Author: David Charles
ISBN: 9781448690107

Click Here To Purchase Think For Yourself: The Importance of Maintaining Individuality and Freedom of Thought

Irish poet and novelist Oscar Wilde wrote: “A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” Unfortunately, many of us have not heeded this sage advice and are stuck in a herd mentality. Individuality is cast aside in favor of popular mass opinions and behaviors. Recognizing this human short coming, David Charles has crafted a neat little book presenting his readers with a snapshot of the plurality of problems encountered when we don't think for ourselves.

Weighing in at less than ninety pages, Think For Yourself: The Importance of Maintaining Individuality and Freedom of Thought covers sixteen different topics from our everyday life experiences that illustrate where blindly following the masses can lead to unfortunate repercussions. It should be noted, as mentioned in the Preface, that it is not the intent of the author to provide answers to any given question, but rather to provoke thought, raise questions, and from these questions generate appropriate action. Succinctly, the book “encourages an individualized approach to the uniqueness of each and every life.”

Subjects explored where individuality plays an important role in making crucial decisions run the gamut from medicine, food, education, work, children, family, individuality, green living, decisions, attitude, flexibility, information, intuition, money, self-esteem, and common sense.

Readers are encouraged to avoid manipulation by accepting everything they are told without question. For example, Charles mentions in the chapter pertaining to medicine, it is your right and responsibility to question, “This is especially true when it comes to diagnoses and prescriptions.” It is imperative that you become pro-active with your health care and do qualitative research when a medicine or medical procedure is prescribed for you or your family.

Another fundamental theme running through the book is that you must endeavor to think out of the box and be prepared to be bold.. To exemplify, Charles refers to your child's education, where it is vital that you become thoroughly involved in the process. If there should be a problem at school, don't blindly accept what the teacher and principal have to say about your child. Question intelligently and insist on clear explanations, even though you may encounter some backlash because of your refusal to accept the educator's statements at face value. Remember, as mentioned in the chapter, “you are the front line of defense for your child.”

As Charles points out, an indispensable ingredient of individualism is your own self-esteem, which is important for your success in life. Very often people are afraid to disagree with others and rather resort to being a people pleaser. Perhaps, it is due to a fear of being intimidated. Freethinkers base their self-worth on something other than what people think of them or “what will they” think of me.” (By the way, I never could figure out who are the “they?”)

Although most of the principles and lessons enunciated in Think For Yourself have been recycled in thousands of self-help books, they still merit consideration and should not be taken lightly. We all at one time or another have to make important life decisions and when we do, we should pay close attention to the information and options available to make the best decision for ourselves and our family. Charles with his down-to-earth practical insights does a great job in demonstrating how vital it is to practice individual thinking when we are required to make these pivotal decisions.

One comment I do have is that the book is in need of a good proof reader, as I did find several punctuation errors, particularly where commas and periods were not placed inside the quotation marks.

David Charles has been a professional construction manager involved with public construction in the Southern California region. His past writings include web based reporting, project progress documentation and class business correspondence on all aspects of the public school construction progress for the projects under his jurisdiction.

Click Here To Read Norm's Interview With David Charles

Click Here To Purchase Think For Yourself: The Importance of Maintaining Individuality and Freedom of Thought