As I prepare for my talk at LevelUp Europe on “Deep Values in Dystopian Literature,” I’ve been reflecting on what heroic protagonists in dystopian stories have in common. One thing that came to mind was that they think independently (or learn to do so). Such independent thinking is key to throwing off internal and external shackles.
Independent thinking doesn’t mean never learning from other people or outside sources (that would be condemning yourself to discovering everything firsthand, which is impossible). Rather, it means only accepting ideas or claims once you fully understand them and see that they fit with your other relevant knowledge. For example, if someone claims a friend of yours has lied, but you know your friend to be an honest person, you wouldn’t accept the claim without hard evidence because it contradicts your existing knowledge of his character. If you accepted the accusation without evidence, you wouldn’t be thinking independently (and your friendship would suffer as a result).
Ayn Rand described what independent thinking is and what the lack of it looks like in Atlas Shrugged, both through various characters and explicitly:
Independence is the recognition of the fact that yours is the responsibility of judgement and nothing can help you escape it—that no substitute can do your thinking, as no pinch-hitter can live your life—that the vilest form of self-abasement and self-destruction is the subordination of your mind to the mind of another, the acceptance of an authority over your brain, the acceptance of his assertions as facts, his say-so as truth, his edicts as middle-man between your consciousness and your existence.
When independent thinking is the norm in a society, so is political dissent, passionate philosophic debate, a diversity of art, and easy access to books, courses, and other learning materials.
But when someone advocates for a policy or regime that restricts such independent thought, he is advocating the idea that people cannot decide for themselves, and thus the government ought to decide for them. As V for Vendetta author Alan Moore said in an interview, “Fascism is a complete abdication of personal responsibility. You are surrendering all responsibility for your own actions to the state.” Of course, this is true of all authoritarian regimes; fascism is just one example.
By contrast, a person who thinks for himself and looks honestly at the evidence can understand that others are capable of doing so too and deserve to be free to act on their own judgement as long as they don’t stop others from doing the same. In other words, individuals who make it their policy to live by the judgement of their own minds don’t need to control others, be controlled by others, or see leaders control others. As Rand wrote in Atlas Shrugged, “power-lust is a weed that grows only in the vacant lots of an abandoned mind.” Independent thinkers exercise their minds and treat others as responsible individuals.
For an eloquent literary example, consider Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. In it, books are banned; authorities say this is because having different ideas and opinions for people to think through and evaluate for themselves isn’t conducive to happiness. As one character explains, “If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none.” (Fahrenheit 451, pg. 61, Kindle Edition). But the result is not a society of happy people; though they have plenty of leisure time and reasonable technological development, suicide attempts are common, violence is widespread, and deep connections (even with one’s spouse or children) are practically unheard of. The lack of critical thinking hasn’t led to happiness, but to deep dissatisfaction, apathy, and violence.
So, perhaps one of the best ways to defend liberty on a daily basis is simply by thinking for yourself—by being fiercely independent-minded. As Rand put it in Atlas Shrugged,
Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life. Redeem your mind from the hockshops of authority. Accept the fact that you are not omniscient, but playing a zombie will not give you omniscience—that your mind is fallible, but becoming mindless will not make you infallible—that an error made on your own is safer than ten truths accepted on faith, because the first leaves you the means to correct it, but the second destroys your capacity to distinguish truth from error.
If you want a culture that values liberty, one in which everyone gets to go after what they care about most, the first thing you should do is think for yourself.
