1. Free to go outside the box I happen to be occupying, but stopping short of sociopathy.
2. To see where the group goes.

Good Question !!! I always had critical and curious mind;
I used to ( in youth ) underestimate the depth of biases- cultural and personal. Learning through another's perspective is VERY important now versus 20 years ago.
Life throws questions and precepts at us constantly now, and our answers are what shapes the future and potential of society. I don't want to live in a box(or others)- and strive for
the possibility of consensus about the world we inhabit.
THANKS

For me, free thinking means throwing off the restraints of "PC" and biblical "shoulds" and any other constraints I have accepted, allowing free-range thinking. However, when trying to interact with others of my ilk, I do try to rein in my imagination/thoughts that have been flitting through the universe and bring my conversation onto, if not the same page, at least the same publication. Agreeing with Geoffrey51, gotta put some context around the interaction.

Freethinking could be considered oxymoronic as free thought would not be bounded but to have any intrinsic use it must have the parameters of context, thereby bound.

Hopefully there may be some interesting ideas to engage with instead of the standard fare of ‘what colour socks does god wear’ and ‘isn’t Mr Trump nasty’

Good question!

It's both a noun and an adjective; not to mention the name of a famous group and magazine!

Historically to be a "free-thinker" (adjective) implied you were unencumbered by "religion"...you were "free to think" about creation, gods or no gods, an afterlife or not...etc.

To be in the "Free Thnker/Freethought" society/group was to imply that you just weren't religious. It was a safer "adjective" and or "noun" (group name) to be in - in the very religiously dominated past.

Scientists - those demanding evidence, proof, and a process of studying things...quickly adhered to the strategy.

It was the name given to the organization or group of Agnostics and Atheists in England nearly 140 years ago.

It's also a title to the longest continually running publication...ever....in the whole world...The FreeThinker.

The Freethinker was a British secular humanist magazine, founded by G.W. Foote in 1881.

One of the world's oldest surviving freethought publications, it moved online-only in 2014. It has always taken an unapologetically atheist, anti-religious stance.

First issue: 1 May 1881

Final issue: April 2014 (print)

The website is called Patheos.com...here's the link;

[patheos.com]

And here's the Wikipedia info page;

[en.wikipedia.org]

Free to talk with other open minded people

As host...I am not leaving any response to your question, but will wait with interest to read and to comment on the replies of others. Good question Kaitlyn!