Main distinctive features rational thinking- This logical basis And practical orientation. A person who is characterized by rationalism tries to act rationally, correctly, and seeks The best decision, rather than rushing into action in the absence of a specific plan.
The principles on which rational thinking is based may be different. After all different people are able to have their own ideas about what is good, what decision will be correct. It all depends on the worldview of a particular individual. Therefore, it is not the solution itself obtained during the reasoning that is important rational type, and the intention to act wisely, think everything over, achieve specific purpose, calculate everything, provide for various options for the outcome of events.
Rational thinking aims to find the least costly in terms of external and internal resources a way to solve a particular problem. A person must discard speculation and feelings and focus on the benefits of actions. Depending on the life principles and the attitudes of a particular person, this benefit will consist of various things. Apply this method thinking can be done both at work and in personal life.
Methods of rational thinking
Methods of rational thinking include analysis, as a result of which the most valuable data can be identified from the flow of information and cause-and-effect relationships can be found. Also, the search for rational grain is facilitated by the use of statistical data, marketing research. Based on the experience of others, a person can find the best solution for himself.
Among the methods rational way thinking can be attributed to inference. By reasoning, building a chain of thoughts and developing his ideas, a person comes to the desired conclusion. The ability to reason is also important. own point vision and arrange the main points in the right order. IN otherwise thoughts will be confused and confused.
The rationalist uses tools such as comparison and judgment. To get the most full view about certain things, sometimes some kind of measure is required. Forecasting helps to consider possible options for the development of events, assess their risks and choose best way actions. Planning will help you foresee what the situation may become in the future. Using these methods, a person can think rationally, logically and draw sound conclusions.
Effective thinking is the ability to come to logical, useful and correct conclusions; the ability to set goals and build algorithms for achieving them; the gift of sifting out real information from the illusions that the psyche throws at every person. Effective thinking is pretty multifaceted concept, which, in essence, needs no introduction. Everyone understands that it includes such qualities as speed, objectivity, effectiveness and originality. But how to achieve this efficiency? Is this ability given by nature, is it a talent, is it nurtured in childhood, or is it developed through training? Of course, in many ways, the prerequisites for the development of “thinking” are inherent in genes and parental upbringing. But the formation effective thinking can also occur in adulthood - for this you only need to consciously approach the process of “thinking” and improve your results through classes and exercises.
But first, let's look at the question of what prevents most people from thinking quickly and efficiently.
The main enemies of efficiency in thinking are habits of thinking in a certain way. The thought slides along the well-trodden road, because this is what our parents or friends thought, this is what humanity has thought for decades. And we thought so, and nothing bad seemed to happen - which means that our way of thinking is quite normal and suitable for life. Indeed, it is suitable for the average life of a person living from paycheck to paycheck. But it has nothing to do with the efficiency of thinking, which helps to implement far-reaching plans or make discoveries. To break out of the quagmire of standard thinking and move on to effective thinking, you need to get rid of a number of patterns.
1. Fear of change
This mental property is inherent in almost all people and humanity as a whole. To any new trend, be it scientific thought, creative breakthrough or technical innovation are initially viewed with suspicion, ridiculed or condemned. For example, many inventors tried to create a steam locomotive, but they all encountered a skeptical attitude from society. The idea was called an absurd fantasy, the steam engine was called a fiend, and travel around railway considered too dangerous. After all, when enormous speed At 40 kilometers per hour, passengers will not be able to breathe, they will begin to have convulsions, hallucinations, they will go crazy and die right in the trolleys! Now you are smiling while reading these lines, but in the 18-19th century, when the steam locomotive was slowly making its way to mass use, these were serious arguments.
The idea of photography, television and going to the moon was ridiculed in the same way. Well, about the fate of Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilei I think everyone knows.
What motivates these people who so zealously resist the new? Laziness and fear. Laziness - because every innovation causes a labor-intensive process of reforming many areas of life, including the way of thinking that we are talking about today. Innovations bring with them a chain of inevitable changes, to which, willy-nilly, you will have to adapt - and this is difficult and not always pleasant. Fear - because not everyone is able to go through these changes. People are afraid that they will not be able to do this, they are afraid of failure and shame, they are afraid of finding themselves on the margins of civilization, unable to adapt to its development. Therefore, they diligently slow down this development.
Get rid of fear and laziness, learn, at a minimum, to consider new products from an impartial position, without clinging to familiar stereotypes. Of course, not everything new is good - you shouldn’t immediately rush into the arms of novelty. But there is no need to be afraid of her.
2. Compliance with the rules
It is not bad in itself - it is useful rules, preserving our life, health, helping us understand each other and control social relations. Eat grammar rules, traffic rules, laws - their observance makes our lives easier, and experiments on this basis do not bode well.
But there are also rules that can be called controversial - moral rules, social traditions, religious dogmas. They are embedded in us as models of thinking and behavior; By deviating from them, we demonstrate nonconformity. For creative people and inventors, it is a symbol of search; for bigots and snobs, it is the quality of renegades and outcasts. Yes, nonconformists have always been black sheep, but they are the ones who make discoveries in science and creativity, change people's lives for the better, helping to get rid of outdated and useless models and traditions.
Conformity stems from cowardice, the fear of going against society and being a “lone psycho.” We begin to obey general rules to save the current situation. But by doing so, we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to think creatively and see solutions in non-standard situations. It’s sad that we are often pushed to this by those closest to us who care about our well-being - parents, friends, teachers. We are taught to keep a low profile and live by the rules, thereby depriving our personality of the individuality that is inherent in it by nature.
The best way to get rid of blindly following the rules is not to look at the opinions of others, but to live by your own mind. As my mother said: “And if everyone goes to jump from the roof, will you go too?”
3. Self-deception
Many people deceive themselves, although it would seem impossible. Alcoholics and smokers are confident that they can quit at any time, fat people are convinced that they eat little. Idlers blame others for their failures, and blame their bosses for low wages.
The point of self-deception is that a person changes his thinking depending on the situation. He thinks in the way that is most beneficial for him to think, while forgetting old agreements and own solutions, adopted earlier.
Often self-deception becomes an inertial effect from the deception of others. Someone pretends to be knowledgeable in some area, creates a certain illusion, an improved image for others, and over time begins to believe in this image.
How to avoid falling into the trap of self-deception? Remember that the first decision made is usually the right one - it comes solely from our logic, personal morality and conscience. When we get involved in the process and encounter difficulties, the following begin to work negative traits character, such as laziness, envy or greed. These emotions force you to make new decisions that are beneficial dark sides our ego. Therefore, in order not to confuse yourself, you need to learn to clear your thinking from these whispers.
4. In the name of saving the image
Every person, at the subconscious level, has a need to maintain the positive image he has created for himself and those around him. When making mistakes or some unsightly actions, he tries to do everything to protect his image from destruction and his reputation from stains. And the most interesting thing is that he will deceive himself first, and then others.
The most common way to save your positive image– justification. Everyone justifies their actions by external factors, from a small child who broke a vase to a murderer. “I was forced, I had no other choice, I could not do otherwise, it just happened,” - standard set justifications, accompanied by spatial explanations of the circumstances.
Another scenario when saving an image is adjusting the facts. This is what the media is guilty of - by persecuting a specific goal, they select facts that support their theory and discard those that disprove it. True, they do this consciously, while average people adjust facts to fit their theories unconsciously. This is usually done retroactively, when the job is done - all that remains is to create a competent explanation of your actions. It's essentially the same excuse.
The subconscious impulse in any controversial situations is to deny one’s involvement and look for facts confirming innocence. This urge stems solely from the fear that our ego will be defeated and humiliated. As you understand, this approach is devoid of constructiveness. You need to learn to honestly assess your role in the development of events, be objective in your judgments regarding your guilt or innocence, and not exaggerate the importance of external factors.
5. “Your shirt is closer to your body”
Each of us has interesting property psyche - we always consider ours better than someone else’s. Your friends are good, strangers are irresponsible hooligans. Their own children are smart and loved, strangers are not a match for them. They say that the grass is greener in the neighbor's meadow - but this is not always the case. In many situations, we evaluate two absolutely identical objects differently only because one of them is directly related to us.
This effect is best seen in wars and civil strife. The soldiers of their own army are “heroes-liberators”, those of the enemy are “occupiers and murderers”. Our own people are “forced to take measures”, others are “being outrageous”. In the USSR there were even two different concepts: scout and spy. Agents were proudly named first Soviet intelligence services, and the second, disgustingly - foreigners and defectors.
People tend to divide everyone into “us” and “them”, considering other people to be worse. This is where racism, male chauvinism, unhealthy feminism, misunderstanding between people comes from different ages, classes and financial status. Yes, we differ in many ways, but such a division alienates people from each other as if they were from different planets.
This effect forces us to have a subjective attitude towards the actions, achievements and proposals of different people, depending on our personal sympathies. You can rush around with the embodiment of the ridiculous idea of the person you are in love with, rejecting the suggestions of intelligent specialists; You can invest money in a friend’s failed project, while refusing investment to a good startup. To be able to choose the best, you need to learn to put friends and strangers on the same level, guided solely by an assessment of the quality of the proposal or achievement itself.
6. Stereotypes
We all know that stereotypes are bad. The popular phrases “all women are fools” and “all men are goats” immediately come to mind.
But things are a little different. In fact, a stereotype is a product of induction, when we draw a generalizing conclusion based on multiple repeated premises. The brain automatically forms stereotypes so as not to create new reaction algorithms every time - if it finds itself in a similar situation, it will remember the same one and react in the same way. The problem is that not all stereotypes are true. To be more precise, every stereotype has weakness. And it comes from a simple logical rule that says that the truth of an inductive inference is never 100%. In addition, stereotypes tend to become outdated.
For example, having learned from various friends that in some store they hang and sell stale products, you will come to the conclusion that it is better not to go to this store, and you will be right. Maybe they don’t weigh it every time, and not all the products are stale, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. But the store’s management changes, a new policy is introduced, and unscrupulous employees are fired. Those people who have not heard about this store will make a purchase there and create a new stereotype - they will recommend the store to their friends and go there themselves. You will continue to avoid it, following an outdated stereotype that may persist for many years after conditions change.
In general, the idea is clear - you shouldn’t make total generalizations and blindly trust them, you shouldn’t follow the lead of public stereotypes, because they could have become outdated a long time ago, and even self-created stereotypes can often play a bad joke on their creator.
Learning to think effectively
So, we've talked about what not to do. Now let's turn our attention to techniques that can help develop fast and effective thinking.
Let's start with the fact that thinking intersects with many inextricably linked components, each of which needs to be systematically developed - intuition, logic, creativity and imagination, memory, concentration and intelligence.
An effective way of thinking cannot be developed, for example, without a certain knowledge base, attentiveness, the ability to analyze and compare facts, the ability to memorize complex information and many other useful things. It's like a language - to speak it, it is not enough to learn the words - you need to know grammar, punctuation, style, idiomatic combinations and a lot more. Let's look separately at all the components that form fast and effective thinking.
Since our site is dedicated to self-development, there is already a lot of material on the development of important components mental activity. In order not to repeat ourselves and write too long an article, we will simply make references to these articles.
1. Logical thinking
We are simply not capable of thinking effectively without relying on basic logical laws. Successful people have strict logical thinking, which helps them come to unexpected and at the same time correct conclusions, using obvious premises accessible to everyone. While a person with lame logic will look at the facts and not understand what’s going on, the logician will organize everything, put it on the shelves, and build a beautiful and clear logical sequence. This difference is shown in the examples of Hastings and Hercule Poirot in the works of Agatha Christie, Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes in Conan Doyle.
The ability to think logically is a science and an art at the same time. Such talent is not given by nature, but is developed throughout life. This is well written about in the article “ Development logical thinking » - this section is quite extensive, so we won’t go into depth, but move on to the next one.
2. Creative thinking
Effective thinking presupposes creative thinking, because it is this that helps us get rid of stereotyping, banality, and narrowness of perception. A person can read books as much as he wants and retell the encyclopedia by heart, but until he knows how to go beyond the boundaries of the known, he will think with other people's thoughts - nothing more.
Creative thinking, or creativity as it is also called, is mandatory for anyone who creates their own product and does not copy others - be it intellectual creativity or industrial inventions. We will be able to think effectively only when our imagination embarks on an endless journey, giving us more and more new ideas.
You can find more information in the articles " Development of creativity» , « Imagination. How important is it?», « Convergent and divergent thinking» . Check out these resources to learn more about imagination, creativity, and ingenuity.
3. Strategic thinking
Tactics and strategy are military concepts that have migrated into everyday life. Planning and organizing any activity implies strategic inclinations. A strategist must be able to keep in mind planned and already completed actions, anticipate the enemy’s steps and others beyond his control. external factors, assume everything possible results their actions and how to respond to these results. He needs to have a good memory, analytical mind and the gift of foresight. To develop a strategic mindset, learn to play chess and turn-based strategies like "Heroes".
Well-developed logical, creative and strategic thinking is precisely the basis for effective thinking. But there are also auxiliary components that you cannot do without.
4. Memory, attentiveness, concentration
These are intelligent tools. And we all know that dull or rusty tools will never be good aids in development. Anyone who does not remember information well will not be able to operate with it. Anyone who skips details will not be able to piece together the picture of events. Anyone who is not able to concentrate on a mental task will perform it for a long time, being distracted by all sorts of nonsense. What kind of efficiency is there?
All these tools must be in a state of constant readiness, they must be trained and used. It’s like in sports - while the athlete is practicing, he is strong, fast and dexterous. But once you quit, after a while the muscles become flabby and weak. Returning to classes, after a while he will regain his shape and will be as strong again. It’s the same story with thinking tools. Train them to always be mentally sharp.
5. Intuition and emotions
It would seem, what does these irrational and uncontrollable properties have to do with it? human soul? Very much so. Let's start with the fact that they are not so irrational, and not so uncontrollable.
Intuition is a subconscious appeal to existing experience - using its help, we operate with minor details that elude consciousness. It is not for nothing that there is such a term as professional instinct - an experienced specialist sometimes cannot explain in detail why he chose this particular path to solve a problem. But his choice almost always leads to a positive result.
Emotional intelligence is also not a fantasy. It exists on a par with rational thinking, having less accuracy, but greater volume and efficiency.
Both of these phenomena can either help or hinder effective thinking - it's all a matter of how you set them up and to what extent you rely on them. And, of course, you need to learn to control them.
For a more in-depth look, we recommend reading the articles “ Emotional and rational thinking in the decision-making process», « Development emotional intelligence " And " Intuition and its role in decision making».
6. Clearing your mental space of clutter
No matter how smart, creative and educated we are, if we have chaos in our heads, our thinking will not be effective. To make your head clear, you need to follow two paths - purification information field and calming thoughts. Our society is overloaded with a huge flow of information, and not always of high quality - you shouldn’t even try to digest it all. It is very important to be able to filter information - you can learn more about this in the article “ Causes of information overload and methods to combat it» .
When thoughts jump from one to another, you get nervous, and your brain panics and frantically mixes useful operations with useless ones - not at all effective. Those whose mental flow is like a stormy mountain river will find the article “ Steve Jobs Meditation Technique» ,
where ways to calm your thinking are well described.
In any activity, theory is always followed by practice. After all, there are a lot smart words- this is, of course, good, but specific recommendations for putting all this information into practice are simply necessary. Each technique of effective thinking affects one of the above areas of human mental activity - memory, logic, attentiveness; helps in solving certain problems:
- « Mind maps: scope and recommendations for preparation»;
- « “RVS Operator” method: eternity and a fraction of a second to complete a task»;
- « Cicero's method of memorization»;
- “Synectics method”;
- « Focal object method»;
- « Edward De Bono's Six Thinking Hats Method».
P.S. : This extensive article did not touch upon such a concept as intelligence - not because it was unfairly forgotten, but because in many definitions intelligence is thinking. There is also a broader concept of intelligence - as a person’s ability to mentally and mental activity, which includes thinking, memory, perception, imagination, sensation, etc. There are many of these qualities, so only those that are directly related to the effectiveness of thinking were mentioned. Good tool improving their mental capabilities described in the article “ Development of intellectual abilities».
We tried to reveal as much as possible the concept and essence of effective thinking, although, as you understand, this is not so easy due to the scale of the phenomenon. But we hope that this article helped you penetrate the veil of mysteries of thought and unravel its most important secrets.
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British writer JK Rowling and her Harry Potter series of novels need no introduction. It’s strange to even think that the first novel in this series was published 20 years ago.
British writer JK Rowling and her Harry Potter series of novels need no introduction. Just think, the first novel in this series was published 20 years ago, which means that the first generation of fans of the saga about the boy wizard has already reached mature age. It's not surprising that so popular work has become overgrown with many parodies and fanfictions.
Perhaps the most unusual fan fiction was Eliezer Shlomo Yudkowsky’s book “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rational Thinking.” By profession, the author is far from the world of fiction. E.Sh. Yudkowsky - American specialist in artificial intelligence, co-founder and Researcher Singularity Institute for the creation of Artificial Intelligence. His book can be completely freely read both in the original and in translation.
hpmor.ru
In Yudkowsky's fan fiction, Petunia marries not the narrow-minded Vernon Dursley, but Oxford University professor Michael Verres-Evans. Accordingly, Harry does not live in a closet under the stairs, but enjoys complete freedom and receives excellent education. At 11 years old he already knows quantum mechanics, cognitive psychology, probability theory and other branches of science. But the most important thing is that he is absolutely rational - much more rational than even his learned father, not to mention the wizards of Hogwarts.
The purpose of this book is to easily artistic form convey the basic principles of rationality, but first sow doubt that adults always think rationally. Perhaps this is the most important misconception of humanity. To think rationally means to think in concepts. Rational thinking is conceptual thinking. A concept is not just a word denoting an object, but a word whose definition contains the essential features of the object, i.e. his family and species differences. This definition of the concept was given by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.
Research by cognitive psychologists has shown that more than 70% of adults are incapable of conceptual thinking. Their thinking is either completely at a childish level imaginative thinking, or at a slightly higher level, but not reaching the conceptual level - thinking in ideas.
Detailed studies of the remaining 30% are also disappointing, because these people only occasionally resort to conceptual thinking. Most often it appears only in professional activity. For example, scientists, like Harry Potter's adoptive father, are by necessity extremely rational when they are busy pure science, but become ordinary people in everyday matters or issues not directly related to their sphere of competence.
Let’s take for example the fundamental attribution error discussed in the book. Behind this cumbersome name lies our habit of assessing motives and reasons differently. own actions and the actions of other people. We explain our successes and good deeds by our own personal qualities, and we explain the successes and good deeds of other people, especially if we don’t like them, by a coincidence of circumstances. With regard to failures and bad behavior, everything is exactly the opposite: “We are not like that, life is like that.”
It's easy to see that fundamental error attribution is hidden behind what the modern press calls double standards. Yudkowsky, explaining this phenomenon, makes us understand that before blaming the authors double standards in malice, you first need to think, do they know that they are making a mistake common to most people? Otherwise, we ourselves risk falling into it.
Evgeniy Sizov
Irrational and rational thinking are opposite ways of knowing. The human mind is based on rational knowledge. Irrationality gives him limitless possibilities. You just need to notice and catch them.
Rational thinking: what is it?
The basis of rational consciousness is real facts for reflection and logical reasons for making decisions. They allow you to see things in their true light, explain incomprehensible phenomena and show the shortest path to your goal.
Traditionally, a rational way of thinking is associated with exact sciences, but also in Everyday life people are forced to use it to build their careers, save money for a major purchase, or plan a vacation.
Rational Personalities:
- sensibly assess the surrounding reality;
- set realistic goals for themselves;
- respond adequately to criticism;
- listen to others;
- support their conclusions with specific facts;
- are distinguished by prudence and pragmatism;
- soberly assess the possibilities – their own and others’.
The determination to think rationally is positive thing from the point of view of a person working on his shortcomings.
People of a different type, who do not know how and do not want to make plans for life, sometimes find it difficult to achieve their goals, because they:
- do not think about the consequences;
- they are late everywhere;
- They do not know how to predict the course of events.
Guided by rational thoughts, a person does not commit spontaneous and rash actions and minimizes the risk of unpleasant surprises. It is this calm view of the situation that allows a person to gather himself at a critical moment, when passions and emotions are boiling around.
Methods of rational thinking
These methods are based on the use of logical techniques for processing information:
- Analysis- mental division of a whole into its constituent elements, highlighting its properties, connections and other characteristics, determining its structure.
- Synthesis– reunification of several elements or parts into a single integral structure. With the help of synthesis, a person mentally connects parts in new combinations, which allows him to establish connections between them and draw conclusions about their interaction.
- Comparison- establishing similarities and differences between objects or objects. With the help of comparison, a person identifies various properties of objects and objects, both qualitative and quantitative characteristics.
- Generalization- mental unification of several objects according to some of the most significant characteristics.
- Abstraction (distraction)– highlighting the basic, essential properties of objects and abstracting from unimportant details.
Important! Analysis and synthesis are closely interrelated; one without the other makes no sense.
A wide variety of processes are carried out on the basis of logical thinking techniques. They are successfully used both in academic research and experiments, and in the field of simple everyday affairs.
Irrational thinking: what is it?
A rational way of thinking discards emotions, impulses, desires, moods, impressions and everything personal aspects, thereby limiting intellectual potential. In contrast to him irrational thinking“thinks with the heart”, is not constrained by any specific boundaries and basically has:
- feelings;
- impression;
- mystical experiences;
- state of mind.
The closest thing to an irrational image is children's thinking, which has mobility, emotionality, vivid fantasies, spontaneity and a lack of rationality.
As adults, people of an irrational nature prefer to develop frantic activity, but often their actions are chaotic, devoid of logic and consistency. In life, they are guided by their own ideas, which have little in common with the surrounding reality.
The irrational type of thoughts is inherent creative people who need a flight of fancy like air. It is impossible to imagine a creative genius, writer or artist operating within strict rational boundaries. Personalities irrational type As a rule, they have a pronounced ability to influence the thoughts and desires of other people.
Methods of irrational thinking
Unlike rational cognition, irrational cognition is based not on the logical techniques discussed above, but on instant comprehension of the problem. The basis of irrational thinking is:
- Intuition:
- is a form of direct knowledge,
- allows you to comprehend reality without the testimony of the senses.
- Insight:
- means mental comprehension of the whole, and not of individual parts,
- rebuilds the situation, finds a new perspective on the problem.
- Imagination:
- is a specific form of human psychological activity,
- creates a new image, situation, possible future using past experience.
The methods are not limited to the above forms. These also include the emotional sphere, spiritual insights, meditation practices in Eastern religions and others.
Important! The origins of the irrational lie in the deep layers of thinking, in the unknown region of the unconscious. Hence the main dangers on this path: replacing the actual with the desired and triggering uncontrollable panic states.
In everyday life you can often find destructive examples irrational thinking. It is enough to remember how many brilliant writers, artists and musicians in real life were helpless and had no basic means of subsistence.
Harmony of opposites
Psychologists are confident that people can exist in society without problems, using any type of thinking.
Rational and irrational components are two sides of the same coin. Our one-sided worldview often places them at opposite poles, when they should complement and enrich each other.
Thanks to the interaction of these opposite principles, a person’s ability to find the right path in the sphere of diverse experiences of comprehending the unknown develops.
Prepared from the Brainhack.me blog
Getting rid of bad habits
You can't get rid of them, but you can replace them with new ones, and it will work. In order for a habit to start executing, we need some kind of signal, a “trigger”, to which we, in fact, react with a familiar set of actions, after which we receive a reward in one form or another. This is the so-called habit loop: trigger - habitual actions- reward. This is all described in more detail in Charles Duhigg’s book “The Power of Habit”. The trick is to learn to pay attention to the triggers and the rewards. It is most effective to leave them the same, replacing only a set of familiar actions. To do this, you need to dissect your bad habit a little: remember at what moments it triggers for you, and find the trigger. Then pay attention to what reward, what pleasant sensations you get. Then gradually try to replace these old habitual actions with new, useful ones. This, by the way, may turn out to be a surprisingly difficult task, but this will help you understand yourself better.
Kelly McGonigal, a professor at Stanford University, collected in her book the results of research on how to pump up your willpower, gradually develop new habits, be more attentive, and so on. At the end of each chapter, key ideas and a set of practices are conveniently highlighted for you to try.
Search for logic and rationality
“The purpose of knowledge is to achieve truth through thinking; the purpose of knowledge is truth. Logic is a science that shows how thinking must be done in order for truth to be achieved,” with these words begins Chelpanov’s classic textbook on logic. Thus, if we still want to understand something, then it would be good to become more familiar with logic. What's in it practical meaning? Let's say you're arguing with a friend about something and you feel like you're going in circles or even at a dead end. Logic will help to clarify what exactly the dispute is about and whether the evidence is structured correctly, to better understand the opponent’s point of view and your own too. If you think this sounds boring, then use the Google query “rational thinking” instead of the query “logic.” This phrase is the key to various articles that try to introduce logic into everyday life, to make this knowledge more practical.
What to read: Eliezer Yudkowsky “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality”
Yes, this is a fan fiction based on the Harry Potter universe, but written by an American expert on artificial intelligence and the singularity. In each chapter, using examples of situations occurring with the characters, one of the topics related to rational thinking is revealed.
The path to understanding others
“What are they all doing?” It happens that some similar question arises in your head, right? Usually at moments when the world around us does not meet our formulated or even unformulated expectations. Especially when it concerns the behavior of other people. It seems that you said everything clearly, but you were misunderstood. It seems that everyone understands that it is necessary to act this way, but my colleague took it and acted completely differently.
We have heard the idea that all people are different in one form or another thousands of times, but when we come across this in practice, we are always surprised. Have you noticed how different people perceive the same situation differently? Psychologists, of course, also paid attention to this. Henry Murray, for example, developed the thematic apperception test, which became widespread after the Second World War and was then used primarily to work with disorders of the emotional sphere. Subjects are simply shown pictures of people in different everyday situations and offer to tell a story about what is happening in the picture, to describe how the characters feel. Needless to say, different people tell completely different stories about the same image? Or at least pay attention to different details. You can check this for yourself and your friends.
Moreover, when we perceive other people and think that we understand them, then often this also turns out to be an illusion. In psychology there is a term “attribution”. It is a mechanism for explaining the reasons for other people's behavior. And from Latin it is translated as “attribution.” There is, for example, the fundamental attribution error - the human tendency to explain the actions and behavior of other people as their personal characteristics, and their behavior - by external circumstances. A certain abstract Vasya, for example, was rude to someone right in the middle of the working day and explains it to himself like this: “I was angry because everything is not going as planned.” And his colleague Alice, passing by, thought: “He’s so mean.”
When we talk about ourselves, we usually describe our actions, reactions, emotions: “It upsets me that...” When talking about others, we most often characterize the person himself: “He’s always whining...” So next time, when You will be surprised by the behavior of other people, try to look at the situation from a different angle.
An exemplary interesting, easily written and at the same time strictly supported by scientific data textbook on social psychology Psychology professor David Myers will help you understand people’s behavior a little better using a huge number of examples. And, obviously, in his behavior as well.
Introspection
The fact that we are mistaken about the behavior of other people is more or less clear. But we can also make mistakes about ourselves, not pay attention to something, or even rush along by inertia, not noticing how the working days fly by, how quickly the vacation passes. Writing practices- a reliable and proven way to understand yourself. More precisely, even in many ways. The simplest one that immediately comes to mind is a diary. Not a blog, namely Personal diary, in which you can be honest with yourself and which you conduct regularly. You can try to simply write down what happened to you during the day, how you felt, what you think now. Or, conversely, focus on plans for the future.
If keeping a diary has never worked out for you, you should turn to another simple practice: “morning pages.” Every morning, first thing, sit down and write down everything that comes to mind in a way that suits you. At the computer or on paper - whichever is more convenient for you. The main thing is to do this regularly and in equal portions - for example, it must be 15 minutes or it must be 3 pages. And these pages should not be read by anyone but you. It's personal. Don't know where to start? Start with “I don’t know where to start...”. If it seems like there’s nothing to say, just write: “Well, there’s nothing to say, nothing to say, nothing to say.” Here, for example, you can share your experiences about developing a habit, or decide on your plans for the day, or dream about the future, whatever. You can re-read what you wrote, or you don’t have to re-read it - it’s up to you.
Armen Petrosyan writes a lot about morning pages on his blog and on the pages of the “It’s Interesting to Live” project, where other authors talk about the same thing, in particular psychologist Daria Kutuzova, who runs the “Written Practices” website. And then there are “Text Workshops” by Lena Truskova, which will help you not only understand yourself, but also write texts in general (here you can try the assignments).
Stop multitasking
While computers are good at handling multiple processes running simultaneously, we are not. You can console yourself with stories about Caesar, who did many things at once, but in reality, a person cannot be fully multitasking. When it seems to us that we are coping with several tasks at the same time, in reality we are simply quickly switching between them. And even if this is not noticeable during the process, this is a relatively energy-consuming task for the brain. It's no wonder that on especially busy days we feel drained. At the same time, there are not as many professions that actually require multitasking as it seems. For example, having this ability implies the position of an air traffic controller. But their regulations stipulate periods of continuous work and regular breaks. And many of those who like to imagine themselves multitasking prefer to start working in the morning and finish at night. I know, I did it myself.
But how can you manage to get a mountain of work done without switching between tasks? First of all, you need to understand that imaginary multitasking does not make you more effective. Often, efficiency, on the contrary, is significantly reduced, and this has been confirmed by research. It is better to try to do one thing at one time attentively, without switching. Think about a time you did something you really enjoyed without getting distracted or losing track of time. This is approximately the state you should try to achieve when doing things.
Plan regular breaks. Here it’s worth remembering the Pomodoro technique: set a timer, for example, for 25 minutes, work focusedly, then take a break for 5 minutes - and get back to work. Several times a day it is worth taking longer breaks. It can also be helpful to take a nap if that suits you, or to go for a walk. And most importantly, the next time you feel like you’re doing several things at once, remember that you’re not really doing a single thing at that moment.
The book is not about how to do more, but about doing less, but only doing things that are really important to you. It will help you get ready to escape the trap of pseudo-multitasking and focus on what matters.
Concentration management
The term “time management” is being replaced by the term “self-management”. The fact is that time cannot be managed, you can only plan it. You can only control yourself. And first of all - with your attention and concentration. What are you focus on expands. It is useful to learn to pay attention to things that are important to you and cut off the unimportant. Remember that if you don't fulfill your plans and dreams, you are fulfilling someone else's. Attention is connected to stimuli in a certain way, and understanding this connection helps you better control yourself. This is scientifically supported by the Yerkes-Dodson law, which defines the dependence best results from medium intensity motivation. The result improves when motivation (or degree of arousal) increases to a certain limit. After this limit, when motivation/arousal levels become too high, performance deteriorates. Graphically, this law can be represented as an inverted parabola. This parabola has been actively used by sports psychologists for quite a long time to work with the attention of athletes.
How can this knowledge be useful? To stay focused, it is important to maintain your optimal level of arousal. Remember: when you’re in a bad mood, work sometimes falls out of your hands. And on the contrary, when the mood is too good, you forget about work, and you want to enjoy the moment, sing along to all your favorite songs at once, well, you know better what you want to do in such a mood. So, the effective level of arousal, which can be called your “zone of concentration,” is somewhere between these two states. For different types activity suitable different levels excitement, but you need to try to manage your state - calm down when everything is burning in your hands, or, conversely, provoke yourself when you don’t want to do anything. the main task- realize when you have left the zone of concentration, and then understand what needs to be done: cheer up or calm down.
Psychologist Lucy Palladino is an expert on the topic of attention. In this book she describes the system she has developed for those who want to develop the ability to concentrate.
Self-education
With so many online courses and others educational initiatives that we have today, the problem, it would seem, is not how to study, but how to manage everything and where to start.
But if you ask yourself “how to learn to learn?”, you may find that there are more questions than answers. A recent survey of hundreds of British and Dutch teachers found that they continue to believe many myths about the brain. For example, in the myth about right-hemisphere and left-hemisphere students. Another myth is that you should immediately decide whether you are an auditory, visual or kinesthetic learner, and then absorb information only in a way that suits you. In one study, people were asked to choose which type they considered themselves to be, and then presented with materials in an appropriate or inappropriate format. It turned out that auditory learners were quite good at understanding textual materials, and kinesthetic learners normally perceived information by ear. By the way, many education hackers, when sharing their experience, notice that they learn the material best when they study it in all its variants: listen to audio lectures and retell them to themselves, draw and write on paper, read textbooks, and so on.
Online course: “Learn to Learn” on Coursera
An online course on learning to learn from Professor Barbara Oakley with support from Professor Terrence Sejnowski. They will talk about chunking, procrastination, memory and simple useful techniques, helping to make learning more meaningful and effective. All this is complemented by interviews with people who are seriously involved in education or self-education, for example, with polyglot Benny, writing coach Daphne Gray-Grant. There is also an interview with Scott Young, who completed the 4-year MIT program in one year.
Meditation
Many people still consider meditation to be inseparable from religion or esotericism. But as soon as this practice reached Europe and the States, the processes of secularization and scientific research. This has led to meditation being established as a proven technique for increasing concentration, alertness and awareness. There are research centers studying the benefits of meditation for reducing stress and chronic pain. You can start practicing meditation on your own. 5-10 minutes a day is enough for this: just sit quietly with eyes closed, with a straight back and focusing on your breathing. The main thing is to try to do this regularly.
To understand exactly what to do, take a look at the video where TV presenter Dan Harris, in the guise of a laboratory mouse, talks about the basics of meditation in a couple of minutes. To develop a habit and avoid confusion about what to pay attention to, it can be helpful to find appropriate audio instructions. One proven option is the Headspace service. He does a good job of gradually increasing the amount of time: first you meditate for 5 minutes a day, then for 10, 15, 20. And all this time the announcer will pay attention to what you should pay attention to. The course is in English; if your knowledge of the language is not enough, you can find similar audio files in Russian on the Internet.
Dr. Kabat-Zinn - Founder research center Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts medical university(UMass). The book was first published in 1985, 6 years after the creation of the center. The author gradually explains what the essence of the practice is, diluting the text with recommendations on how to try to apply what is described in everyday life and in the practice of meditation.
Dream
Sometimes we sacrifice sleep in favor of a TV series, an interesting book, a cool conversation, or urgent matters at work. Even taking this into account, we devote about a third of our lives to sleep, but most of what happens to us in our dreams, from the point of view of science, still remains beyond understanding. It is known that during sleep the brain processes information and transfers it to long term memory. It is especially worth paying attention to this fact for students and schoolchildren: if you are studying something, especially before the exam itself, try to get some sleep. Otherwise, you will encounter an effect when the knowledge in your head seems to crumble and even the text in the cheat sheets turns out to be incomprehensible. The busier the day, the more we need to get a good night's sleep. Although, to be honest, what “a good night’s sleep” means is still an open question.
Journalist David Randall became interested in the topic of sleep when he discovered that he was sleepwalking. And he didn’t just walk in his sleep, but managed to get injured. During his research, he found that sleep is still a fairly little-studied topic, and it seems that his book left more questions than it answered.