INTJ Mom

Welcome to my site.

I'll tell you upfront that I tend to be a freethinker and rather independent.  I'm not impressed by titular authority and I won't ascribe to/follow social rules/morés if I think they are stupid, impractical, outdated.  I say what I think and you can take it or leave it.   I really don't care which you choose - but if what I think about something offends you - too bad, you'll have to deal with it or leave.  Just so you understand that and we get it out of the way right at the beginning.  Continue at your own risk.

My primary goal is not to convince you to agree with me, I mainly want to try to make people think - to make people question.  My belief is that the only way to truly study a topic is to read everything you can find about it - from the extreme pro to the extreme con and everything in between.  I believe that only then can you get all the information available and be able to make an informed decision of your own.

I hate to see people live their lives on auto-pilot and never question or think about whether the beliefs of their fathers really make any sense and really work for them.  If you've truly questioned something and wholeheartedly researched and thought about it before coming to a decision, I can respect your decision, even if you've come to a different decision than I have.  If you believe something just because that's what your parents taught you or just because it's a tradition, I can't respect that because you aren't thinking for yourself.

My older kids will confirm that I don't advocate them ever just taking someone else's word for something, including mine.  I want them to do their own leg work and come to their own conclusions.  I've attempted to teach them how to discern rational arguments from other forms such as circular reasoning, straw man theories, "no true scotsman", non sequitur, etc.

I don't claim to be perfect at it myself, but I do make an honest attempt to keep my arguments rational.  I believe the greatest and most important thing I can do as a parent is to teach my kids to be critical thinkers - to think for themselves - and to have the self confidence to trust their own thought processes.

Are they going to make some mistakes?  Of course!  But that's ok, it's an important part of the growth process.  Personally, I've gained the most knowledge and personal growth from dealing with & analyzing mistakes I've made.  I've noticed that people who've been tightly controlled and/or paranoid about making mistakes usually come across as rather stunted & shallow. 

I also like to play devil's advocate at times in an attempt to unearth more sides of an issue.  I've gotten pretty good at arguing viewpoints I don't personally currently subscribe to simply because I'm trying to unearth more information or I'm trying to get someone to think outside of their box.

This site is very much under construction right now.  You may find missing links and half written sentences right now as I work on a section whenever I get time.  Make sure you check out the What's New section for a list of additions and changes.