During one of my driving lessons, (OK, I know I sound like no one has ever had driving lessons before but bear with me please, as I am in my 30s and I look at things hopefully more maturely) I was driving safely with the instructor and after about five minutes he looked at me with a smile on his face and asked: “Did you realize that you have been following the white van in front of you for a while now?”
“He violated the law by crossing the road in that manner and you just followed him,” said the instructor. I tried to deny it but then I just concentrated and discovered that I was following the van blindly without even thinking. Again, this made me think hard as to why was I following the van? The instructor told me that lots of people tend to do that, especially new drivers, as they lack experience. Well, I took the matter personally. Come on! I am supposed to be a sophisticated Ph.D. student and I can take my own decisions.
I don’t follow blindly but the truth is that I was following the van blindly assuming that the van driver must be more experienced than me. It was like why do I have to think and make decisions if he is making them for me? God! How many times in my life have I blindly followed others? To name just a few; until recently I was deeply convinced that goods sold at airports were more expensive. When we were young our dad did not like to buy stuff from airports and therefore, I assumed they were more expensive until I happened to compare the price of my favorite perfume and found it was much cheaper. After that I searched about the concept of duty free and now I try my level best to postpone purchasing my cosmetics and perfumes if I know I will be passing by a duty-free shop soon, what a change!
I was also convinced that eating seafood and dairy products together is bad and may cause food poisoning, I was not planning to change this idea until I encountered a very good dish (seafood) cooked with milk and cheese, I then found out that this belief has nothing to do with reality and it’s something like old housewives’ tales.
I believe that the habit of following blindly is one of the major causes of the degradation of our society. Lots of people tend to follow their so-called “ideals” blindly to such an extent that they might attack anyone who challenges the ideas or opinions expressed by those ideals.
Seriously I don’t know why? Is it because having readymade opinions create a form of comfort zone for them so they feel safe and in no need for thinking and feeling lost? Is it the instinct of people loving to be part of a group? Is it not possible to be intellectual and part of a group at the same time? Do we need to have red lines that restrict our thinking? What about the many verses in the Qur’an that encourage us to think and observe the world around us?
Well, the bottom line is that I am still making grand mistakes during my driving lessons and looks like I will have to take more and more of those lessons, so hope you will bear with me until I am a fully qualified driver whom people would love to follow blindly.
@ HatoonKadi
