The Art of Thinking Independently

We weren’t designed to be interested in the same things

Not long ago I wrote a piece of celebrity gossip. It’s not really my style and I think it’s the first time I’ve attempted it, but I’ll try anything to experiment with titles and stats. Sometimes it’s a big win, other times not so much.

The celebrity in question is highly controversial and it sort of related to Coronavirus as well, so I wrote it to see what would happen.

The answer is, nothing happened. It seems readers care about R. Kelly as much as I do, which is very little.

Probably the most interesting thing that came from the article is a comment made by Robert S. Thomas. This is the beauty of interacting with our fellow writers. We can actually come up with story ideas without even trying.

Robert read my piece and had no idea who R. Kelly is nor why I would write about him. I would feel the same way if someone wrote about a country singer. I have no idea who any of them are nor why they matter.

Robert’s exact words in his comment were, “Not sure why this guy interested you.”

I sat back for a few minutes pondering that comment. Just as Robert isn’t sure why I’m interested, I also wasn’t sure what to say in response.

My logical answer was that the documentary in question intrigued the activist in me. It’s an extremely impactful collaboration around a highly sensitive subject that everyone should be aware of. I watched it not for R. Kelly but for all of his victims.

What I really wanted to say in response to Robert was,

“Why are any of us interested in any of the things we’re interested in?”

But I felt a response like that would have just opened up a full-blown essay in the comment section. Hence, this article right here.

Our interests, or lack of, cannot be explained. It would be futile for me to try understanding why some people are interested in space, technology, blockchain, or the periodic table of elements.

Just as those people probably couldn’t understand why I’m interested in home decor, different cultures, true crime stories, and prison issues.

If we were all interested — or disinterested — in the same things I dare say the world would be pretty boring. Medium would be super dull if every single writer focused on R. Kelly. It would also be boring AF if we all wrote about blockchain.

That’s the beauty of Medium and of writing in general. It is diverse enough for everyone to find something of interest.

As the incredible Maya Angelou quoted:

“In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”

One of the greatest ways to engage with fellow humans is through learning. We couldn’t learn if we all know the same things.

For example, billions of us are parents but each of us experiences it differently. If one mother wasn’t interested in learning from another mother, no new parenting discoveries would be made.

Without diversity in our thinking nothing worthwhile would exist. No one would travel if not for the uniqueness of each destination. No one would have anything to talk about because we would all know the same things.

If doctors weren’t interested in disease and healing a lot of us would be dead. Modern-day life expectancy would be the same as it was in the 1800s. I don’t know why doctors are interested in medicine but I’m certainly glad they are!

I’m not interested in eating meat. You couldn’t pay me to eat a bleeding steak but I don’t wonder why others are willing to pay $40.00 for a hunk of prime rib.

We can never begin to understand what drives each of us as individuals. Our upbringing, surroundings, and individual experiences have a huge impact on why we’re intrigued by one thing or another.

Our cultural backgrounds, our jobs, our life experiences all form who we are and why we’re interested.

When I flew to Jamaica 36 times over a ten-year span, my mother couldn’t possibly understand why I was so interested in the same destination over and over. Yet I couldn’t understand how she loved the overcrowded country of Japan enough to live there for five years.

We were not designed to all be interested in the same things.

So, to ask someone why they’re interested in something? There is no real answer. The only answer is, “Because I am.”

**Thanks to Robert S. Thomas for the inspiration in writing this story.**

Here’s another thing I’m interested in:

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