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Hi friends! Thanks for joining me! I am glad that we are on this journey—leading the way to a better world with less problematic thinkers! Problematic thinking impacts our: home life work life social life
It is a serious matter and becoming a critical thinker IS the solution. You should feel very excited that you are starting, or continuing the journey to protect, and improve your mind. Let’s begin to use it to its full capacity. Critical thinking is the art of mastering the balance between emotion and logic. Critical thinking enables your mind to open up to flexible, open-minded, and reflective thinking. If done authentically, it is a powerful cognitive tool which will: Heal your cognitive grievances Make you a strong communicator Help you become articulate Make people want to listen to you
Firstly, if you want more information on what critical thinking really is, you can read it in a past Newsletter here. You may think you know, but a poll I did early on, showed me that most people do not really know. Most people think of it only in it’s scientific sense. That it is about removing all emotion and finding out the absolute, unwavering truth. It is not. You need critical thinking for everyday life, so, act like a critical thinker—go and learn more first, before concluding what you think you know. YOU CAN BE A BETTER THINKER Like most of us, my mind was disorganised. I allowed the worlds ideas, thoughts and events to pour into, and clog my mind. There was no room for clear thinking. Like a spider’s web, my dysfunctional thinking spanned through all facets of my life. One problem impacted the next. My perspective was selfish and egotistical. Many people think we cannot become better thinkers. That we are either born with the ability, or not. I disagree. So, does the evidence. I learnt it. I also teach students the skill. I watched myself move from problematic thinker to healthy thinker. I live with a very clear mind, and pride myself on being able to have conversations that solve problems rather than create them. I watch students shift from flat observations to deep, multifaceted awareness. Make flexible thinking a habit. Think about your: Not before you say them, but afterwards. You will make mistakes. But in post-reflection, you will realise how to improve, or become more confident with your logic. The point—speak freely but thoughtfully: pause listen hear reflect repeat
BE REASONABLE If you are turning people against you during interaction, then you lack critical thinking skills, especially self-awareness. You must be reasonable to be a good critical thinker. Stop trying to be right. Instead, work on trying to be reasonable. Move emotional insecurity to the back, whilst moving rational thinking to the front. THE THREE C’s: CURIOSITY, CONFIDENCE & CONTROL When we talk to someone or read an idea, we instinctively funnel that information through the lenses of our subjective glasses. Those glasses WILL distort our judgment if we are too close to the information we are interpreting. Take a relaxed and flexible approach to conversations. This way, the mood shifts, and you begin to garner control. I remember watching people who, with charisma and intellect, were able use language, body, and ideas to naturally persuade people to want to listen to them. It did not matter how controversial the idea was, they could speak about it well. They did it with ease, made it seem natural, and they were so darn reasonable. Everything they said made sense. I desired this so much. The ability to be articulate and be reasonable. Now, I can hold a conversation with very intelligent people in the room not because I know more than them (actually the opposite), but I speak with reason, logic and fairness. So, they want to LISTEN. One basic rule about critical thinking: Do not assume an absolute answer. Ever. This is particularly important when it comes to matters of culture, subjective thought, and ideas which are ethically complex. Just think - how reasonable am being? Read the room. Do not jump to conclusions. Start with curiosity and inquiry. Watch how creative a conversation becomes when you allow it to bloom like a flower. Open it up, take that approach, do not shut it down. Language which shuts down a conversation, insults and throws the other person off ,only demonstrates YOUR knowledge insecurities. It is the opposite of curious thinking, and includes comments like: Language which opens up conversation, enables new ideas, creativity and innovative thought: COMPREHENSION AS STEP ONE You will never be able to be a good thinker without excellent comprehension. Know what the hec is going on! Comprehension is so important. I am watching, that as a society we are failing at it miserably. Low comprehension equals high likelihood of friction. If you are sitting there very confident of your comprehension skills, you have a higher chance of comprehension ERROR. Make sure you understand. When you read something once, you perceive it. When you read it again, you perceive it as entirely different. In order to comprehend better you need to be patient. This is the greatest piece of information I can give you—wait, do not react. Do not try to solve big ideas in meetings/discussions in one attempt. While you can discuss and expand, you need time to think, reflect and re-organise information. This takes time. Most problems occur because of a lack of mutual understanding. A lack of joint comprehension. So, clarify meaning and definition before moving forward. Consider: Smart thinkers start to become good at balancing multiple factors including the above three factors. They consider all these elements within a single analysis. And they do not respond before making sure they really understand the full picture. This might sound hard, and it is at first, but it is a worthwhile endeavour. Once you practice this over and over again by pausing before you respond and really making sure you have understood correctly, you will begin to do this automatically. COGNITIVE BIAS Cognitive biases reduce accurate comprehension. They are systematic patterns of deviation from rationality or good judgement. If you want to read more on bias and critical thinking, read my past Newsletter here. In order to properly analyse information, you have to make sure, you understand it first. If you do not, you will engage in impaired judgment. Impaired judgment is one of the reasons we get into avoidable conflict with our partners, family, friends and colleagues. Our judgment may be impaired for a number of reasons: All of the above increase the chance of cognitive bias. Confirmation bias is one which we participate in easily as well as all the time. This happens when we read or hear something, we immediately may search for or favour information or parts of the idea which reaffirm our existing beliefs. This is SO common. you have probably already done it multiple times today. I want you to practice avoiding confirmation bias as a result of todays Newsletter. It is the number one problem that blocks our ability to be a better thinker and reduces our comprehension. Next time you read something or hear some information, know that your mind is likely to sabotage your understanding. Now that you know this, try the following: Read it or hear it in its entirety Pause do not react Re-read If you can, go away and do something else Think/reflect Move on and do not comment, or, Respond to the whole message not just one part
You can become a master of comprehension if you apply these rules. FINAL WORDS We are in a constant battle inside our minds with the emotional self and the rational self. These are natural parts of us and should not be rejected or resisted. It just means we need to understand how to optimise their use. Every day we need to assess information in order to make the best decisions for ourselves and those who rely on us. Apply the tips in this letter to all facets of your life and it will slowly begin to become clam, ordered, and peaceful. If it is doing the opposite—you are not doing it right. From this position, you have more control and therefore more influence. Empowered people are those who have great cognitive self-control. This can be you soon! Stay tuned for the Sunday Synapse, which will be delivered to your inbox every Sunday! Get ready to take on a new week better than you were last week! If it does not bring value to you, just hit the unsubscribe button below. Send me an email to tell me what you think or if you have any ideas you would like to suggest. Until next Sunday, take care. Dr. Esha.
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