Schopenhauer

I disagree when Schopenhauer says “Reading forces thoughts upon the mind”. I do not believe that reading can force a particular thought on anybody unless they are that dim-witted, to allow readings to change they’re opinion. I think that reading a book or magazine whether it is based on facts or opinions, should only make you think not change you ideas completely.  

Then again educational books such as science books and history books have a tendency to narrow a person opinion because with these types of books you have to accept facts, facts by definition only elicits one view point. With history books if it says that Christopher Columbus sailed in the ocean blue in 1492, that’s what you have to believe, there is no opinion to that.  Therefore textbooks tend to narrows one’s opinion rather than to make one’s opinion broader.

There are some instances were self-learning or self-thinking is best. When you evaluate different beliefs and judgments through self observations, your own creativity is brought out.  Creativity is essential to improving the state of the world. If the scholars in the ancient times would have just believed everything that they heard, where would we be? It took somebody to think out of the box, to figure out that the world was indeed round and that there were other places that they had yet to discover. Thank goodness that there were free thinkers back then.

        In closing, there are parts of Schopenhauer hypothesis that I believe and other parts I do not. To me reading doesn’t force opinions on to anybody unless they are weak minded. Textbooks tend to make a person have a narrow opinion base and that self thinking helps to bring creativity that makes the world better.