The Ruts In The Mind

The Road Less Travelled By

“When I observe the ruts in a road, I am compelled to think: how much deeper the ruts in the mind?”
– Henry David Thoreau

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

The beaten path is a well worn rut in the mind. We don’t need to reject it, but we should question it. Usually the norm is a poor substitution for the good. We can do better. In fact, the great social psychologist Erich Fromm was right when he said of the norm, “Normal exists only in relation to a profoundly abnormal norm.” Generally speaking, the norm is a rut we should be eager to get free from.

It is also true that most people who question the norm, if they find the courage to deviate from obeying authority and following the herd at all, which the majority do not; those who do try something different tend to cling onto an off the shelf system of thought or subculture – and then slavishly conform to that subculture, smaller crowd, or school of thought.

Very few are free thinkers or free spirits in the true sense. Most people follow some group or leader. That is not necessarily bad, but we should question it, be aware of it, and try to think outside our newfound boxes, too. They too can become ruts of the mind.

Question everything.

JTR,
July 29, 2020