Original Thought
Tue Mar 9, 11:54 AM
People who come up with their own theories and ideas, be they right or wrong, are smarter than those who read and regurgitate the ideas of other people.
A careful examination will find that most people read and regurgitate. Hell, I’m guilty of it probably 90% of the time too.
The real sin though, is those who read, form an incomplete, misconstrued understanding of that which they read, and then recount some neutered, bastardized version of the text, with key facts changed, omitted, or distorted; using the other work as a foundation for their own half baked thoughts. Our media is littered with such.
Also worth noting is the fact that just because you read it does not make it true. I could be completely full of shit on this one. I don’t think I am. Maybe after lunch I will be.
Some people who read a lot need to be good translators for people who hardly read at all.
It’s all about bringing a higher level of civic consciousness regardless of aptitude, intellectual curiosity or time.
And that’s a good thing! Some people don’t read much and could do well to have intellectualism spoonfed to them in small doses - and I’m not crusading against that.
I’m more just saying that actual independent original thought is rare, and more valuable than a recounted story, even if that thought is demonstrably wrong. if that make sense. I’m not sure that it does.
