Philosophy = thinking for yourself

Philosophers teach us to think about our emotions, rather than simply have them. By understanding and analysing our feelings, we learn to see how emotions impact on our behaviour in unexpected, counterintuitive and sometimes dangerous ways.  - Alain de Botton

Thinking we’re easy to live with is an easy mistake to make. 

We’re all broken in some way. We lack self-awareness about the many ways in which we are uniquely mad. Alain de Botton believes we should be swapping instruction manuals on the first date.

Critical thinking skills based on logic are one of our main strengths in evaluating the feasibility of a creative idea, but it can get in the way of innovative thoughts.

Escape the constraints of the logical mind by thinking metaphorically. Metaphors work because they help you see...