thinking for yourself means you need to get vaccinated.  It means you need to learn to separate the good ideas from their mental virus counterparts.  You may agree with many of the ideas of a religion or political party, but a free-thinker would avoid the \u201cus versus them\u201d or \u201cfaith without reason\u201d mental traps that turn them into viruses.<\/p>\n

Even something non-dogmatic like science can adopt virus-like qualities in the hands of the wrong people.  I believe in global warming because I think the evidence supports it.  However, many activists encouraging change to stop global warming have taken science and added virus-like features of scare-tactics and dogmatism to help spread their ideas.  I personally don\u2019t believe these additions are necessary, but it shows that even something positive and non-viral can easily start to become a mental virus that prevents free-thinking.<\/p>\n

How to Think For Yourself<\/h2>\n

Thinking for yourself doesn\u2019t mean knowing everything, or being able to check every fact.  There was possibly a time in human history where an educated individual could understand most of formal human knowledge.  That time is long gone, and even free-thinkers need to accept the limitations of living in the 21st century.<\/p>\n

However, just because we\u2019re limited doesn\u2019t mean we need to sacrifice everything.  There are a few key steps that allow you to think for yourself, even in a knowledge-saturated world:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Vaccinate against mental viruses.<\/li>\n
  2. Be as informed as you can about topics relevant to your life.<\/li>\n
  3. Put no authority higher than your ability to think for yourself.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Vaccinating against mental viruses means you take an outsider’s perspective.  I\u2019ve read many different books on spiritual philosophies and religion.  Although I\u2019m a scientific, rational person, I\u2019ve found many of these ideas incredibly helpful.  However, I\u2019m careful to focus on the content of those belief systems, and not the small traps that force me to swallow ideas without thinking.<\/p>\n

    Any philosophy you encounter should have an escape route.  Some way that you can gather evidence that the philosophy is wrong.  If it doesn\u2019t have an escape route, or it is unreasonably difficult to find an exit, you probably have a virus.  Separate out the dogmatic parts so you can get the ideas without the addiction.<\/p>\n

    Thinking For Yourself Takes Effort<\/h2>\n

    More than just being on guard for mental viruses, thinking for yourself requires that you learn a lot.  Your ability to think is only as strong as the mental resources you have behind it.  That means learning a lot about subjects relevant to your life, it also means spending a lot of time thinking about ideas after you\u2019ve read them.  Learning isn\u2019t a passive activity.<\/p>\n

    What are subjects relevant to your life?  I think everyone\u2019s list will differ, but I think an understanding of nutrition, health, psychology, science, philosophy, business, politics and your profession are just a few to start.  Of course it isn\u2019t easy to learn from such a broad list of subjects, but the benefits are added power to control your own life.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019ve previously written about my goal of learning everything<\/a>.  I don’t see this as a passive hobby, but a crucial activity.  If you aren\u2019t learning as much as possible and digesting that information, you\u2019ll lose power to make the best decisions for your life.  Instead, you\u2019ll be forced to rely on other people, like a buffalo running towards a cliff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Don\u2019t be a buffalo. When buffalo were still common in North America, Native American hunters learned a trick to hunt the herd animals.  Buffalo don\u2019t look up when moving as a group.  In fact, if a few buffalo in a herd were startled into running, the entire herd would charge, even if most of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[656,681],"tags":[159,60,157,160,22,162,161,7,158],"class_list":{"0":"post-809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-life-philosophy","7":"category-nc-mindset","8":"tag-ideas","9":"tag-independence","10":"tag-intellectual-independence","11":"tag-mental-virus","12":"tag-philosophy","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-religion","15":"tag-spirituality","16":"tag-think-for-yourself","17":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Think For Yourself - Scott H Young<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thinking for yourself takes conscious effort. Learn how to think for yourself and prevent charging like a buffalo at the end of a cliff.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Think For Yourself - Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thinking for yourself takes conscious effort. Learn how to think for yourself and prevent charging like a buffalo at the end of a cliff.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AuthorScottYoung\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-04T17:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-08T13:55:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/thinkforyourself.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scott Young\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@scotthyoung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@scotthyoung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott Young\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Scott Young\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\"},\"headline\":\"How to Think For Yourself\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-08-04T17:00:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-08T13:55:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1671,\"commentCount\":10,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/thinkforyourself.png\",\"keywords\":[\"ideas\",\"independence\",\"intellectual independence\",\"mental virus\",\"philosophy\",\"politics\",\"religion\",\"Spirituality\",\"think for yourself\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Life Philosophy\",\"Mindset\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Think For Yourself - Scott H Young\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/thinkforyourself.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-08-04T17:00:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-08T13:55:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\"},\"description\":\"Thinking for yourself takes conscious effort. Learn how to think for yourself and prevent charging like a buffalo at the end of a cliff.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/thinkforyourself.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/thinkforyourself.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/04\\\/how-to-think-for-yourself\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Think For Yourself\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Scott H Young\",\"description\":\"Learn faster, achieve more\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\",\"name\":\"Scott Young\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Scott Young\"},\"description\":\"Hello, my name is Scott H. Young and I am obsessed with personal development! When I am not reading several books a month on the subject I am constantly trying to find new ways to improve and get more out of life.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/scottadmin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Think For Yourself - Scott H Young","description":"Thinking for yourself takes conscious effort. Learn how to think for yourself and prevent charging like a buffalo at the end of a cliff.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Think For Yourself - Scott H Young","og_description":"Thinking for yourself takes conscious effort. Learn how to think for yourself and prevent charging like a buffalo at the end of a cliff.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/","og_site_name":"Scott H Young","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AuthorScottYoung\/","article_published_time":"2008-08-04T17:00:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-08T13:55:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/thinkforyourself.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Scott Young","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@scotthyoung","twitter_site":"@scotthyoung","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scott Young","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/"},"author":{"name":"Scott Young","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c"},"headline":"How to Think For Yourself","datePublished":"2008-08-04T17:00:29+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-08T13:55:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/"},"wordCount":1671,"commentCount":10,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/thinkforyourself.png","keywords":["ideas","independence","intellectual independence","mental virus","philosophy","politics","religion","Spirituality","think for yourself"],"articleSection":["Life Philosophy","Mindset"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/","name":"How to Think For Yourself - Scott H Young","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/thinkforyourself.png","datePublished":"2008-08-04T17:00:29+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-08T13:55:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c"},"description":"Thinking for yourself takes conscious effort. Learn how to think for yourself and prevent charging like a buffalo at the end of a cliff.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/thinkforyourself.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/thinkforyourself.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/04\/how-to-think-for-yourself\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Think For Yourself"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/","name":"Scott H Young","description":"Learn faster, achieve more","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c","name":"Scott Young","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Scott Young"},"description":"Hello, my name is Scott H. Young and I am obsessed with personal development! When I am not reading several books a month on the subject I am constantly trying to find new ways to improve and get more out of life.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/author\/scottadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8831,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions\/8831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}