Many, maybe most of the thoughts I have are not my thoughts. I did not spontaneously think them myself. They were put into my mind by other people, often a group of people. These thoughts were put there by these people because they benefit from me thinking them. Usually it’s a financial benefit. So, I think many thoughts because someone else wants me to think them for their own gain. I do not think them for my own benefit, in fact many of them are detrimental to my best interests.

And that’s ME, and I’m a freak, the type who writes an essay like this one. Many, more typical people, are very close to ONLY thinking thoughts that aren’t their own, but are put there to benefit someone else. If you took all those out and left only their own thoughts, there would be nearly nothing in their mind at all!

So, how do thoughts that aren’t your own become part of your thinking? And who put them their for their benefit and not mine? Well, these thoughts have many trajectories into your mind. From parents taking thoughts that aren’t theirs and putting them into their kids, to the personal influence of friends, coworkers and classmates, to mass media and social media, up to overt efforts like commercial advertising and government propaganda, from birth onward we are bombarded by the efforts of others to give us thoughts they want us to think. Who are these people? The biggest and most successful thought control campaigns targeting your mind come from commercial interests, governments, and religions. But on a more personal level, friends and family also put thoughts into your mind. Sometimes it’s their own thoughts, but most often they are acting as contagious agents trying to infect you with the thoughts infecting them, that originated with one of the big three – commercial interests, governments, religions.

Learn to perceive these foreign thoughts now residing in your mind! I suggest that you start to watch your own thinking, and start asking yourself, “why do I think this? When did I first have this thought, and who taught it to me? And where did they get it? Who benefits from me thinking it? And were they involved in putting it there? Is this thought true, and how do I know it is true? Does what I’m thinking benefit me, or someone else?”

I intend to do a lot of mental hygiene and thought correction through this site, and help people plagued by false, biased, fallacious, irrational and detrimental (to the thinker) thinking. I wrote of this months ago here, but the real work on it has been on hold. The person I most seek to help with better thinking is myself. I have benefited greatly in my life from having my flawed thinking corrected. I enjoy finding and correcting flaws in thinking, especially my own. And I hope that anyone who reads of my mental hygiene efforts will benefit as well.