When reading this, my eyes were opened to how influential other's ideas are to me. "Its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's own mind without another's guidance." In stating this, it made me evaluate my own ways of understanding; I realized that I lean on the influences of others to form my thoughts. I have always grown up believing what I do simply because I was told to. It was not forced on me, but we tend to base our views in relation to the views of those closest to us. It was most interesting when I read that we are not living in an enlightened age, but we live in an age of enlightenment. I think that we are all working towards forming our own understandings, but it is extremely difficult to go without any guidance.
I commented on Francesca's post.
Wendy, I totally agree with you! I have to wonder, though. Can we ever not go through life without some sort of guidance? It seems to me that we are constantly affected by others' thoughts and opinions, whether we consciously want to be or not.
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