Think for Yourself

“The truth will set you free. But first it will piss you off.” —Gloria Steinem

Think for Yourself

Question everything. Question authority (I don’t care if it is an emergency, you can’t park there), question premises (the policeman is my friend), question advertizing (It’s waaay better than fast food . . ..), question the media (illegal drugs are destroying the country), question corporate influence (we need to destroy the environment so we can increase our profits), question politicians and the lobbyists who buy their favors (we can’t support a public health care option because it would destroy private insurance companies), question religion (Jesus is God), question the motives of all who claim the power to bend you to their will (we know what’s best for you).

Ask yourself if what the powers-that-be are telling you squares with the reality of what you see going on in the world around you. If their rhetoric doesn’t match up with your perceptions and experiences, there’s a high probability that they’re lying to you. Tune out the bullshit, trust your instincts, and don’t concern yourself about being politically correct. It’s not against the law (yet) to have a differing opinion.

Inspired by Hart Williams’ blog post on 22 April, I decided to include, at the end of every article I post to this blog, the following symbol:

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It’s my constant reminder to Frieddogleg’s readers to always ask the next question. Of course, the “ask the next question” symbol that Hart used to illustrate his “FISA — Asking The Next Question” article was probably generated in a high-end graphics program, whereas mine was rendered on my computer keyboard using the Trebuchet font in varying sizes so that everything more or less lines up. I took the liberty of adding a couple of embellishments, i.e. extra arrow points, to remind readers that there is never just one next question, and that the next question is often times followed by many more.

But don’t take my word for the importance of asking the next question. Hart’s late friend and mentor, the science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon, originated the “ask the next question” symbol to illustrate an article he wrote for the June, 1967 issue of Cavalier magazine. In that article, Mr. Sturgeon concisely and succinctly tells us why human evolution depends on asking the next question.

You see, it’s not so much about asking questions until you get the answer you want as it is about asking enough of the right questions until you arrive at the truth.

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