fact is experienced by many men as fearsome and discomfiting: it demands a stronger commitment to the efficacy
of their own mind than they possess.
Further—and this consideration is especially crucial—the fear of relying on the judgment of one's own mind is felt
most acutely in the realm of values because of the direct consequences of one's judgments for one's own life and
well-being. The evaluative errors that men make affect them personally far more often—and far more
devastatingly—than do most of their cognitive errors. To assume responsibility for choosing the values that guide
one's life, the principles by which to act, the goals in which to seek happiness—to make such judgments alone,
relying solely upon one's own reason and understanding—is to practice the ultimate form of intellectual
independence, the one most dreaded by the overwhelming majority of men. (Such intellectual independence, it
should be mentioned, does not forbid the possibility of learning from other men, but it forbids the substituting of
their judgment for one's own.)
Still another reason why the fear of independence is most intense in the sphere of value-judgments is the fact that
independence in this area is most likely to bring a person into conflict with other men. Cognitive differences do not
necessarily generate personal animosity among men; value differences commonly do, particularly when basic
issues are involved. Therefore, independence in the sphere of value-judgments is more demanding psychologically.
Since a social form of existence is proper to man, since he has many benefits to derive from living among and
dealing with his fellow men (benefits relative, among other things, to the superior manner of survival possible to
him under a division of labor)—it should be recognized that the desire to have a harmonious and benevolent
relationship with his fellow men is a rational one; it is not, per se, a breach of proper independence. It becomes
such a breach only if and when a man subordinates his mind and judgment to that desire—i.e., if he places that
desire above his perception of reality. If and when the price of "harmony" with his fellow men becomes the
surrender of his mind, a psychologically healthy man does not pay it; nothing can be a benefit to him at that cost.