When you are intellectually independent, there is an unspoken sense among many of those who hear you that you are arrogant. People have some fear of the true thinker, as though he or she is somehow a threat because he won’t “go along” with the group or with cultural ideas and expectations. But the arrogant man or woman is not the one who thinks; he is the one who imagines he has found the absolute right system of beliefs or guru to follow; the one who has abdicated his thinking to others.

Consider for a moment what it means to stop deciding what is true using your own mind. There will still be things you hold as true, but for what reason? Most likely for this reason: some important authority on Earth, present or past, has claimed certain things to be true, and you accept that authority as your guide. Now, since it is clear to all who pay attention that there are “authorities” of all types who will say all kinds of things, isn’t it also clear that it is YOU who decide which one to follow? You decide that this » Read more: Is It Arrogant to Think for Yourself?