How do you like your coffee? I like it dark roasted with a little milk, some call it cream. Nevertheless, I need to taste the coffee more than the milk. But we are all so different, some even loving lattes, and everyone, with some drop of coffee in the drink, claiming to be coffee lovers.
Even in looking at this cup of coffee, you will find what influences you have in your life. Influences include your own personality, your environment and, of course, your health and age can play a role. Some drink coffee just because they like the taste, others because it is their daily fix and others just because they find themselves, at a moment in time, with a group of people enjoying coffee time. In the same way that coffee has a role to play in the lives of many, it is also an indication of how societal norms are formed and how you conform or relate to those norms. The example of coffee might as well have been an example using tea. It may be topics of conversation. It is in how you fit in that determines how you will generally be. It defines you and your personality. It may be that you are bending your personality to fit in (which needs further discussion) but ultimately, you can transpose most of these situations from the one example to the next. Amongst these you will have the stronger personalities, you will have culture and then there is you. What importance does this all have? This is one way your life gets shaped to the extent that you may seem predictable. Add up the predictability of those around you and you can get a strong sense how families can react, or a group of friends, or indeed the community. This is not all bad but, at some point, there is only conformance. Conformance has its place, no problem. But how do you get to the higher level. At some point there must be some critical thinking, some mental gymnastics, some way of personal development and growth. It is often seen as off-limits to talk “heavy” subjects when the guys just meet to kick some ball. This stunts the sharing of ideas and critical thinking goes out the window. You see headlines and accept it as is because you have no one with whom to discuss this. I tell you the earth is flat, but you know its round and you respond as such. Yet, I may present an argument to support my theory while you have not trained yourself to think critically and reason.
The lesson is that when you learn to reason and discuss, your mind is stimulated. There is much benefit in doing this. When you discover there are more angles to the points of discussion, you will look at an egg differently too.
In small print, there is a warning to avoid analysis paralysis.
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