Do you know what creative courage is? It is the internal psychological power to ignore everything outside your own mind to come to your own senses in what you want to believe. The alternative is to accept the junk being continually shoved down your throat by society as reported to you by your five senses. Many people are so psychologically downtrodden that they have abandoned all hope of thinking for themselves even though they may say otherwise. Many brilliant minds of the past have been put to death for views against the popular opinion.

The Spanish Inquisition, for instance, suppressed all counter poised thought (termed heresies by the inquisitors) within the Catholic Church. In the history of the Catholic Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition is especially well-known, particularly in the nature of the “auto de fe”, or trials, of supposedly converted Muslims, Jews, and Illuminists. This Inquisition also gave rise to the Peruvian Inquisition and the Mexican Inquisition, which continued until those countries split off from Spain.

Fundamentally, the Spanish Inquisitions, despite its political intentions of the King of Spain, demonstrates the ability of society as a whole to support mental slavery. We humans have a long history of bludgeoning one another to death in individual rise to societal dominance because material success in society comes from getting the most heads wagging in agreement with an “expert” regardless of whether the truth is expressed.

It has only been in recent years that freedom of speech has been tolerated in parts of the “modern” world. It has only been until recently that individuals have been allowed to openly question anything or everything they value in their lives if they so choose. Nonetheless, Wall Street derives its wealth from blind followers not dissenters in the stock market.

In finance for the last few decades there are a number of hard headed, steely eyed, mean mouthed professors who sternly defend the efficient market hypothesis of Eugene Fama at the University of Chicago. If you write material that went against the grain you were pretty much thrust out into the cold as a researcher. At least until recently when stronger technology and better data has indicated major flaws in the efficient market premise.

Positive change in our thinking is very hard work because society does everything possible to force us to think the same way. Stock investing is no exception. Warren Buffet for instance teaches us that if you know a company is good and the stock drops in price then you should buy more. How many people do you think follow that advice? I can tell you how many, “virtually zero!”

People don't follow this kind of sage advice because it has literally been beaten into them to not think in ways that are different from the group. Think back to your grammar school days. If you spoke out against the teacher you were so severely reprimanded that you very quickly learned that independent thinking is something severely frowned upon in “modern” education.

If you want to succeed as a stock investor you must develop the creative courage to see the market differently than the public does. You also have to develop the individual pride to act in the way you know is right even if those around you think you are crazy. They may even tell you that you don't know what you are doing for buying shares of stock in the companies you will come to see as the best buys because public is ignoring them as they are mesmerized by Wall Street's false pundits on shows like “Mad Money.”