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Thinking well and clearly is far more than just being aware. It is far more than having ideas, opinions, or "thoughts" about something. It is far more than just creating an argument.
Good thinking should lead to solid and reliable results. It should lead to a true understanding of facts, situations, relationships, problems, and solutions.
Thinking errors are very common. It doesn't seem to matter how old you are. I continually see errors in thinking in people of ALL AGES! I see them in people who seem intelligent. I see them in college graduates. I see them in everyday conversation. These same people firmly believe they are thinking very well!
People who don't understand how to think well, and who make errors don't realize they are making errors. Why would they believe otherwise? If they don't understand the foundation of good and logical thinking, why would they ever suspect they are not thinking clearly? They wouldn't!
Hypotheses apply to human relations as well as hard sciences (like physics). Nowhere in science or engineering are hypotheses and theories used as widely as they are in human relationships. Listen in to conversations of just small talk. The participants will very likely engage in wide-ranging and sweeping hypotheses based on very little evidence, and that evidence will be heavily biased by the person's own background, present viewpoints, and prejudices. Also notice that people virtually never try to disprove their own hypotheses.
Given the wide range of background, biases, knowledge, and expectations between individuals, it is not surprising that we have so much trouble in personal relationships and cooperative behavior. On the flip side, think what society could be like if everyone were thoroughly trained in clear, logical thinking!
If you are able to think well, you have a very clear advantage in life. Your choices and decisions will prove out to be correct much more often. You will be viewed as smart, and as wise. You will have more opportunities open up for you, because people will know that you have what it takes to "do the job right," or to "be a good leader." You will be highly respected by other intelligent people. You will have high respect for yourself. You will raise upwards in organizations to positions of power and influence. You will earn a better living.
"Nature abhors a vacuum, and will work powerfully to fill it!"
The mind abhors a vacuum of understanding. It is typically intolerable to the mind to not have an explanation. It will make an effort to discover a plausible explanation. Plausible means "Gee, that sounds like in might be correct."
The Need for Explanation Creates a Hypothesis
When a person is confronted with a situation where not all factors are known or understood, the person will automatically create at least one hypothesis (a guess) to explain to himself the situation and people in it. The mind tends to latch onto the first explanation that "sounds correct."
Usually only one hypothesis is generated. This is a near universal fact.
(1) Biased Thinking
Expectations and Life Experiences "Color" the Hypothesis.
People tend to look for things that fit into their expectations of what the world and the people in it are like. They are particularly alert for situations similar to how they may have been hurt before.
If the person has a background filled with negative view of life, the hypothesis generated will likely be pessimistic, and past negative expectations will figure heavily into it. This is a thinking error, because it lacks true objectivity. The person's emotions can drive their view to conform to past events, rather than with the present events.
(2) Collecting Only Supporting Evidence
A more obscure and therefore more dangerous error is to collect only evidence that supports the hypothesis. Given the very strong and natural tendency for people to see only what they expect to see or want to see, or to "bend" evidence to support their life-view, it is easy to collect a lot of evidence to support the hypothesis. After the "evidence bucket" is arbitrarily full, the collector declares the hypothesis IS true, and therefore acts as if it WERE true. If the preponderance of life experiences in similar situations have produced negative expectations in the present situation, then these will dominate the thinking process, and tend to drive the person towards identifying examples or facts that only support his negative hypothesis.
(3) Desire to Avoid the Truth
This usually happens because it is uncomfortable to come face to face with your own failures or mistakes.
(4) Mistakes in logic
Most people have never received any kind of instruction or even introduction to logical thinking. If they have not figured it out themselves, they are likely to make arguments that fall apart when examined for validity.
Formal logic is a subject this writer took at university, taking a whole semester. Most people do not need such a long class.
(5) Assuming the Hypothesis is True
This is the "KILLER" error. To assume the hypothesis is true prevents you from looking for errors! Why look for mistaken "facts" or logical errors if you already believe (by assuming) that the hypothesis IS true?
(1) Avoid Biased Thinking
Probably the best way to avoid this error is to consciously guard against it. Say, "I want to look at this not as myself, but as a neutral observer who just arrived from Mars!"
(2) Avoid Collecting Only Supporting Evidence
Rather than setting out to prove the hypothesis, instead consciously choose to try to disprove it. This is to be consciously done in a detached attitude; "I don't know if this is true. Lets see if there is any evidence that clearly disproves it. If so, I will look for another explanation." This process short-circuits looking to find only supporting evidence. Also, it is very much easier to disprove a hypothesis than it is to prove it! Once a hypothesis is disproved, the person will be back where he started; a situation has occurred, but he does not understand it. The mind cannot tolerate this vacuum of understanding, so it will proceed to formulate at least one new hypothesis, and the disproof part of the cycle starts over.
By disproving a hypothesis I mean that you have found evidence that proves the hypothesis is incorrect, or that you have collected so much evidence towards this end that it is reasonable to assume it is not true.
The inability to disprove a hypothesis does not prove that hypothesis. Only after the attempt to disprove the hypothesis has failed (after diligent effort), then the search can be started for supporting evidence. If sufficient evidence can be collected that proves it, one can begin acting as if the hypothesis were true.
At this stage the hypothesis could be considered to be a theory. A theory is never considered to be a proven fact. It has, however, reached the stage where it can be applied to "everyday" problems. It can be used to predict future behavior, guide one's own behavior in future (similar) situations, or as a tool to gain further understanding into the nature of things (and persons). Every time a theory is used successfully in these ways, it is strengthened. Every time the theory fails in these, it has been weakened. If a theory fails to predict accurately, further thought, study, or experiment may lead to deeper understanding, and revision of the theory, and therefore it becoming stronger. On the other hand, the people who use and apply theories should always be on the lookout for that one piece of evidence that disproves the theory! Even if the theory is never disproved, if it fails often enough, it may be discarded, and new hypotheses formed as part of the process of looking for a new theory.
(3) Look for Things you may be Avoiding
Ask yourself "Is there something here that might be painful to me, and that I am avoiding thinking about?
(4) Avoid Mistakes in Logic
This is difficult advice to learn to use. There are quite a few kinds of errors of logic. Logical thinking is a lot more difficult than most people are consciously aware. Again, people who are not using good logic are usually totally unaware of it, and assume they ARE being logical. This is a subject that needs to be covered in a separate essay.
(5) Assuming the Hypothesis is True
Don't do that! NEVER! As in "Not Ever!" Luckily, this is an easy error to correct, once you have made up your mind to correct it, and have a bit of practice doing so.
I don't believe it is possible to never make mistakes in thinking. The goal is to continually reduce the number of errors.
If you decide to master this Life-Skill, start by very careful reading and rereading of this essay (and others). Think about each point made. Try to come up with your own examples of poor thinking, and figure out what the error(s) were. Look for "real time" errors when you listen to other people, or to yourself.
It takes some effort to learn how to think well, and apply it in your life. Practice will make it more automatic. Your rewards will be well worth the effort!
Jane doesn't have a lot of the latest and nicest clothes. She is rather self-conscious about this.
She overhears other girls talking about someone. They are saying, "I don't like her. She is really stupid. And besides, she wears hand-me-down clothes."
Jane is deeply hurt, and goes off by herself and sobs great numbers of tears.
What thinking mistake(s) did Jane make?
- Mr. Andrews
- Computer Literacy Teacher