[Neurons] 2020 Neurons #20 YOUR "RATIONAL" MIND

[Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall 

2020 Neurons #20

March 27, 2020

Thinking for a Living Series #7

 

 

YOUR "RATIONAL" MIND

 

When it comes to the word "rational," there are two very, very different
meanings for that term.  One is positive, the other is negative.  One
supports and validates you as a reasoning and reasonable person, the other
questions just how reasonable you are as it assumes you are mostly
irrational, unreasonable, biased, and blind to all of this.  In critical
thinking, we define "rational" as using reasons to reason or figure things
out.  It identifies legitimate explanations and creates correct
understandings about how things work.  By contrast, "rationalizing" mis-uses
reason as it comes up with false explanations and understandings to justify
an idea or behavior.  So which is it?  Are humans rational or irrational?

 

That last sentence, as a question, illustrates the problem.  "Are humans
rational or irrational?" makes a gigantic assumption.  It frames the answer
as either/or.  In the background of the mind it dichotomizes the situation
by presupposing that the answer has to fall to one side or the other- as
polar opposites.  By leaving out any room for something in-between, it
presupposes that there are only two incompatible answers.  Yet in doing
this, the question itself sets up an irrational choice.

 

Does that mean we are by nature and innately irrational?  Or could it be
that using reason in a reasonable, mature, and healthy way is a skill that
has to be learned?  Could it be that there are language formats (templates)
that lend themselves to thinking and formatting things in an irrational way?
And if that is so, could there be other language formats as templates that
can help us overcome such cognitive fallacies and biases and be more
rational?  

 

Because I think the answer lies in the latter, I also think that to "think
for a living," we need to understand how to use our higher cortical
functions for critical thinking.  When you can do that, you can do smart
thinking, in contrast to dumb thinking.  An when you can think smart-you can
do all sorts of creative thinking.  This brings us back to the brain by
which we engage in this essential skill- thinking.

 

The brain operates with multiple modular parts- parts which do a great many
different things.  Instead of being a single monolithic unit, the brain is a
collaboration of many aspects, some conscious and some unconscious.
Consequently we can identify different brain anatomies which have different
functions.

 

For example, there's a part of the brain and our mind which registers what
we see (encodes it, represents it) and there's another part by which we
interpret what those things mean.  In interpreting you evaluate, make
decisions, make choices, theorize, understand- in a word, you explain things
(or at least attempt to).  There's another part that activates the motor
cortex so that you act on your thinking.  Because you have different areas
of the brain and different parts having different functions, and because
they operate somewhat independently of each other, you can expect that there
will sometimes be conflicts between the parts.  If the interpreting,
rationalizing part is too strong, you can be jumping-to-conclusions and
coming up with inadequate "explanations."

 

The fact of your rational mind does not determine how you use it, for what
you use it, or how effectively you use it.  The fact that you can reason,
that you seek to explain things, that you use your current understandings to
grabble with things you do not yet understand is simply a description of one
aspect of thinking.  The quality of your thinking, of reasoning, is a
function of how educated you are to think through things, think critically,
question, explore, search for facts, hold evaluations and judgments in
abeyance until you have sufficient information, etc.

 

The rational mind can be certainly be misused.  A person can use "reasons"
and "explanations" in a way to justify whatever he wants to justify.  That's
agenda thinking.  You start with your conclusion and then you go find
so-called "evidence" to prove it.  The problem with that way of thinking is
that you are "rationalizing" and will become a victim of Availability Bias
and Confirmation Bias.  Could you convince yourself that your conclusion is
true?  Yes.  Millions of people do.  This is what gives the term "rational"
a bad rep.

 

In contrast to that kind of sloppy, lazy, and irrational thinking, you can
learn how to develop the ability to think clearly and rationally.  You can
learn how to reflect on data, turn it into information, then turn it into
meaningful ideas.  You can learn how to evaluate your ideas by measuring it
against criteria, solve problems systemically in a disciplined way,
challenge hidden premises, and think with precision and inspiration.  You
can learn to develop the ability to reason intelligently as a powerful
skill.

 

It is not the case that reason or rationality is the problem.  It is not.
Yes, human reasoning will always be fallible- "liable to error," yet that
doesn't mean it cannot be used effectively and productively to solve
problems.  It can.  How?  By learning to step back and "reason about
reasoning" and "think about thinking."  Ultimately, such meta-thinking and
meta-learning allows you to quality control how you use your brain so that
you can be a great thinker.

 

For more, see Executive Thinking (2018)

 

 

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L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Executive Director, Neuro-Semantics

P.O. Box 8

Clifton CO. 81520 USA

www.neurosemantics.com   

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