Deep thinkers or sheep thinkers?

Karl Albrecht, the writer on psychology, divides people into "deep thinkers" and "sheep thinkers". I thought this division was applicable to the situation in Singapore.

A deep thinker is one who thinks for themselves and is independent in their thoughts and conclusions from the mainstream of the society around them. They see things as they are. They understand what others do not.

A sheep thinker is one whose thoughts are acquired from the surrounding society: what they read in the media or hear from others. They don't realize that their thinking is determined by others and believe that they are thinking for themselves. However, they never think for themselves and, in fact, don't really think independently at all.

Now, Singapore's leadership has, in recent years, begun to urge its populace to "be creative". The aim is to create some kind of intellectual hub. However, there is a problem. For too long, Singapore has encouraged its people to be sheep thinkers. The way children are educated does not instill deep thinking, but produces sheep thinkers. There is a great pressure at all levels of society to conform - and so almost everyone does.

Karl Albrecht observes that all totalitarian societies have sought first to eliminate the deep thinkers, or control them, so that they would not awaken the rest of the society of sheep thinkers to reappraise their situation and come to understand it. Thus, these types of societies will try to create sheep thinking masses - just as Singapore has done. The problem for these societies however is that without deep thinkers, certain kinds of technological, scientific and cultural development will not occur: for sheep thinkers are thought followers, not thought leaders and will not create anything new.

If Singapore is to become a creative hub, it will have to start encouraging deep thinkers in its midst. This is something with which the system is unfamiliar. I wonder whether the system can really take the presence of true deep thinkers in its midst? Would the powers-that-be not be instinctively uncomfortable with such people and try to muffle them?

Singapore's education system is still creating sheep thinkers. I am curious as to whether this will change and deep thinkers will start to be fostered. We are at a cusp, in some ways. If Singapore wishes to have a creative culture, it will need deep thinkers. However, having deep thinkers makes the population less sheep like - and yet, sheep like is exactly what the government has tried to instill in its people for the last five decades. Basically Singapore can't have it both ways. They can either choose to be a creative hub and have deep thinkers...or remain as easily controllable sheep.

The question is: which will Singapore's government choose: the deep thinkers they know they need...or the sheep thinkers they know how to lead?

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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