I have a very individualistic way of thinking. I do not like to align my thoughts with any moral system and a majority way of thinking. I like to keep my thoughts away from all the tampering forces in society. I do not like myself being involved in a mob mentality or belief. I tend to look at things more critically than I am expected to and I guess that is why philosophy intrigues me, it tickles the curiosity in me. It exposes me to all sorts of opinions and points of views. It lets me soar into the skies and helps me see life from a third person’s perspective.
Reading a book of philosophy is like travelling the depths of reality with a shrewd free thinking individual, also known as a philosopher. A lot of German philosophers have caught my interest in recent times. I have been reading and listening to the thoughts of philosophers like Arthur Schoppenheur and Friedrich Nietzche. Both of them lived a very singular life,they lived alone and thought with utter honesty. Their philosophies contrast in some sense and coincide in some other, while reading I realized that Schoppenheuer was a pessimist and Nietzche was more or less an optimist. They both followed a similar journey but reached totally different conclusions. The complexity of their thoughts and the honesty of their presentation was very commendable. Reading their books was like peeling off the layers of rational thinking.
I am someone who loves honest thinking, I usually get along with people who have a different or somewhat unique thinking. I strongly believe that one should cultivate his own ideas rather than following someone's path. Not for being edgy and notorious, but for actually having depth to your own personality.
I have seen individuals being sheep and following a common thought process. Such people, I believe, bring shame to individuality and intellectualism. These people are the ones who talk about freedom of thought only when it is for their sake. They don’t have the required depth or I should say maturity required to understand the opposing perspectives and this is a very huge problem in today’s society. The media develops individuals with similar thinking, same thoughts, same opinions. People are losing their depth and becoming more like robots. They are wired to think a similar way, perform similar tasks and have similar thought processes. Due to the increasing focus on specializations we are making people lose their ability to think outside the box. Thinking outside your given work is considered unnecessary and a waste of energy, so instead of thinking for yourself why not borrow thoughts from someone, where to borrow ready made thoughts?, from the media of course. It is a loop we have to escape, we as individuals are supposed to think, we are supposed to think differently and build opinions, only then one will have the depth a human is supposed to have.
And that is why I admire philosophy, it promotes free thinking and rationality, which is a deadly combination for being an able human. I recommend people reading this article, to go out and think more often, build your opinions and be open minded to alter them whenever necessary.
By : Tejas Kedar Sahasrabudhe BBA-IT(2021-24)