Thinking about thinking ... :)

I read in the book "The monk who sold his Ferrari" that for most people, 80% of the thoughts they think are same as that of the day before .... I was astounded ... somehow .... it seemed too fantastic a figure ... and then just the other day I came across this "People don't seem to realize that thinking is skilled work . We believe it is a natural process like breathing and eating."

Made me wonder ... how much do we think about the process of thinking itself ? How original or independent is our thinking ? And what, is original thinking ?

I traced a few random thoughts .... and felt that some of them were biased due to parents/elders/spouse's influence. A good deal of my thinking pattern has been molded in school - so read the impact of my teachers. Outlook on current affairs, technology trends or any other subject for that matter is shaped with the help of newspapers, books, magazines, blogs, ex-office colleagues, peers - and of course the influences mentioned before.

As for religion - although I have not inherited( ?? :-) ) the belief of my parents - I still have enough traces of their impressions. Especially where religion is concerned I speculate - just how much of our opinions are formed due to the result of reflective thinking and just how much is handed down and blindly absorbed ? Distinctly uncomfortable area but definitely something that augurs contemplation .... :)

And then - thoughts that come out of whatever experience I have gained in life are not unusual - mainly lessons learnt which so many in the world would have also learnt. :) I moved on to nostalgia. Is this in any way novel ? Simply because nobody else can view the past events through my eyes. I rejected this - I think while my frame of reference may be unique it is hardly original or independent.

Does my taste in music constitute any creativeness ? I did not think so .... I mean I listen to a good amount of music on the radio and unless I decide to listen to other songs in the album or movie ... how much can I consider my taste in music my own ? Can I not trace quite a few of the songs I like/hate to being assaulted by them day and night ? :) Some songs are remembered and enjoyed simply due to listening to them with friends ... rarely have I heard a snatch of
music completely on my own and liked/hated it instantly .. I will not say it has not happened ..... but ... I muse ... how much have I been predisposed me to like/dislike specific types of music simply due to confluence of influences ?

This understanding can be extrapolated to taste in movies, art, fashion sense, games, food , handling of finances etc.

In a seminar to illustrate just how different people were - a set of 6 people - were given 6 clues and they were all interpreted in myriad ways - and yet when I googled the interpretations - I found others with the same ideas or conclusions !! :)

So through out our lives we pick up so many prejudices we are not always aware of them ...... nor do we realize when and how we pick them up ....

This is not to say - we can live without influences/biases ... it just makes me think that it is amazing in this plethora of material that is bombarded at us - originality does crop up - like Gandhiji's non violence movement, Picasso's cubist drawings ( I honestly don't get them !!! :) ), music composers, Isaac Newton's theory of gravity , Albert Einstein's relativity , Moon walking ( ;) ), The determination of the Benzene ring ... to name very very few ......

But that does take me back to the basic question : Does original and independent thinking mean it has to be startlingly different from whatever is the prevalent culture at that moment ? Does it have to mean something unheard of before ? Or is the amalgamation of biases/prejudices/influences that give me my perspective on all that I think of - fresh ? That still makes me think I am predominantly a second-hander. ( to use Ayn Rand's terminology ! :) ).

Aargh .... Somehow this thought makes me rebel ... but then being rebellious is not original either ! :)