Experts often don't agree, we're drowning in information, and censorship is a very real thing - here's how to not get lost and confused navigating information.
Great list of ways to think more critically. Much of what you've highlighted here is core to the work I do as a therapist. When we become aware of our own experience of taking in information, and how that experience has been shaped by our past the more empowered we are to find balance, comfort and true understanding of the world and how we relate to it.
This line made me laugh out loud in the cafe I'm in. Thanks for that.
"These people all poo and wipe their butt."
I'm really curious, "Mastering The Art of Critical Thinking" sounds like the work I do with my therapy clients.
I just came across this today and boy was it helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to eloquently describe these observations and the solutions! 🙏
I found the last 2 very helpful for myself personally. Sometimes I find myself wanting something to be true, and I can notice that it sort of pulls me in to some sources vs others to confirm what I want. Such a tricky thing to look out for.
Experts-shmexperts. Getting any group of highly educated eggheads to agree is rare at best.
When the big “reveal” report came out a few years back that 90% of scientists agree that climate change is the greatest existential threat to mankind today came out, further inquiry showed that only 30% of the scientists invited to weigh in on the study agreed to participate. Of those, only 90% were in agreement. I imagine that those most likely to want to weigh in had a strong leaning toward the studies outcome to begin with. It is anything but a settled scientific conclusion. Most sane people would agree that continued research and development of non-carbon based energy sources is more than just a good idea. Ruining the lively hood of millions of people world wide is an unimaginably bad idea. But I digress. It’s just an example of “listening to the experts” and how it can be manipulated to inspire a preferred outcome.
I so enjoy your essays. It sent me to the dictionary again. Thanks for that and your efforts to elevate the consciousness of those around you.
Keep it going. The world needs some perspective and integration of thought.
Thanks again Joe and Madhava (in video). Something I came up with 2 yrs ago, while explaining that I’d been a conspiracy theorist (or conspiracy researcher, as Derrick Broze would say) since waaaaayyyy before the C19 episode, was that we all (?) have *some* degree of critical thinking, and we tend to hold a « delusional threshold », a line beyond which « it just can’t be », « that’s nuts ». And that threshold or line is different from topic to topic, depending on how well versed we are in a given domain, it can also be more or less rigid, depending on a number of things, our belonging circles being one of them (let us remember the power of the fear of rejection!).
All in all it’s a continuum that I work on staying flexible in and remaining curious, sitting with a “willingness to shift” as we say in Nonviolent Communication.
Indeed, your idea here I think is a good one, and very relevant for many of us depending on different topics. We can sometimes draw a line if the conclusion seems to 'out there', and perhaps may discount the evidence to support that conclusion as well.
The willingness... that is the key. whether it be to shift, learn, expand.. willingness is everything. Thanks for your words!
Firstly, this article is helpful for me. I find myself in that final bullet list. It is taking me decades to grok those four gems. Thank you, dear Joe, for your pondering and writing.
I have circumstances that cause clarity of thought to be somewhat diminished in my thinking. I also have 'energetic issues'. I manage all that by vetting and studying people I can trust. I vet them by looking at their education, how they earn their living, how they speak (observational is the sweet spot), etc.
I have had to depend on my intuition maybe a bit more than what you are proposing here. My mind and it's programming, because of trauma and PTSD, has had it's issues. I think learning how to be kind and turning that into a light I shine on self observation and self honesty are the muscles I have built.
I am not disagreeing with you. I believe in depth and nuance.
I have limitations and I can work around them if I use my creativity. I release my creativity by 'seeing what is, from an observational view' and then remembering that I can't know with my mind what it is. My body knows. And something else knows, too. Ha ha. And that is another article.
I hope you find all the encouragement and connection you need this day! I am sending you love, dear Joe!
Really enjoyed your thoughts and unique experience here. I tend to feel we may agree here on the use of intuition - it being a guiding light, a gut intelligence that allows you to sense where to go, what may be trustworthy and so on. It can also help guide what areas you could put more energy into mentally exploring something if need be. I think this is where intuition really thrives. We KNOW something is OFF or ON, but we may not fully be sure why, yet it's a useful signal. I feel that! :)
Loved this, great insights. And as you aptly point out often, we must understand the scope of the problem in order to provide answers. These insights help dig towards the scope of the problems we are seeking to grasp. 🙌
Thanks! And yes, if we are trying to solve problems we haven't defined, what are we really doing? More content coming soon on the layer of collective trauma that certainly needs to be discussed as well :)
After my return from wokeass Ottawa and Trudeau’s military bashing of peaceful protestors, i made a list of “Characteristics of a Lie”.
It grew to 26 items!
Mama raised me well. Her humble and wise Christian approach to life and its suffering taught me all of this; she wasn’t even trying.
Sadly most of my siblings were unable to grasp the wise simplicity of truthseeking, and live lives of either quiet or noisy woke desperation.
I can’t be in a room full of those who use the subverted church doctrine to virtue signal their commitment to social justice. Their pathetic and putrid swamp of lies stinks too much for me to bear.
Thanks for the feedback! Definitely an important skill to have these days to be able to notice characteristics of deception. Feel free to share the list if you have it! :)
Great list of ways to think more critically. Much of what you've highlighted here is core to the work I do as a therapist. When we become aware of our own experience of taking in information, and how that experience has been shaped by our past the more empowered we are to find balance, comfort and true understanding of the world and how we relate to it.
This line made me laugh out loud in the cafe I'm in. Thanks for that.
"These people all poo and wipe their butt."
I'm really curious, "Mastering The Art of Critical Thinking" sounds like the work I do with my therapy clients.
Caught this from your Instagram post on Collective Evolution, so glad I found you guys are writing here! More people need to know about your work.
Haha, Instagram still showing our stuff! Awesome! Lol
I just came across this today and boy was it helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to eloquently describe these observations and the solutions! 🙏
Glad you liked it!
very much needed advice
I found the last 2 very helpful for myself personally. Sometimes I find myself wanting something to be true, and I can notice that it sort of pulls me in to some sources vs others to confirm what I want. Such a tricky thing to look out for.
Indeed can be tricky. Awareness is first step which you got! 🙂
Experts-shmexperts. Getting any group of highly educated eggheads to agree is rare at best.
When the big “reveal” report came out a few years back that 90% of scientists agree that climate change is the greatest existential threat to mankind today came out, further inquiry showed that only 30% of the scientists invited to weigh in on the study agreed to participate. Of those, only 90% were in agreement. I imagine that those most likely to want to weigh in had a strong leaning toward the studies outcome to begin with. It is anything but a settled scientific conclusion. Most sane people would agree that continued research and development of non-carbon based energy sources is more than just a good idea. Ruining the lively hood of millions of people world wide is an unimaginably bad idea. But I digress. It’s just an example of “listening to the experts” and how it can be manipulated to inspire a preferred outcome.
I so enjoy your essays. It sent me to the dictionary again. Thanks for that and your efforts to elevate the consciousness of those around you.
Keep it going. The world needs some perspective and integration of thought.
I enjoy how you interweave presence and consciousness into the process. Next level stuff. Keep it comin.
Thanks brother. Developing the skill of interoception is key!
An extremely naive perspective on the Psycho-physical relationship to stimulus.
Interesting perspective. Care to share what you mean by this? Seems a bit negative with not much clarity or meaning.
Thanks again Joe and Madhava (in video). Something I came up with 2 yrs ago, while explaining that I’d been a conspiracy theorist (or conspiracy researcher, as Derrick Broze would say) since waaaaayyyy before the C19 episode, was that we all (?) have *some* degree of critical thinking, and we tend to hold a « delusional threshold », a line beyond which « it just can’t be », « that’s nuts ». And that threshold or line is different from topic to topic, depending on how well versed we are in a given domain, it can also be more or less rigid, depending on a number of things, our belonging circles being one of them (let us remember the power of the fear of rejection!).
All in all it’s a continuum that I work on staying flexible in and remaining curious, sitting with a “willingness to shift” as we say in Nonviolent Communication.
Indeed, your idea here I think is a good one, and very relevant for many of us depending on different topics. We can sometimes draw a line if the conclusion seems to 'out there', and perhaps may discount the evidence to support that conclusion as well.
The willingness... that is the key. whether it be to shift, learn, expand.. willingness is everything. Thanks for your words!
What a great post, thank you.
Thanks for reading :)
Firstly, this article is helpful for me. I find myself in that final bullet list. It is taking me decades to grok those four gems. Thank you, dear Joe, for your pondering and writing.
I have circumstances that cause clarity of thought to be somewhat diminished in my thinking. I also have 'energetic issues'. I manage all that by vetting and studying people I can trust. I vet them by looking at their education, how they earn their living, how they speak (observational is the sweet spot), etc.
I have had to depend on my intuition maybe a bit more than what you are proposing here. My mind and it's programming, because of trauma and PTSD, has had it's issues. I think learning how to be kind and turning that into a light I shine on self observation and self honesty are the muscles I have built.
I am not disagreeing with you. I believe in depth and nuance.
I have limitations and I can work around them if I use my creativity. I release my creativity by 'seeing what is, from an observational view' and then remembering that I can't know with my mind what it is. My body knows. And something else knows, too. Ha ha. And that is another article.
I hope you find all the encouragement and connection you need this day! I am sending you love, dear Joe!
Really enjoyed your thoughts and unique experience here. I tend to feel we may agree here on the use of intuition - it being a guiding light, a gut intelligence that allows you to sense where to go, what may be trustworthy and so on. It can also help guide what areas you could put more energy into mentally exploring something if need be. I think this is where intuition really thrives. We KNOW something is OFF or ON, but we may not fully be sure why, yet it's a useful signal. I feel that! :)
This is a powerful essay because it clearly and comprehensively describes the big challenges and offers solutions too. Well done
The whole time writing it I kept hearing a voice in my head saying... "this is very important." Trying to make out who that voice might have been... 🤔
😂
Thanks, Joe. Hmmm maybe it was Mama. She usually knew best.
Will publish list soon here. My List of Characteristics of a Lie. Should b fun
Excellent article and very timely!
Thank you!
Loved this, great insights. And as you aptly point out often, we must understand the scope of the problem in order to provide answers. These insights help dig towards the scope of the problems we are seeking to grasp. 🙌
Thanks! And yes, if we are trying to solve problems we haven't defined, what are we really doing? More content coming soon on the layer of collective trauma that certainly needs to be discussed as well :)
Excellent review of aspects of being in truth.
After my return from wokeass Ottawa and Trudeau’s military bashing of peaceful protestors, i made a list of “Characteristics of a Lie”.
It grew to 26 items!
Mama raised me well. Her humble and wise Christian approach to life and its suffering taught me all of this; she wasn’t even trying.
Sadly most of my siblings were unable to grasp the wise simplicity of truthseeking, and live lives of either quiet or noisy woke desperation.
I can’t be in a room full of those who use the subverted church doctrine to virtue signal their commitment to social justice. Their pathetic and putrid swamp of lies stinks too much for me to bear.
Happy Easter!
Thanks for the feedback! Definitely an important skill to have these days to be able to notice characteristics of deception. Feel free to share the list if you have it! :)