“You make a statement one day then you contradict it the next day!”  My daughter said to me the other day:  The old “I think” is back.

After living in the US for about 8 years, I suddenly realized I was making statements all the time because I did not include “I think” in everything I said. For the following 25 years, I was very careful to use “I think” in most sentences. Today I feel quite comfortable with myself and I do not need approval from anybody, so unless I am conducting business, I have dispensed from using the ever important label.

“I think” is one of the most important element of US culture. French people do not use “I think” very often. Indeed in that culture, it takes a lot of work to make a statement and if you do most people will laugh at you. Statements mean order, categorization and french like disorder and randomization.

I think (I just used it because it is a new idea, a new perspective) that “I think” is important in the US culture because statements are important in the US culture and must be differentiated. Statements are the default because they are used to create categorization that is so important in that culture: everything that does not have a label is dangerous, misplaced.

Why the difference between the French and the American? One explanation might be that the french culture was handed down from the intelligentsia while the american culture was created by the people. The intelligentsia dislike statements because it thrives on uncertainty which lead to doubt, discussion and philosophy. The people like statement and certainty, they want it safe and simple.

Of course all this must have a preamble: “I THINK”

What do you think?