Think For Yourself: The Importance of Maintaining Individuality and Freedom of Thought [Paperback]

David Charles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2009

We live in a unique time in this world, a time when the information age has brought the world much closer together. With this sharing of information and resources comes great opportunity, but there are some drawbacks as well. Global standardization has, in many ways, contributed to the homogenization of numerous aspects of life. Individuality has been lost in many cases, and its continued decline comes at a heavy price for some. People's willingness to follow the crowd and fall in line behind "the next greatest thing" or "popular thought trend" has fostered this decline in individuality and free thinking. Mankind needs to embrace our individuality and our individual differences, as well as the similarities that come to light during the sharing of information in these modern "global times." This book attempts to shed some light on the subject and encourages you to Think For Yourself in your daily navigation in today's global society.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Charles has been a professional construction manager involved with public school construction in the Southern California region. He has been active in the construction industry for over thirty years. His past writings include web based reporting, project progress documentation and classic business correspondence on all aspects of the public school construction progress for the projects under his jurisdiction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (September 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1448690102
• ISBN-13: 978-1448690107
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,949,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes, the simplest things in life are not so simple for some of us, June 15, 2010

By 

Bookventures Book Club "Bookventures Book Club" (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Think For Yourself: The Importance of Maintaining Individuality and Freedom of Thought (Paperback)

Sometimes, the simplest things in life are not so simple for some of us. When I say simple I mean the ability for us to question what we are taught and to speak up for ourselves. In Think for Yourself, David Charles discusses these fundamental issues and help us to understand their importance in our lives.

The theme of the book is to help foster the idea that people should never conform to society's way of doing things. It encourages the reader to become an informed individual by questioning everything. I thought that the message that the book offered was very fitting especially since we live in an era where we are all heavily influenced by the media. It tells us how to look, dress and speak and it also helps to enforce what is accepted in society and what's not. However in Think For Yourself, the author forces us to avoid manipulation, think outside of the box and to be bold.

The book is approximately 96 pages, is very straight forward and is broken down into several sections such as Work, Family, Money, Self- Esteem and Common Sense so that the reader can pinpoint areas that they would like to work on in their own lives. For people who are taught to think for themselves and question everything, this book will simply reinforce what you already know. However for those of us who wish to acquire these skills then Think For Yourself will make a good, informative and light read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bridget's Review, June 13, 2010

By 

bridget3420 "Bridget Hopper" (KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Think For Yourself: The Importance of Maintaining Individuality and Freedom of Thought (Paperback)

The media has a huge influence over people and what they think is right or wrong. We unintentionally let ourselves become victims to TV and movies. We think that if we don't have a body like Fergie, we're outcasts. We buy the same stuff celebs buy (when we have the money) and we try rationalize this because we think that if we are similar to a star that we will find self worth.

This is what Think For Yourself is all about. It points out that somewhere along the way we have lost bits of our individuality and by doing that, we are setting ourselves up for a miserable existence. This book is very well written and it speaks like a friend, not a textbook.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful presentation, December 10, 2009

By 

A. Wong (los angeles, ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Think For Yourself: The Importance of Maintaining Individuality and Freedom of Thought (Paperback)

Think for Yourself offers practical and easy to understand advice on specific topics of everyday life. The book is divided into short, concise chapters that cover things that everyone can relate to like family, finance, and the environment. In each chapter, the author generally states his position and how he arrived at it by "thinking for himself". It is a quick, yet thoughtful presentation on a wide range of familiar subjects. In a given area, the author makes it pretty clear what his position is but always encourages the reader to make an individual assessment. The book has some clever humor - enjoyed the vague Fleetwood Mac reference. It also has some touching stories involving the intricate web of family relationships that most of us have in place and have wondered how to navigate. In the end, the reader is left with the feeling of knowing where the author stands on a given topic and more importantly, knowing that he used more than just a little bit of reasoning to arrive at his conclusion. Think for Yourself peaks the interest of the reader enough to want to read what the author thinks about more specific issues in the world today - any other books in the works?