[Neurons] 2015 "Neurons" Meta Reflections #10

[L. Michael Hall]

*From: L. Michael Hall*

* Meta Reflections 2015 #10 February 23, 2015 *


*THE WHY OF CRITICAL THINKING *

Why learn how to think critically? What’s so important about that? What
will I miss if I don’t learn the critical thinking skills?

At the heart of the human experience, there’s a very strange phenomenon and
it is a phenomenon that is not easy to describe. In spite of that I’ll give
it a try here. In a few words it is this: *We humans live our lives by
ideas. *Okay, yes, but so what? What does that really mean? What does that
really imply?

We live our lives by ideas because we do not have information-content
"instincts." We do not instinctively, innately "know" how to live or what
to do. We have to *learn. *And because we have to learn what things are,
how they work, what they are for, the factors that make them effective or
ineffective, the value and/or dis-value of those things, etc., it is these
*ideas* that then govern our lives. That is why, in human experience, *what
you think* is so crucial. And "what you think" means lots of things: how
you think, how you reason, interpret, draw conclusions, the referent
experiences you use, the meanings that you receive and use, the values that
you learn to care about, the goals and intentions that you set, and lots
more.

It is in this that *we humans live our lives by ideas*. Now, given that,
then if we live our lives by *ideas, *this makes both the ideas as the
*content* of what we think, believe, understand, care about, etc. and *how
we generate ideas* critically important. So we ask, What is your idea about
X? What are your ideas about business, entrepreneurship, budgeting,
exercising, planning, cooperating with others, competition, leadership,
entering into a loving relationship, arguing, resolving conflicts, and a
thousand other things. Whatever your *ideas— *so will be your life. The
quality of your life will not be, and cannot be, better than the quality of
your ideas. This is the neuro-semantic fact that we begin with: The quality
of your ideas— > the quality of your life.

Okay, so it is important! But wait, there’s more! What’s more is *the kind
of thinking that you use to create your ideas— *let’s call it *your
idea-generation style. * This is where the ability to do critical thinking
really comes in. Here you notice the kind of thinking you are doing, the
kind and style of generation-of-ideas so that you can make sure it is
accurate, appropriate, logical, healthy, and ecological. To what extend are
you aware of *how* you are thinking?

The problem is that you might be using toxic and limiting ideas that you
are unaware of. Low quality ideas may have crept in entirely unnoticed and
now dominate your way of conceptualizing and interpreting without you have
seriously examined them at all. Hayek wrote:

"When we no longer share these implicit assumptions of ages long past, it
is comparatively easy to recognize them. But it is different with regard to
the ideas underlying the thought of more recent times. Here we are
frequently not yet aware of the common features which the opposing systems
of thought share, ides which for that very reason often have crept in
almost unnoticed and have achieved their dominance without serious
examination." F.A. Hayek, *Studies on the Abuse & Decline of Reason *(p.
285)

Here is an occupational hazard for us humans. We can be thinking with
certain ideas as our frames, our interpretive lens or schemas *and not know
it. *You and I can assume certain premises and presuppositions without
realizing that we are doing so. You can think and reason and process
information within the explicit assumptions that you have learned to be
conscious about and never suspect that there are a whole range of implicit,
covert, and therefore hidden frames actually governing our experience.

Whoooah! Now, isn’t that a great big reason for learning critical thinking
skills? Wouldn’t you like to know what are the hidden and covert frames
that are governing your thinking and maybe biasing your way of
understanding things? Without having access to that level of your thinking,
someone or some system of thought could be *controlling* you and *dominating
*your responses— without you never knowing about it!

At the very center of critical thinking skills is the ability to examine
your own thinking— yes, the content, but more than the content, *the kind
of reasoning *that you are using. It is to call forth your assumptions,
premises, and presuppositions. This is what we especially do in
Meta-Coaching. We move so far inside the person’s matrix that we begin
exploring the covert, implicit, and unconscious frames—the frames by
implication (the FBI structures) that’s governing or controlling the
person’s way of being in the world. And why? Because that’s where the
leverage for change, for transformation, for unleashing, and for fully
blossoming as a human being lies.

This isn’t easy. It is not easy to question a person to expose the hidden
frames that’s governing a person’s assumptions, nor is it easy for the
person being questioned. Nothing is more intimate than this. Hardly
anything makes a person feel more vulnerable. And yet when you discover
this about yourself, your self-understanding will increase by leaps and
bounds and your ability to manage your thinking, feeling, and responding
will similarly increase. Your ability to critically think about these
covert assumptions will enable you to take much more control over your
life. Interested?

 *Neuro-Semantic News *
*     *  We will have a Pre-Conference Workshop on Critical Thinking: June
25*
*    * Conference:  June 26-27*
*     * Hong Kong --- sherran at apti.com.hk <sherran at apti.com.hk> *


L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Neuro-Semantics International
P.O. Box 8
Clifton, Colorado, USA  81520-0008
(970) 523-7877
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist8.pair.net/pipermail/neurons/attachments/20150222/02c365be/attachment.html>