4 Tips on How to Apply Your Thinking Caps
In two previous articles I examined potential methods of how and why we should be thinking. In my very first article on Medium, I suggested a few tips for the thinking types. In my most recent article, I examined potential reasons for the proliferation of fake news and the philosophical debate many including myself are engaged.
But, the problem isn’t simply the dissemination and fears of “fake news” and disinformation. Now, many are digging their heels into a partisan reality instead of an objective one, making it much more challenging to even have a conversation with someone. But still, there are those of us who are trying.
And we’re going to need all the help we can get at this point, according to a Cover Story by Senior Contributor Ted Koppel. In the story about America’s bitter political divide, Koppel reveals that:
“A Pew study finds 81% of voters say they cannot agree with the other side on basic facts, which may owe something to the president’s campaign against ‘fake news.’ ”
It is no longer just a matter of whether one side can get along with the other. An 2018 article from the The Independent in the UK reveals that many people are even having trouble distinguishing fact from opinion.
“…recent studies show Americans struggle to tell the difference between fact and opinion in news coverage. A recent Pew Research Centre study presented more than 5,000 US adults with a mix of five facts and five opinions and asked them to distinguish between the two. Only 26 per cent of respondents could accurately identify all five facts, and only 35 per cent could identify the opinions. According to the study, both Republicans and Democrats were more likely to think news statements were factual when they appealed to their side – even if they were opinions."
In addition to Americans growing disagreement with one another, the Ted Koppel story mentioned earlier reveals another wrinkle in this contentious time. Not only are people having a hard time distinguishing fact from opinion, but the political divide has become so bad, people are literally afraid of the opposing political party;
“Last spring, in June of 2016, a Pew study discovered that 49% of Republicans and 55% of Democrats say they are afraid -- yes, afraid -- of the other party.”
While the articles I previously wrote do offer some hints and tips on how we should be approaching these problems, this article is all about walking through solutions to these problems by revealing some specific tips and pointing to websites that can help all of us no matter the viewpoint.
1) Understand how our minds like to work against us sometimes.
Our brains are a wonderful tool, but can sometimes work against us, especially when it comes to how we take in and perceive information.
Think of your brain like an overprotective parent. It’s trying to look out for you by keeping certain information far, far away because it may be upsetting and troubling on a variety of levels. Our brains sometimes go out of the way to try and hide certain things from us through the repression of memories.
If you’ve ever watched any of the X-Men movies, or are familiar with Logan’s (aka Wolverine) struggles coming to terms with repressed memories and the PTSD based on the experiments done to him, then you probably have a vague idea of what that means.
Our brains sometimes don’t like to hear certain bits of information for any number of reasons. If you’ve ever seen a cop show where one person is about to spill the beans to a friend and the friend goes, “Don’t tell me anything I don’t want to know so when the cops come and question me I can be honest and say I don’t know anything!” Well, our minds work that way sometimes too. This can and often does create bias, though perhaps not always out of malicious intentions, but rather because our brains are lazy. They try to look for shortcuts to thinking.
As I said in a previous article, we need to be able to look into our biases. But it is not enough to merely acknowledge them. We have to understand the inner workings of these shortcuts our brains like to take.
There’s a whole list of shortcuts, also known as cognitive biases that can make us either feel like we have all the information, but then also allow us to ignore other information.
One of these shortcuts is called willful blindness. This bias, as explained by Margaret Heffernan’s book on Brain Pickings, is “…the intricate, pervasive cognitive and emotional mechanisms by which we choose, sometimes consciously but mostly not, to remain unseeing in situations where “we could know, and should know, but don’t know because it makes us feel better not to know.” ”
For those who don’t like reading, she also gave a TED talk too.
People who consider themselves more spiritually inclined sometimes fall into some of these traps too.
Another way our brains take shortcuts is through confirmation bias, which is where we only look or listen to information that only confirms what we already think, feel, and believe.
A good example of confirmation bias is from another phrase you may have heard after the 2016 election; echo chamber. If you need a crystal clear example of an echo chamber, look no further than the media many of us are getting our news from.
In addition, sometimes our minds work in such a way that we prefer hearing outright lies as opposed to the truth. Jeremy Adam Smith in Scientific American blog describes why “blue lies,” often bring people together, especially in regards to Trump supporters,
“The research to date suggests that [millions of Trump supporters] see those lies as useful weapons in a tribal us-against-them competition that pits the “real America” against those who would destroy it.”
Believe it or not, lying serves many purposes, though in my opinion most of them are malevolent in nature. Another article in Scientific American explains why we often lie to ourselves. But that kind of lying is different than the “blue lies,” which Smith also explains that
“…that this kind of lying seems to thrive in an atmosphere of anger, resentment, and hyper-polarization. Party identification is so strong that criticism of the party feels like a threat to the self, which triggers a host of defensive psychological mechanisms.”
These are just a few of the many examples of how our brains are sometimes working against us despite, in its own way, attempting to work for us.
Solutions to Understand How Your Mind Works
There’s that self-improvement saying that goes something like “To change the world you must first change yourself.” But Jimi Hendrix actually had it right too, when he said “In order to change the world, you have to get your head together first.”
To an extent that’s true, especially when it involves confronting our own biases and the tricks our minds employ against us sometimes.
While I highly recommend learning meditation as a way to observe these internal rhythms (I know a great teacher), I also recognize everyone doesn’t have that kind of time. Regardless, we need to be asking ourselves questions, as a way of being mindful of our internal thoughts and our thought process. As Thomas Oppong mentions in his story on Medium, “Stop Thinking You Have All The Answers (The Best Ways to Harness the Power of Questions)”
Questions are good to ask. Albert Einstein was very big on asking questions. We need to be asking ourselves questions like:
- Am I watching this channel or going to this website to be informed or because they say what I want to hear?
- Am I dismissing this information because I don’t agree and it offends my point of view or because the facts don’t add up?
- Why is this information making me feel this way?
- What is it about this information that makes me feel unpleasant or otherwise?
- Do I need to do more research on this topic before posting or saying anything about it?
By asking these and other critical thinking questions, not only does this slow down our thinking so we can actually pay attention to our internal process, but it can also help us see how we can improve our own thought process so as to become better informed.
2) Know where the info is coming from and who is sharing it
Once we have a better understanding of how our minds work, then we can actually go out and seek information. But, there’s a little trouble here too. Believe it or not, some people may try to use information or lack thereof to deceive us or, at the very least, push a specific agenda down our throats.
But, we also have to acknowledge that many of our sources of information are slightly to totally biased in some way. If this comes as a great shock to you, there’s a chance you might not be aware of many conflicts of interest that have and in some cases continue to plague many media outlets, regardless if we’re talking about pundits or reporters. This isn’t even diving into the debate about the blurred lines of journalism and punditry.
That’s probably why some people created these two charts.
You may have seen one or both of these charts in regards to where various media and newspaper outlets fall on the political spectrum. Regardless if you find these charts accurate, it’s still a good idea to study both diagrams for a simple reason.
Much like your favorite football team studies footage of their opponent, we should be doing the same by visiting and reading from sources with which we might not agree. First, this will help by allowing us to know what the opposition is thinking. But, more importantly, by reading and watching what the opposition engages in allows us to take apart their arguments from the inside, instead of talking at them and sharing information they might dismiss as a source of fake news.
It’s also important to know where your information is coming from so you don’t look like a foolish idiot and loose credibility when you share an article that is clearly making fun of the point you’re trying to make. Not that that’s ever happened before.
It’s also important to know where your source of information is coming from, so you’re not being conned/brainwashed into reciting talking points of a specific party, propaganda or just wasting your time.
Solutions to Know Where the Information Originates
If it may feel a little overwhelming trying to figure out how to sort through the glut of information we’re given each day. If nothing else, you can follow this rule of thumb from the folks at Adam Ruins Everything.
But, the good news is that more and more websites, apps, and even stories are popping up that allow us to become a little bit more informed, especially about politics and our political leaders.
As I mentioned earlier, it helps to know what the opposition is thinking. If you’re a little unsure how to go about this, take a gander at the Wall Street Journal’s Red Feed, Blue Feed which shows liberal and conservative Facebook posts on certain topics.
If you’re looking for something a little less incendiary, try Facebook. I know that might seem antithetical given the role some say Facebook played in the proliferation of “Fake News,” but Facebook has been trying to atone. At the end of March, Facebook launched it’s Town Hall feature, which allows folks to not only see what representatives live in their district, but also their Facebook pages and contact info, giving everyone a somewhat more direct line to their elected officials.
To take this a step further, if you’re like me and feel like most politicians are bought and paid for by various lobbyists, then the Chrome, Firefox and Safari App Greenhouse might be something you want to check out. This app “[provides] increased transparency around the amount and source of funding of our elected representatives may play a small role in educating citizens and promoting change.”
Another solution is to not spend so much time actually watching the news. I realize this may sound like a radical idea, but as I’ve also stated in another article, the news media has kinda screwed with our heads a little bit and I feel like they are in large part responsible for where we are today as a nation (and world) of people. But that’s just my opinion on the matter. However, I also know I’m not the only person who feels this way. When John Stewart emerged yet again on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at the end of February, he had some choice words for the press, of whom he viewed were more worried about what Trump thinks of them than actually doing their jobs,
“This breakup with Donald Trump has given you, the media an amazing opportunity for self reflection, and improvement. Instead of worrying if you think he’s un-american or if he thinks you’re the enemy, or if he’s being mean to you or if you’re gonna go back into the briefings, do something for yourself. Self-improvement, take up a hobby! I recommend journalism.”
Speaking of John Stewart, to counter our growing insatiable need for information, maybe it’s a good idea to watch some comedy and satirists once in a while. I say this because of a video from Vox that looks into how the news media sometimes overkills and accidentally legitimizes “Fake News” versus what satirists do.
If you really want to be informed yet are also kinda cynical like me, then watch shows like Adam Ruins Everything, Last Week Tonight or the now defunct Penn & Teller’s Bullshit.
3) Know how to talk to people
As I mentioned before, our mind can often act as an overprotective parent. This makes things complicated because we can’t just go up to someone and tell them “You’re wrong, here’s why.” That almost never works.
Think of it this way; all of us are, on some level, part of a cult. For some, it’s the cult of 50 Shades of Gray, for others it’s the cult of foodies. For many of us, we’re in a cult of Liberal, Moderate or Conservative. And you can’t just go up to someone in a cult and tell them “You’re wrong, here’s why.” When was the last time you saw a Scientologist confronted about their beliefs, then right there on the spot, they’re like “Oh man, you’re right!” Nobody can make up someone else’s mind for them.
In case it wasn’t obvious yet, using logic and reasoning doesn’t always work. There’s a reason for this. It’s called the “Backfire Effect” by psychologists, but is perhaps better known by a phrase the press often enjoys using when talking about President Trump: doubling down. A Scientific American article explains why this happens,
“In a series of experiments by Dartmouth College professor Brendan Nyhan and University of Exeter professor Jason Reifler, the researchers identify a related factor they call the backfire effect ‘in which corrections actually increase misperceptions among the group in question.’ Why? ‘Because it threatens their worldview or self-concept.’ ”
Solutions About Talking to People
People, and the minds of people, are sensitive. We have to know how to talk with people. Olivia Goldhill on Quartz pointed towards some advice derived from Blaise Pascal, the 17th century philosopher,
“Pascal suggests that before disagreeing with someone, first point out the ways in which they’re right. And to effectively persuade someone to change their mind, lead them to discover a counter-point of their own accord.”
The LA Times backs up this 500 year old advice with a 2014 article revealing why agreeing with other points of view, perhaps even to the extreme can prove to be more beneficial.
“Researchers found that showing people extreme versions of ideas that confirmed — not contradicted — their opinions on a deeply divisive issue actually caused them to reconsider their stance and become more receptive to other points of view. The scientists attribute this to the fact that the new information caused people to see their views as irrational or absurd, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”
Another problem we sometimes encounter is our own ability in coming to snap judgments and following gut feelings. According to Scientific American, they might not be as helpful as we think. The article explains how
“New research finds that careful reflection actually makes us better at assessing others' feelings. The findings could improve how we deal with bosses, spouses, friends and, especially, strangers.”
Of course, part of the challenge is sometimes interacting with folks who don’t want to take time to reflect. One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen from many people on Facebook, and other news feeds, is the inability of some folks to answer a question and instead, ask another question as the answer.
I’m all for questioning anything and everything. We need to do that more. One of my favorite comedians in the world explained why we should question everything. The problem is, sometimes people who question don’t want to listen to the answer.
If you’re the kind of person who either just likes to ask questions, or not really answer straight and succinctly when others ask you questions, then you’re probably a little bit of an asshole. There’s no friendly way to say that, sorry. You’re probably a little bit of an asshole because if you happen to find yourself often answering questions with questions or not answering questions when asked, then to many people that just makes you look like a troll not taking a discussion seriously.
We also need to do a better job of not always approaching people with facts and trying to hit them over the head with said facts, especially if you’re aware a certain group is already going to be suspicious of the facts.
Another article in Scientific American explains how to talk to someone when the facts don’t always work. Notably, the author Michael Shermer creates a little list, with the final two tips being the most important,
“5. acknowledge that you understand why someone might hold that opinion, and 6. try to show how changing facts does not necessarily mean changing worldviews.”
4) Remember, the Devil Plays on All Teams
It might seem obvious, but it’s good to remember that just because someone sides with your beliefs, doesn’t make them a good, or even respectable person. It’s even more naive to think that one side is above the fracas and disinformation.
As I pointed out earlier, perhaps unbeknownst to themselves, the news media has a tendency to not only legitimize fake news, but they also continue spreading such drivel despite newfound efforts to combat it. An article on Scientific American goes into details about this paradox.
And if you’re the kind of person who prefers to visit certain sites that cater to your political leanings, you might want to watch out because you could be inadvertantly supporting the opposite of what you believe as well. A rare, well informed article on Buzzfeed looks at how “…some of the same people operate both liberal and conservative sites as a way to ‘run up their metrics or advertising revenue.’ ”
There’s a reason this is happening, especially in the political realm, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.
Speaking of money, it should come as no surprise then, when even published scientific studies might not always check out due in part to whoever is funding the research or the news media blowing them way out of proportion. In one segment, John Oliver of Last Week Tonight brilliantly examines how not all studies are created equal, partially due to scientists & researchers being under tremendous pressure to publish often, while also looking for eye-catching results. Or, as John Oliver puts it,
“Scientists know, nobody is publishing a study that says ’Nothing Up with Açaí Berries!”
Money is a driving motivator behind many decisions. It may come as a shock to some, but people like Alex Jones don’t do what they do because they believe it, but rather because they saw an opportunity to make some money as entertainers. Hell, the lawyer of Jones practically admitted as much when stating that he’s a performance artist.
Recently, even the New York Times is looking to get in on the money train too, as they hired what many consider to be an extreme climate change denier because millions of people agree with him, according to a story by @climateprogress.
My point in mentioning these things is that it lessens the credibility of these people and organizations when it becomes obvious they’re just following the money. Look at how 20th Century Fox has let go of Bill O’Reilly, one of their biggest ratings draws. They’re not doing it because of some terrible things he’s said or done over the years, but because 70 or more pulled their advertising from his time slot. He wasn’t making them money anymore!
Solutions to Find the Devils on Our Teams
If we’re serious about wanting to have our opinions not only heard, but also taken seriously, that also means we have to hold the people who are supposedly playing on our team to a higher standard as well.
In turn, this means it’s also essential that we hold those on our team accountable too. Think of it this way, if you’ve been part of an ongoing book or movie club, and several of members of your club kept showing up and it was obvious they hadn’t really read the book or watched the movie, eventually you’d say something to them, right? Otherwise they’re just wasting yours and everyone else’s time that shows up.
We need to be engaged with the people who share information with us too, and not be afraid to let them know we aren’t happy sometimes how they’re doing things. Granted, this is easier said than done because as mentioned previously, all of our minds often act as an overprotective parent when it comes to criticism.
But, perhaps most importantly, we need to practice a little reasoning training, which means actually taking time to ask questions of ourselves, and, sometimes the motives of others. Easier said than done, especially in today’s culture where it feels like, thanks in part to social media everyone is required to have an opinion about something before we have time to digest what we actually have an opinion about. As Euan Semple explains in his article titled “Ancient Reasons To Stop And Think,”
“We are encouraged to focus on anything but our own thoughts. Sitting thinking is seen as doing nothing. We are encouraged to busy ourselves with what other people are doing and should be doing.”
We need to take time and do our own research too. Now I don’t mean going out and replicating experiments or asking our own questionnaire. Rather, I mean we need to look into where the facts and data are coming from. As an example, take a look at this brief yet comedic expose by The Daily Show at how The Kraft Food Company paid money to The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics so they could in turn make it look like they were making healthy products and combating obesity. This isn’t the only time a conflict of interest like this has happened. There are plenty more examples where that came from.
It seems crazy to say we need to do our own research on the research others are doing, but in order to be sure we’re not being fed a diet of propaganda or misleading information, this is what’s required of us if we wish to stay informed amidst the onslaught of information out there on a daily basis.
But this is the key, we have to want to be informed. It’s easy to feel discouraged, or even lazy. It’s like doing homework sometimes! But, as it’s said on a certain show about aliens and conspiracy theories, “The truth is out there.” It may not always be what we want to hear. It may even hurt sometimes. But the truth is the truth, and nothing can change that, no matter how many people want us to think otherwise.
These are just a few ideas, if you have more, feel free to share below. Also, feel free to recommend this story, subscribe or check out some of my other articles too. Whatever you feel like doing. Thank you for reading, thank you for being.
