You're Not Thinking for Yourself (And Kierkegaard Knew It)

Every single video you watch, every reel you get sent, and every conversation is about a lifestyle you should try to implement. Take more magnesium, read 10 pages a day, and start doing ice baths.

I've talked about this topic a lot, but recently, it's something I've been struggling with more. I'm not sure why, but there's always a correct way to do something. The most annoying thing about it is that everyone with a phone and a camera is recording a reel, saying that you need to explore nature more or start doing weighted crunches. And then you give in because you think the other person has authority, because he's on your phone and must be giving correct advice.

Why can't we make our own decisions, figure out our own problems ourselves, and trust our own instincts?

If we think about it, how do we genuinely know that the person on the other end of the phone isn't trying to get more views, land sponsorships, or seem more mature and philosophical? While taking advice isn't necessarily a harmful endeavor, it's more about information overload, which creates decision paralysis.

I asked ChatGPT for a philosopher who values trusting your own thoughts, not society's. It gave me Søren Kierkegaard.

Søren Kierkegaard was a 19th-century Danish philosopher, theologian, and writer who is often considered one of the founders of existentialism. His work focused on individuality, anxiety, faith, choice, and the struggle to become your authentic self instead of simply following "the crowd." He argued that living honestly requires personal responsibility, because no one else can choose your life, values, or meaning for you.

I chose three of Kierkegaard's quotes to see if I agree with him and if they still hold value in 2026.

"The crowd is untruth."

This is a straightforward point my boy Søren is trying to make. People are sheep. We believe whatever society is pushing down our throats. There are so many examples of this: the movies everyone hypes up but are mid, the album drops that are the most okay thing you've ever heard, and the new trend that starts and ends in three days.

Beanie Babies, only watching highly rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes, or only listening to music to fit in with your friends are all examples of following the crowd. The hardest thing is to abstain from the crowd, because you isolate yourself from your peers if you find a weird niche like gym-philosophy-ML-sports-anime like me. But there's also another side to it. If you are trying to be "different" to seem edgy, you become performative. Because there's no need to be reading a book on the subway, lil bro. Joking. For example, my favorite shows of all time aren't something most people hate. They are safe picks: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Attack on Titan, Suits, and Rick and Morty before it got bad. These shows aren't niche, but I genuinely like them, so that's not an issue. Blindly saying The Odyssey is a masterpiece when maybe, deep down, you didn't like it is the issue Kierkegaard is trying to prove.

"The greatest hazard of all, losing one's self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all."

This is an interesting point. It's that we don't even realize we subconsciously lose ourselves to society. Meaning, we have no clue that we are losing our individuality and our free will. That's the tricky part. When you specifically like something that everyone likes, for example soccer, Rocket League, or Marvel movies, do you genuinely like them, or is it because everyone hypes them up so much that you also subconsciously like them to fit in?

It becomes very difficult, kind of scary, and mind-trippy. Because you have to interrogate every single hobby, like, and belief, and see if it came from you. But on the other hand, is it possible to come up with your own ideas 100%? Kierkegaard was a philosopher in the 1800s, and I think it would have been easier to come up with your own ideas because you weren't shoved 100 ideas every single day. But every idea you have comes from an experience, an interaction, or a class you took. You might not be able to come up with an idea that's 100% yours unless you isolate yourself in a completely white room and have nothing to interact with. Then your ideas are your own.

"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."

This last quote says that people are too focused on fighting for freedom of speech, but that's pointless if whatever comes out of your mouth is just planted by the crowd. You should figure out how to be authentic. That's more valuable than freedom of speech, because even though we now have freedom of speech, with some limitations, the issue is that we aren't thinking before we act.

I'm not sure what the solution to all of this is. Isolation seems drastic, interrogating every idea is exhausting, and blindly following the crowd makes you dumb. The obvious answer is balance, like with everything. Interrogate some ideas that seem foolish. Maybe delete social media for a while if it clouds your judgment. I think the better approach is to be more in tune with yourself and blindly trust your instincts. If an idea is wrong, it's wrong. If an approach is wrong, it's wrong. Instead of modeling your behavior to fit in with the crowd, just blindly trust yourself and see what happens. Maybe then your ideas spread to the crowd, and then you become the crowd. Okay, I'm confused now.