A classroom full of 10-year-old students is asked to solve a problem with children crossing the street on the way to school. The children come up with ideas that have been used successfully in other places: traffic calming devices, overpasses, fluorescent jackets and speed limits. All these ideas are conventional, exactly what the teacher wants to hear.

Except for one. A student recommends that the school board sell the property and move the classroom online. This is not what the teacher was expecting.
This idea may not be practical, popular, or even possible, but when it’s ridiculed by the class it might be the last independent thought that the student dares to express — the death of another independent thinker.

Independent thought is not popular — it is absolutely, pricelessly, rare. Nothing you read about in the papers or see on the television is independent. Whatever we take in from the popular media is regurgitated conventional knowledge. There is nothing independent about most of the world.

This is a tragedy — independent thought is essential for progress. Conventional thinking moves us forward gradually at best (at worst it pushes us backwards). Independent thinking is required to achieve any substantial jump in performance.

Logically, when we think like everyone else is thinking, the best we can expect is to achieve what they’re already achieving. If our aim is to over-achieve, we need to avoid the same banal influences and think impossibly. We need to become independent from conventional wisdom.

Fortunately, you don’t have to be particularly intelligent or well educated to think independently. Consider small children. Conventional wisdom says that shoes are for wearing and bananas are for eating. Independent thinking allows children try eating the shoes and wearing the bananas on their feet. Their lack of conventional wisdom and utter disregard for how others view their decisions allows children to experiment without anxiety. In this case they may be wrong, but in other cases they can be shockingly right.

Using these 5 strategies you can develop your independent thinking ability.

1. Disconnect from sources of conventional thinking

Instead of plugging into your TV, PC, or library for answers, think for yourself first. Without cutting yourself off from the world, you can increase your capacity for independent thought by limiting the conventional opinion you absorb. This means reducing the media you consume and the level of devotion you give to it. Independent thinkers aren’t necessarily contrarian, but they don’t agree with the status quo by default. They devise new criteria for perceiving the world rather than seeing everything through the screen of their computer.

2. Immerse yourself in experiences that conflict with your current perspective

Instead of substituting a new conventional thought for the old one, deliberately seek out experiences that challenge your views. These experiences may exist in foreign cultures, unusual subcultures, or between the pages of a book you disagree with. The point is not to adopt a new train of thought, but to disrupt the conventional railroad.

3. Watch the process from a distance

Leaving your normal life behind can give you the freedom to see issues from another perspective. Watching the world instead of eating it up gives you the peace of mind to think for yourself. Standing still from time to time gives you the opportunity to ridicule your own beliefs and explore new angles.

4. Randomize your sensory inputs

Instead of visiting the same places, eating the same foods, and talking to the same people, you can actively pursue new experiences. Many people cling to the familiar to simplify decisions and create a sense of security. If you truly want to think independently, you need to get outside your comfort zone.

5. Practice disbelief

Without becoming a cynic, you can develop the habit of instinctively distrusting thoughts that rely on conventional wisdom. Instead of assuming that these “truths” are self evident, suspend judgement until you’ve have confirmed that there is reality behind the logiic.

If all of this sounds too difficult, consider what can be gained from independent thought. Even microscopic steps towards thinking independently will increase your contribution to the world. You will see opportunities and solutions that others overlook. You will obtain a competitive advantage over less creative thinkers. Most importantly, your thoughts will be your own and not just recycled media.

Think independently and you create a world of limitless opportunity. But don’t take my word for it…find out for yourself.

10岁的小学生们坐满了整间教室，他们得按照要求解决一个关于上学途中安全过马路的问题。那些曾于其他地方成功运用的方法在孩子们的脑海中闪现出来：比如采用交通工具静音设备、架设天桥、穿上荧光外套及采取限速措施等。所有的观点都很循规蹈矩，而这些恰恰也是老师们期望听到的结果。

只有一个人很特殊。有个学生建议学校董事会卖掉所有的财产，然后把课堂搬到网络上面。不过老师们可不希望这样。

这个想法也许并不成熟或者普遍，甚至是不可能的，于是他成了全班同学的笑柄。但我们应当注意到，那大概是仅有的一个敢被阐述出来的独立想法-这是又一个独立思想者之死。

特立独行的思想决非寻常--它绝对是无价的、独一无二的。你在报纸或电视上读到、看到的种种都不是什么独特的东西，无论我们在主流媒体上学到了什么，那都是生搬硬套的常规知识。在这个世界上，大多数情况下，没有任何一样事物是与众不同的。

而这是个悲剧—独立的思想对于进步来说不可或缺。通常的想法把我们一步步带向最好（最差就是迫使我们倒退），独立的思想则要人们表现出实质性的跨越。

从逻辑上看，当像别人那样思考时，我们能够期望得到的最佳结果只能是达到他们已经达到的。假使我们的目标是超越前人的功绩，就要拒绝平庸而不去想什么不可能。我们应当在惯性思维中变得与众不同。

幸运的是，独特思维并不需要所谓的过人之智，也不是非得受过良好的教育才能达到，想想小孩子们，惯性思维讲鞋是拿来穿在脚上而香蕉是要吃的，独特思维则使孩子们试着品尝鞋子然后把香蕉踩在脚下。尚未形成的惯性思维加上无忌的童言，他们在大人眼中就是这样，于是孩子们可以随心所欲地把自己的点子付诸实践。有时候孩子们也许会错，但某些情况下，他们会正确地叫你大吃一惊。

使用下面这5种策略，你就可以打造出自己的绝世思维。

1.切断惯性思维的源泉。

在把你的电视、电脑插上电源之前，在钻进图书馆翻阅资料之前，先自己想想。不断绝你同现实世界的联系，通过限制那些吸引你的常规思维，你就可以提高自己独立思考的能力。意思是减少媒体的使用，降低对其投入的程度。独立的思考者并不一定背道而驰，然而他们对于默认现状持反对的态度。为了好好地感知这个世界，而非仅仅透过显示器去看一切，他们会想出新标准。

2.投身到与你当前愿景相冲突的体验之中。

与其用一个新的普通想法替换掉那个旧的，不如有意找寻、创造一些挑战你观念的体验。他们可能存在于外族文化、罕见的亚文化之中，也可能就在你不愿苟同的那本书的某一页上。关键不是采用什么全新的思维，而是尽量使那条惯性的轨迹中断。

3.置身事外，远处观之。

先把日常生活抛在脑后，这样你就能无拘无束地站在另一个角度看待某些问题。旁观者清，跳出你的小世界，别沉陷于其中，才能心无旁骛地为自己想想。偶尔原地不动能提供给你嘲笑自己愚蠢信念的机会，同时也开拓出了新的视角。

4.随机化刺激你感觉的事物。

何不抖擞抖擞精神投身到崭新的体验当中？别总是去那些相同的地方、吃一成不变的食物，要么就是跟身边抬头不见低头见的那几个人说话。很多人都固执于熟悉的事物，以为能够简化问题并且构筑心中的安全感。如果你真想要独立地思考，就需要跳出自我的蜜罐。

5.习惯怀疑。

并非要变得愤世嫉俗或者玩世不恭，你可以开发一下自己本能的怀疑思维，这种习惯是取决于常规思维的。相对于假设这些“真相”是不言而喻的，干脆持怀疑态度，直到你能够用逻辑确定那就是不争的事实。

如若上述这些听上去都过于困难，那就考虑下自己可以从独立思维中收获什么。甚至那遗世独立的思想是只能在显微镜下才能依稀看到的一小步，也能增加你对于这个世界的贡献。你会看到其他人轻易就忽略了的机会和解答；你会比缺乏创造力的人拥有更大的竞争优势；最重要的是，你会造就属于你自己的思想，而不仅仅是媒体的陈词滥调。

独立地思考，然后给自己创造一个机会无限的世界。但千万别信我的话......自己去寻找吧。