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I don't care for reading because I like the way I think and I don't need anything else to have on my mind. Plus, I don't like to read out of fear of being indoctrinated to think a certain way. Is this normal?
You know, I totally get this too. I don't succumb to the fear though. Just find another piece with the opposite point of view and read both! Always better to open your mind. Have faith that you'll be able to spot the bullshit.
I am probably going to come off as a huge dick.
I do not think it is normal. It seems as if you are small minded and want to stay in your own little bubble of stagnant thoughts. You must not like change, and also must not be very confident in your thoughts if you think they will so easily abandon you. Perhaps a fear of failure (as in discovering YOU were lying to yourself) is stopping you from opening your mental gates up.
What the hell am I even saying XD balls. I am going to bed.
I think that's pretty much counterproductive. An educated mind is resistant against indoctrination. Reading makes you more critical about certain things.
Your mind will either reject or absorb what you read, and it does so using the thought processes you already have. So you probably won't be indoctrinated, that only works on the very weak minded.
You already display a stubborn mindset via your question, so read away.
Some of that resonates with how I was earlier on, with me having my special way of thinking, and with that thinking being fragile to the influence of other ways of thinking. Or something along those lines.
Don't view your mind as holy, it is going to be influenced by all sorts of things, it's going to change over time, and it's (perhaps you believe otherwise) going to cease to exist at some point. Don't worry so much about the integrity of your thoughts and ideas.
You might enjoy the Intelligence Square debates. Get both sides of the argument from experts. Pretty interesting usually:
http://intelligencesquaredus.org/
If you never feel like you know the answer, you'll never be afraid to research the question. Remain open to change your mind and you'll be open to discover the truth
To an extent, I'm the same. I'm always wary of reading news because I never feel like I can trust it. Makes me feel cynical.
This sounds like horrible bigotry. Not that you're a bad person, but that you need psychological help. If you're afraid of reading, it sounds like someone has already indoctrinated you not to read.
You probably sit there watching hours of TV, the news and everything. Yet you don't read for fear of indoctrination? Reading opens up your mind to whole new worlds.
Also, indoctrination is entirely the wrong word to use here. Maybe if you weren't so afraid of reading you'd know that,
You know, there's a difference between indoctrination and learning.
Actually on second thought, I'm not even so sure that there is. I think "indoctrination" is just a word that people use to dismiss the beliefs of someone else who arrived at a different conclusion and are too lazy to argue.
No single writer is right by 100%. I just read a ton, extract the good and leave the bad behind. The only requirement is that you think critically. Skepticism is the standard, not the aberration. As long as you remember to filter out the BS, reading more makes the resulting product in your mind more wholesome.
I sometimes become overly influenced after reading, but I eventually rationalize everything. Do not fear.