One Cannot Think If One Is Sure To Be Right

The Danish communications agency Mensch runs some interesting and thought-provoking text-based ads. The last one was titled One Cannot Think If One Is Sure To Be Right. It was a great read and since most of you do not speak Danish I translated part of the text.

It goes like this:

“Have you ever wondered why some people insist in hairstyles, eyeglasses or clothing that went out of fashion at least 20 years ago? They do so not because they are indifferent. Or cannot see that the world is moving. They do it because they want to stand still. They want to maintain time and their own appearance from a time when they felt on top.

We all experience a certain period in our lives where we ask our self and others big questions on life. It is a period of time where we think so intensely over everything that it shapes our values and characterizes us for the rest of our lives.

Then our thought process gets more focused. Education and work requires restraint and concentration. All the different thinking becomes a distraction. This is where we begin to decide that the world hangs together in a certain way, and that anyone who believes otherwise is less enlightened.

And suddenly you become an old, hidebound fool. You unconsciously repeat your biases and standard arguments in an attempt to retain you world view. Eventually you only socialize with people who share similar views making the conversations go lightly and eliminating the need to think too much.

But the brain is a muscle that requires varied exercise in order not to degenerate. So if we want to keep moving we must let ourselves become influenced by others. We must leave a door open to thoughts we have not thought of ourselves. Talk with someone who has a completely different education, cultural background, sexual orientation or even skin color. That sounds scary, but otherwise the brain ends up in the same jail as clothing from two decades ago.

Think about it. Unless you are sure that we are not right.”

I am reaching an age where it is getting harder not to just rely on what I already know and do. A read like this challenges my thinking and I am highly appreciative for such inspiration. I do not want to become an old hidebound fool. Do you?