Thinking and going out of step with the herd are two ways of saying the same thing. Courageous and original thought leads invariably to independence of spirit and authentic selfhood. As soon as you start thinking for yourself, you shift toward your own alignment and out of herd alignment. This results in discomfort, becomes alienation and ostracization, turns into the herd’s rejection and banishment of you, and ultimately in your rejection of the herd. That’s kind of a lot, so you might want to begin your thinking career by thinking about thinking.