A Critical Thinking Brain – It’s The Most Important Thing..
A critical thinking brain. The ability to think. To analyze. And to make good decisions. I would say that it’s the most important thing, not only for prepping and preparedness, but for life’s journey itself.
Your noggin’s grey matter and it’s exercised ability to input, process, and output.
The Critical Thinking Brain
What do I mean when I say ‘ critical thinking brain ‘? Well, it’s not a one sentence answer. It really cannot be properly addressed in a blog post either. However I will attempt to summarize..
Everyone can think. However not everyone can think critically. In fact, I would suggest that the majority of people today have trouble with critical thinking to almost any minimal extent. It seems that many are missing an important part of the input-process-output equation of critical thinking. And that is, the ‘processing’ part.
Emotional and Programmed Thinking versus Critical Thinking
There’s a difference between a mostly reactionary brain and a critical thinking brain. How many people simply react to a given input (‘knee-jerk’ emotional response)? Versus those who first ‘process’ that input with a complex set of filters and learned/taught abilities to decipher (critical thinking) before ‘outputting’ a response or action..
My life experience clearly indicates that most humans are mostly ‘knee-jerk’ reactionary, rather than those who have more of a critical thinking brain. I don’t know exactly why that is. It’s complicated.
It is apparent that most people are easily led and directed through life (often without their knowing it). Programmed what to think (again, without their even knowing it).
We’re being programmed from birth, and throughout life. That’s an extremely important realization. Critical thinking cannot begin until one knows and understands that we are all being programmed what to think! There is bias everywhere! Agendas. Propaganda. It’s just the way it is. Once you realize this, your eyes are opened..
The Process of Processing in a Critical Thinking Brain
The processing of data input to the brain. Processing what you see, hear, read, and experience. This is the harder part. At least, at first, until one develops a healthy set of critical thinking algorithms for effective processing before reaching conclusions and/or spitting out an output, action, or reaction.
How many only believe what they want to hear, so to speak? Here’s another one.. How many people simply believe what they’re being told? Naivety.
Take for example, ‘the news’. That’s probably a pretty good one.. How many people realize that ‘the news’ is actually sensationalized (even ‘the weather report’ !)? Additionally, out of the bazillion things to possibly report on everyday, how many people actually realize the propaganda aspect of the chosen ‘news’ stories (and angles thereof) that are presented to them each day (and throughout the day)?
Not that this post is about ‘the news’, but lets continue for another moment.. Let’s apply some critical thinking –> Why trust one source of so called, news? Or even the whole of the ‘alphabet’ channels (which essentially are all aligned as ‘one’)? If you are close-minded about this, then your are most certainly being ‘programmed’. And I won’t get into who and what is behind that programming (I digress)..
A Critical Thinking Brain is Skeptical
A critical thinking brain will be naturally skeptical. It’s a healthy thing. Seeking multiple sources of input, knowledge, and viewpoints. Questioning and discernment, insight and judgement – all with a critical thinking brain. Balance.
Discovering Motive
Motive is very integral to the ‘processing’ part of critical thinking. Most everything that happens within the human realm involves motive. Figure out the motive, and you figure out A LOT! Ask yourself, “Why”? When it comes to a lot of things, you will discover that it usually boils down to money, power, control.
Make Time to Think
Here’s a thought. Stop once in awhile and just ‘think’. Shut down all external inputs, and think. (I believe that’s a scary concept for some people).
Today’s world can be ridiculously ‘busy’. And we as individuals allow it to become that way. Many people don’t even realize that they are in control of their own ‘busy’. We are constantly bombarded – such that it’s easy to let all of our time be consumed being ‘busy’. No time to think.
Think Before You Speak
Think before you speak. How many of you know people who constantly spout verbal diarrhea (whatever comes to mind immediately comes out of the mouth)? That’s probably because they are not thinking about what they are about to say – it just comes out.. No critical thinking.
Critical Thinking Enables Planning
Critical thinking and planning. How many of you know people who go about a task or project without formulating a plan first? They just go head-strong into it, and often run into snags and pitfalls because they’ve not thought it through first.. Measure twice, cut once.
Critical Thinking and Preparedness
When it comes to preparedness, there’s certainly LOTS to think about these days. To explore the what-if’s. The hypotheticals (though some seemingly not so hypothetical, rather, likely..).
Use logic and critical thinking to expose potential risks. Reason your way through. Set aside some time to think. Plan. Mitigate.
By the way, thinking isn’t always easy. In fact it can be just like ‘real work’ :=)
