On Engaging With Thinkers But Keeping Your Own Perspective
I’ve noticed a trend in my life. Maybe it’s one that other people have, but surely one I’ll be able to work with now that I know it’s there.
I end up engaging with a thinker, writer, or personality for long stretches of time. I engage with them long enough that some of their talking points turn into my own, or my opinions will change based on what I’ve learned from them.
This isn’t the worst problem to have and it’s kind of natural. If you’ve gone on a spree of reading every book by C.S. Lewis, it’s only normal that by the end of it you’d have many new Lewis inspired opinions that weren’t there before the spree. And usually you’ll only keep the opinions that you agree with, because that’s part of the beauty of writers, thinkers, or personalities. They’re usually articulating things many other people think, just that other people weren’t able to put words to.
And it’s an enjoyable experience to move from influence to influence, because even that influential person you’re reading was once influenced by someone else, and they’re likely referencing that someone else throughout their work. From this sort of exercise I’ve been able to find a number of new people that I wouldn’t have engaged with otherwise.
The only concern, of course, is that I take things I agree with, contemplate some others, ignore what I don’t agree with, and still keep enough individuality that the I’m not becoming a robot of talking points for what I engage with. I want to do my best to maintain my own autonomy of thought, engaging as critically as possible with information.
It’s definitely a sort of challenge. I’m not sure how much individuality any of us actually have. In some ways we are all a sort of canvas for our interests, influences, and circumstances. What we engage with and what we’re willing to mold our lives according to in some ways does become us. (That’s where the fun of trying to hack your influences lies. You can force yourself to behave or think in certain ways with enough practice.)
So, the goal remains, to be alert and sober-minded enough to choose what is beneficial, uplifting and helpful, and to neglect the rest.
