Thinking In A Vacuum

I cannot claim that I do all my thinking in a vacuum for most of my thinking is in reaction to an idea I have encountered (even this entry is a reaction to an idea). I have found great personal value in thinking for myself. I know there are many conclusions I can either reach on my own or look up in a book (or Google) somewhere. It astounds me still that people would prefer to get the answer rather than wrestle with the problem and come up with their own answer. This in itself is a curious statement when considering disciplines with absolute answers, for which one cannot really come up with one's "own" answer; yet that is exactly what happens when a person decides to think through the problem and solve it himself. At the end of the problem, when the answer has been arrived at, the conclusion written, the student has an (the) answer all to himself; he worked for it, he owns it, it is his, even though everyone will come to the same answer.

One thing I am coming to learn in my life, the journey is often times as important as the destination, and sometimes the destination is only the excuse to have the [all important] journey. Education, learning, is a process of struggling through problems and arriving at answers. A person who does the work himself becomes intimate with the problem, the solution, and anything in between. Knowing the problem and solution intimately will allow a person to see a similar situation and have information available.

One might pose the question, "What good is a conclusion without the argument?" How much value is there to being handed an answer to a question without the process by which the answer was arrived at? How can one verify the answer is correct without knowing the process? How can one grow and mature without working for himself?

Even if I should have to reinvent the wheel I want to do it myself. I love to learn, thus I love to think through things on my own, draw my own conclusions, and master the problem. If there is any literary archetype I would like to become it is the wizened old man with an answer to everything; the wise old man who will make you work for the answer he already knows, but will help you come to that conclusion. As much as I can I try to think in a vacuum; I try to think for myself.