Gidday Friends,

Welcome to your weekly Critical Thinking letter and welcome to my new subscribers!

Learning critical thinking will help you order your mind and gain the mind control required to solve most of your problems.

After some time, once you apply the suggestions in my letters, you will become a thinking and speaking boss! You will improve your communication and persuasion ability in almost every situation.

This week's Trilogy of Thoughts covers:

• Thought 1: Philosophical quote/idea: Reflecting on philosophical ideas helps us become critical thinkers.

• Thought 2: A critical thinking (CT) idea discussed originally. Today’s topic: The Art of Articulation.

• Thought 3: CT actions to implement: You must put in the work.

THOUGHT 1: A QUOTE

“I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for? So that it will make us happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we had to. But we need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. That is my belief.” (Franz Kafka, Letter to Oskar Pollak, 1904).

“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us”! What exceptional words and such depth of meaning. This deserves deep thought. Take some time here.

To me the words raise the important point that we do not simply expose ourselves to thoughts that keep us sleeping or numb.

To me, Kafka’s words demonstrate the power of words which can not only prompt new thought within us, but pierce into our sleeping conscience and tear it apart! Ideas which make us emotional and feel deeply have the ability to do this.

The types of words that are the most powerful are those that enable us to thaw old ideas, trigger the growth of new ones, and elevate our minds to a place we never knew we could reach.

So, the lesson here is spend time with people and words which flip your thoughts and ideas upside-down.

Be brave in your pursuit of knowledge.

THOUGHT 2

TOPIC: The Art of Articulation

One common question I often get asked is how to become articulate.

This is because when in a room with others, I am often speaking in a way which seems to hold attention. People listen to what I have to say because I am speaking in a manner which is fair, emotive, logical, and thus compelling.

They may not even agree with the premise every time, but they find it hard to argue with the logic. This is where you want to get to.

I believe there is a direct relationship between learning how to be a critical thinker and by default becoming more articulate.

What a fantastic byproduct.

It is important you know how I got here as not very long ago I was very different.

When I began my academic journey, I was far from articulate compared to those around me. In fact, when I first arrived, amongst the academics, I was inarticulate.

I often hesitated to speak for fear of saying something wrong, and my lack of confidence in my knowledge only added to my reluctance. The academics in the room seemingly knew more, and so I thought it best to stay quiet than to be unveiled the fool.

Over the seven-year process of my PhD, however, I slowly transformed.

I went from never being told I was articulate to people in my private circles frequently complimenting me on my way with words.

This is why people often ask me how to do it.

It is wild that I am asked this question now when I recall listening to those I thought of as articulate and wishing and dreaming I could use words with such sophistication.

While I don’t consider myself an articulation queen and still get the use of words wrong and so I am still on this journey, I know I have also come a very long way.

I accept the feedback for what it is and given my training to recognise the importance of patterns, I can reasonably infer by people’s reaction that I have some skill in this area.

Logically, it shows that the process of reading, writing, and discussing my ideas has massively improved my ability to clearly express myself.

Speaking convincingly can truly become—art.

When you reach this point, people who you want to talk to are more inclined to listen to you. They will sit up and sit straight, they will hear you, and they will respond openly.

I recall when I was younger I wasn’t very well-spoken. I often used satirical humour and made people feel good to divert attention from what I really wanted: respect for my ideas.

I was not articulate enough to convey my ideas. When I tried, it resulted in conflict, tension, and people withdrawing. I was obnoxious.

You need to work on articulation if the result of your conversational skills is that people do not want to talk with you.

Suddenly, I found myself in a PhD program, and that’s where the magic happened.

Over seven years, I went from barely stringing a respectable sentence together to people listening to me because of one simple sentence.

You don’t need a PhD to get to this point, but the PhD process gave me the tools and taught me how to become more articulate. Now I will teach you.

It’s because I started a relationship between reading, talking, and writing—a triangulated process that is the most powerful method to transform your confidence with speech and language.

A very powerful default of critical thinking is articulation.

There’s no point in being a good thinker if you can’t articulate your ideas or convince anyone.

My experience demonstrated that these two elements are intertwined.

As I learned and taught critical thinking, I became a better speaker.

So the one way to improve your articulation is: READ.

Exposure to a wide range of ideas through reading naturally adds to your mental repository. This content helps your mind automatically form sentences and ideas more naturally.

The less information you have to draw from, the less you can contribute to discussions. It's logical and clear—the more you know, the better you can justify your thoughts and ideas.

If you struggle with articulation, it’s often because you need more to draw from. This is why experts in one field are able to speak so compellingly about what they know. They have so much knowledge to draw from.

For critical thinking expertise, however, you need to start to become aware of how much knowledge exists for you to suddenly realise how little you know.

Once you begin to read more, you start to know more.

You also become more humble given your growing awareness of the never-ending well of knowledge.

Exposure to new words, ideas, and knowledge enables you to talk about a broader range of topics. This will naturally elevate your articulation skills.

You must also read slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully. You must engage with the words and the ideas. It is important you connect each part with the next. Do not skip parts you do not understand. In fact, focus harder on the most difficult parts until you DO UNDERSTAND.

Attempt to figure ideas out. Reflect on parts which challenge your position.

A very vital part of to write notes in the margins, or create lists of words and concepts. Jot down your reflections. Pause and connect it to other pieces of information you know. These actions are very important. Do not rush through sections and do not read to finish the book read for the journey. Sometimes it takes me a few months to finish one book. I read books like it is a course. I go down rabbit holes, I go off on tangents and look up concepts, words, and events I know little about.

BUT you have to practice this over and over and over and over.

It will not happen overnight.

You will get things wrong, you will get pushback for your under-formed ideas. Take this all as a practice to enunciate your meaning better. When you get pushback, you should think, reflect, and then come back with an even better explanation. Or leave with a better understanding of what you meant to say.

Each time you will improve.

During my PhD, my supervisors and peers read my work constantly. I also read broadly outside my PhD topic and told and still tell my husband and friends about all that I think I have learned or know.

All of these people listen, sometimes agree but also criticise my ideas and challenge me. Sometimes it is annoying and sometimes it is thrilling. This is the great thing about family and close friends, they are more likely to challenge you than anyone else. These are the conversations that will elevate your abilities. Do not run from them.

Discomfort is your best teacher.

When I got push-back this was the cue for me to learn how to convince them of my logic. If you get angry and annoyed about the push-back and shut down, it is because you have not developed your argument well enough to convince.

Additionally, there’s a distinction between listening and reading.

Now do not get me wrong, storytelling is one of the most powerful mediums to share ideas and thoughts and to keep wisdom alive. Its rich history is profound and we should never stop telling stories. However, in the new age, we have a rising amount of people using audiobooks in the place of reading. They are incredible for information equality, allowing many people to access information globally but reading also provides us with important skills.

For example to improve articulation, slow engagement with words through reading is crucial. Audiobooks are often consumed while multitasking, which doesn’t allow for the deep reflection needed to process new concepts fully. You may gain the same outcome listening to audio if you take notes, stop to reflect, and engage with new concepts. I am usually listening to one audio-book and reading one to two books at a time.

So I use both mediums.

Reading os powerful because from the get-go it involves silence and stillness, supporting the profound relationship between your mind and words.

This leads to by default, moments of slow reflection and deeper understanding.

Discussing what I’ve read with people around me and writing about it in my newsletter or other mediums, helps me solidify and explore my ideas.

This process of reading, discussing, and writing is the key to becoming more articulate and a critical thinker.

There is one more element to being a compelling speaker, and that is emotional awareness. See a past Newsletter here on this topic if you would like to learn more.

THOUGHT 3

Activities to Implement to Improve Your Thinking and Articulation Skills:

1. Read Regularly: Engage with a wide range of topics and take time to reflect on what you read.

2. Write Frequently: Start a journal or blog to practice putting your thoughts into words. I also write my reflections and new ideas in the margins of all my books as I read. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just get the ideas out of you and place your own words and logic around them.

3. Discuss Ideas: Talk about what you've read with friends or family to explore different perspectives and let them challenge you. Take their confusion, and lack of understanding as a lesson that you need to improve your use of language and reason.

4. Slow Down: Allow yourself time to process new concepts without rushing.

5. Seek Feedback: Encourage constructive criticism to improve your articulation skills.

6. Expand Your Knowledge: Continuously add to your mental repository by exploring new ideas and topics.

   Learn about Franz Kafka (click) and why his words are seen to be so compelling to so many people.

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   Dr. Esha