This is my first post here. Please let me know if I've done anything wrong.
I do not write often. I think a hell of a lot, which everyone does, but I particularly enjoy thinking about general actions and behavior of humans. Now, a quick disclaimer: I am not a professional writer nor a scholarly philosopher. I appreciate feedback, but this is purely my opinion. Please consider this as ramblings, haha.
I have often pondered about human action and purpose. While both are complicated, I’ve come to my own conclusions about the former. Many ‘philosophers’ and ‘scholars’ have made their own observations (I have put the titles in quotations, as anyone can call themself a philosopher) about the human psyche, but I am choosing to create my own (I am not a philosopher, nor do I wish to be. These are just speculations) So, what is my idea of “True Thought”?
To me, True Thought is an idea or opinion that comes completely unbiased from the deepest part of your mind. To have an opinion without any outside effect, to come from the raw you. I often hear the term Free Thinker, which people seem to use to reject common ideology and decide things for themselves, but is this really free? The term ‘quale’ is a feeling that is entirely subjective, such as pain. Different people have different qualia, which makes things in philosophy very muddled.
‘Unbiased’ is a loaded term. Oxford describes unbiased as “showing no prejudice for or against something”. There is a name for unconscious bias, ‘Implicit Bias’. Implicit Bias is the idea that people will always make decisions from personal experience without knowing it. You may think that men and women are equal, but you will trust a woman less without knowing it. While people may attempt to escape this Implicit Bias, it is not truly possible. W. Clement Stone once said “You are a product of your environment, so choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective.” I believe that people are a product of their environment, and always will be. Even if you do change your environment to be positive, your previous environments will still affect you. Now, bias is necessarily bad, but it is always present.
Is ‘True Thought’ possible? I don’t have a real answer to this, but it is definitely something one would have to work hard to achieve. Some people who have taken psychedelics have told me about seeing a true world, being enlightened, but I could not verify this as I’m not an avid drug user. There are definitely ways to rid yourself of everyday bias, but the inner you is still there, changing your thoughts and decisions. So why should you care?
To be honest, it’s not something people should worry about. While it’s certainly fun to think about (and blabber about online), it’s not something we should take into account constantly. What is important is how you treat people and situations. How you act will always be biased, but you can still be a good person.
Anyway, I’ll be off. This website seems like a good place to put my 2am ‘writings’.
Cheers!