be independent

The source for this material and for our 25-Day CT Challenge is…
25 Days to Better Thinking and Better
Living:
A Guide for Improving Every Aspect of Your
Life, by Dr. Linda Elder & Dr. Richard
Paul, Pearson, 2006; and the Center and
Foundation for Critical Thinking, CA.

Don’t be Subservient
 “Be on the lookout for submissive behavior —yours and others’.
 One of the hallmarks of submissiveness is conformity, a phenomenon common in human life.”
(Drs. Elder and Paul, Ibid)

…and don’t be an underdog
 Submissiveness may make you feel resentful
 You may just think negative thoughts
 Perhaps you make flippant or sarcastic comments
 You may act in a passive/aggressive way
 You may feel impotent when you have “just gone along” against your will
(Ibid)

Our authors remind us…
“Don’t blame others for controlling you when you do not take control of yourself.”
(Ibid)

“NO MAN IS FREE WHO IS NOT
MASTER OF HIMSELF.”
- Epictetus

An underdog learns the art of helplessness
…
 “These people exchange freedom to achieve other ends…
 security
 protection
 advancement
 and/or…to achieve
 indirect influence over the top dog”
Some underdogs are very skilled and clever indeed
Some apparently subservient people can even “control” unskillful top dogs
They are often able to get what they want in this manner
(Ibid)

What if you notice people
“…being submissive in relationship to you?”
Ask yourself:
 Why are they doing this?
 What are they after?
 Do they get what they want through this submissive behavior?
(Ibid)

…and, people can switch roles:
“People are often subservient in some situations and dominating in others.”
 e.g., subservient at the office; dominating at home
 e.g., subservient to spouse; dominating to children
(Ibid)

Rational persons do not want to play either role,
…and they work to avoid both a top dog or underdog pattern. Top dog and underdog patterns exists in numerous settings in human life, leading to much suffering, injustice, and cruelty.
(Ibid)
See pp. 47-48 for more discussion by our authors regarding these patterns —how to recognize them and what they may mean.

Begin observing your behavior when with others:
 Do you tend to “go along”?
 Do you resent it afterwards?
 Do you feel someone else has unreasonable control over you?
Bring these feelings and thoughts to the forefront in order to get command of behavior that you want to change

Six Strategies
 Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul offer six strategies that you can use for avoiding irrational submission.
 See pp. 48-50 in their book,
(Ibid).

Remember that these points…
 Reflect the tip of the iceberg
 Are a “fast track” sprint; a Berlitz course, if you will;
 Present an overview of what takes much longer to truly develop…of what requires much deeper focus and practice in your thinking;
 Even the original plan of our authors was for a
25week “fast track”, not 25 days !

be independent

DAILY REFLECTION
NOTES
 Today I was successful in using the following ideas/strategies:
 The key insights that emerged for me today were:
 One problem in my thinking that I now realize is:
 I plan to continue working on this problem using the following strategy: