The most dangerous thing in the world, far beyond STDs, world hunger, and the popularity of a TV show called "Friends," is something that is not difficult to describe, but I felt the need to draw out the actual getting to naming it for the simple reason of dramatic effect. Namely, it's being told what to think.
Don't get me wrong, part of a parent's responsibility to teach a child what to think, try and impart on them their knowledge, morality, and all that junk. However, at some point, one must realize that their parents don't have all the answers, and must seek out new points of view, and try and coincide them within the perspective that they had built in their formative years. However, it is not a teacher's responsibility (once past those formative years we spoke of anyway), or anyone else's, to teach someone how to think. It's fine to show someone a way of thinking, such as a course in logic, but to say that there is a proper way of thinking, or that one should think like yourself, is not only smug, it's down right egotistical. There is no proper way of thinking, everyone is different, though there are some basics that I feel that everyone must have. Not everyone has this, of course, and so naturally I consider them to be thinking improperly. However, the difference between the two should be self evident. The only thing I ask of people is to be open minded, give others a chance. If someone says something you don't like, respectfully disagree, discuss it, and see what sticks. Aside from that, I am willing to say there is no proper way of thinking, because being closed minded means you have a sense of superiority that you may not necessarily deserve, because to not be open to new possibilities means you're absolutely sure, and while you may be right about a thing or two, no one could possibly right about everything, no matter how much they'd like to think they are.
What does this have to do with you? Well, I have to say, there are many programs to teach people how to think. These programs are actually all about brain washing. They prey on people with some kind of emotional or social problem, be it shy, lonley, or otherwise confused about life. Through a scientifically proven method, they deprive people of a sense of self and get them to give into peer pressure through sleep deprivation, mal nutrition, and disorientation. Back in the seventies, the groups that used these methods were called cults, since the eighties they got a make over as clinics, and in the nineties they became seminars. In the noughts, they go by a variety of names and faces, but it comes to the same thing, they teach you to give in to another person's world view.
The reason why I couldn't become a buddhist was because of how easy it was to be a master guru. By reading about it (as discussed in a previous essay) I saw that all you had to do was have an aloofness to concern about this world. Just act like you don't care, that the answers to all questions is not seeking the answer, and bam!! You're running the temple. You may doubt me, but read about it for yourself and you'll see.
And that's just it, with that last statement, read about it for yourself. As I always say, question everyone's motives, question everyone's intentions whenever they try and teach you or influence you. What am I trying to gain here? What are my motives? I'm trying to save you from spending hundreds of dollars to lay on a cold floor and shout at the ceiling with hundreds of others for hours at a time, or being made to feel bad for saying the wrong thing. We can disagree with each other, and learn from one another, anyone who only wants to make sure you've commited to memory someone else's teachings, and they aren't teaching a course in a certified educational institution is a fraud, even if they don't know it themselves (they could be used by someone else to get you interested, and thereafter use you to get to others). A good teacher listens to questions, and explains the answers to them. A classic method of brain washing is side stepping questions, making you feel stupid for asking them, make you forget what it was you were initially trying to figure out.
Okay, so maybe right now I'm not approaching this correctly. It's like if I were to talk about racism, and only talk about the Klan. Sure, they are terrible people for advocating that other people are inferior and to be hated for just being different then themselves. Howeever, racism is much more prevelant than in the extremists, it's present in our everyday lives, though most of us aren't looking for it. It happens whenever someone acts on the impulse of being uncomfortable based on the unfamiliar really, it happens when someone doesn't like seeing an ethnicity they're used to around. It's when they make certain judgements based on that about this person or persons they've never met. If I'm not getting through to you, well, sorry, but that's a discussion for another time (and i think I already attempted to cover it). Anyway, the point is, thinking you're better than someone else doesn't always come in the form of a cult, it can take on other forms that are much more common.
One of the groups most susceptible to conceitedness is intellectuals. They can feel that because they have read a certain author, been exposed to a particular work (be it fiction, non-fiction, a book, movie, scientific paper, etc.), they are better than those that haven't, that if everyone were exposed to this particular piece, then the intrinsic logic involved within the piece would be self evident, and the person would also become better for it. If they don't, then they just don't get it.
Another group is religious fanatics that believe that they have the answer, and all others should seek it. Now this is dangerous water I'm treading, since the very basis of a proselytizing is that salvation or enlightenment can only be attained through a particular method. Being a person who has studied numerous world religions and doesn't proscribe to any, it could be very easy for me to say one doesn't need religion, but that, I feel, isn't true. Religion works for most people, and more importantly it's particular religions work for some people. Most any religion that preaches understanding and tolerance is okay in my book, and if they want to reach other people with this message, I'm all for it. I don't care for conversion by the sword, and don't have much of a tolerance for pigheadedness. If you can't acknowledge that other religions have a right to exist, and that the people who believe in them are free to practice them, then you and I got a problem. A single religion, as the world is right now, won't work for everyone. Different relgions fill different needs as they evolved over time in ritual and precepts. Some people can work in a few different religions, and it may not matter, others will find that only one really speaks to them. There's nothing wrong with this, and it is best to be exited about your own beliefs and desire to share them with others, they might thank you for the service if you're lucky, as long as you don't cross the line of imposing your beliefs on others.
Now, I have made some judgements in this particular piece, despite saying there is no wrong way to think. However, everything I have put in the category of no-thanks has been in the realm of intolerance, of closed mindedness. This is the one area where I think an exception needs to be made in the freedom of ideas. You may have the right to be an intolerant asshole in America, but that does not mean it is right to do so, because intolerance leads to stagnation of innovation, and that eventually leads to downfall. Intolerant philosophies will always erode over time (from years to centuries) because they can not cope with the new and exciting ideas that arise with new discoveries, and whatever philosphies embrace or atleast tolerate this new shit will slowly gain ground, depending on how ingrained it is in the psyche of a people will determine if it can happen within a generation, take several generations, or take generations of generations. However, while it all eventually fades away, it can take a lot longer than some people are willing to wait. Sorry, can't help you there.
Wow, this is another essay that totally went all over the place, but I think I succeeded in not rambling. I do have to add though, I don't think I'm finished here, it's just that I really need to sit on this one for awhile longer, in order to gether my thoughts on the subject. I can say that one shouldn't approach arguments like contests, trying to win over the other person to their point of view. I won't go into the why, that should be obvious, cause what if you're wrong? Shouldn't you be looking to discover if the other person is right when arguing? People love to be right, but being right isn't what's important.

Eating an ice cream sandwich while sitting naked on your friends couch just after having read a physics book in his/her bedroom, now that's important!