THINKING
CONTENTS/LINKS


Why bother?  Because this is the conduit through which we form a great life and our happiness.  There is no way around it.  It prevents problems, allows us to choose better what will benefit us, and it will get us more important payoffs in life, for a much, much happier life, if you fully use it!   It's not hard - and it's great fun!  (Invest the time - and you will achieves what is priceless!

Reflecting to see and understand, gather information, come to conclusions that serve us.

See the related: Wisdom Contents/Links page.
  and Thinking Brain Contents/Links page

See especially, below, Thinking Errors.

INTRO

Right Thinking - The Master Skill

THE THINKING PROCESS

The Thinking Emotion Process - A Causal Chain - All tne steps in the thinking process, so you can know where to intervene if needed.

WHY TO THINK EFFECTIVELY

Can I Live A Good Life Without Critical Thinking? - Not likely:  Good Decisions Lead To A Good Life - The Number One Process For Happiness.  

After you learn this "level 3" thinking, you can go on to the next levels, for an even greater, more powerfully lived life:  Higher Level, Expansive, Creative, Value Producing Thinking - The Gateway To All You Want In Life.  (Link from this piece to the Levels Of Thinking piece.)

See, below, "the reasons for good thinking" section.

HOW TO THINK

Right Thinking - The Master Skill - Intro page

     Being An Expert Thinker - Don't Be An
          Amateur Thinker! - The key to life!
     Thinking - Getting Into State For

How Could You Have The Effrontery To Question The Experts?!!! - A question you might ask of me.

See, below the "Thinking Itself" section, for more specific guidance.

HOW NOT TO THINK

Errors In Thinking - How To Get Poorer Results In Life - Are you doing any of these?  Will you choose to continue doing them?
  Perception Does Not Equal Reality - Essential Lesson #1 - We grow up believing myths and then relying on what is not reality.

Where Are You Being Intentionally Stupid? - And allowing damage and the unworkable to stay in your life.

Going From Some Unsanity To HighSanity - Into A Whole New World Of Happiness And Being  

See, below right, the "Thinking Errors" section.

THE REASONS FOR GOOD THINKING

Good Decisions - Of course, critical thinking (below) is a necessary part of this.)
Good Problem Solving - A process, including critical thinking.
Acquiring Wisdom - The glue that makes life work for success and happiness in life.

Is Thinking Difficult? - Does it require too much effort to bother with?  Do you really think or...?
 
ON THINKING ITSELF

Critical Thinking - Applying the skills of thinking to produce valid true conclusions and decisions!

   Checklist For Effective Thinking

        Scientific Method
        Critical Thinking Site - See all the
            elements and questions you need to
            ask to arrive at a sound conclusion.

   Evidence - Real Or Selective?  

   The Use Of Logic - Acceptable For
       Emotional Beings? - Reject it? Is
       Emotional "Thinking" better?

   Making Distinctions - Telling the difference
       between things, allowing us to go
       deeper, live a better life.

Logical Thinking - What is it?  It makes you smarter and succeed more - and to be happier!.

Accurate, Focused Thinking


EXAMPLES OF APPLYING CRITICAL THINKING

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - The single most effective therapy, along with its related versions.  It is simply a rational thinking process, where new information and new ways of thinking of things is introduced and then used by the person.  It only fails when the person fails to use it sufficiently!

ABCDEF Rational Analysis - Rationally reviewing a situation that caused a negative emotion and then correcting the misbeliefs.
 







Coming to The Middle, On Either Side - Part Of The Solution Or Part Of The Problem - You can sure spot the thinking errors in these cases. 
______________________

NON-THINKING AND PRIMITIVE THINKING

The Righteous, Unthinking Mind Versus The Thinking Mind - And The Effect Of Harmful Ignorance

Understanding How The Primitive Brain Thoughts Work - Not Understanding Perpetuates Ideas That Keep You Stuck - Know this, if you want to be unstuck from beliefs that hold you back here or lead you down a foolish path.

Monkey See, Monkey Do, Humans, Too, But... - We evolved from monkeys and we still have some of their traits! 
________________

INTERFERING EMOTIONS

Being Right - One Of The Highest Costs In Life - If we operate per evolution, this relates to survival.  If we use our thinking, we can see what to do instead.
  
The Believing Brain - Why you believe some rather 'not well thought out' beliefs and get caught up in emotions and a 'survival' mode that is non-thinking.



Also:

Emotional Intelligence 


The "Intelligences" Of Life Learning  


Rational Emotive Imaging - Using "thinking" to visualize and perfect one's emotional life and to create more happiness.

The Course In Stupid Thinking 101 - Some people have let themselves be good at this...

The alternative:

     Checklist For Effective (Critical) Thinking

THINKING ERRORS

(Not from a fault point of view, but from an effect point of view recognizing how the strategy works or doesn't, and seeking a better one.)

Errors In Thinking - Checklist - Which are you engaged in?

Cognitive Distortion - This is a process where, if we don't take charge, we distort what we see, naturally, as came from evolution but no longer serves us beyond the primitive needs - but it impacts us immensely in our lives.  

Wrong Thinking And Cognitive Distortions - The source of most unhappiness.  

Primitive Reaction Versus Reasoning - And the fallacies of thinking 

    Reactionary "Oppositional" Behavior - Why? 
        How Can We Do Better? - Human,
           simple, correctable strategy. 

Non-Thinking "Reasoning" And Conclusions - "Emotional reasoning" is not 'accurate' and often misleading and invalid.

   My Emotional Thinking/Reasoning Tells Me What Is Right - Wanna Bet?!!!

Examples Of Unwarranted Conclusions And Beliefs - The results of not using critical thinking.

Fact, "Truth", Reality, And Perception - Erroneous thinking involving believing falsely that your perceptions are reality and that your beliefs are "the truth".  

Selective Evidence To Back Up Your Prejudice



Classic Errors:

The Believing Brain - Know This! Or Be The Victim Of It, For Life! - Essential to understand so that you won't make the mistake of believing what is not true and not using your reasoning powers!

Intuition - Useful But Not Accurate

Cognitive Dissonance - "It Doesn't Feel Right" - A classic misinterpretation and a harmful error.


VIDEOS (FREE)

The brain and its perception errors

Our Brains: Predictably Irrational (Playlist, TED)

The Pattern Behind Self-Deception, Shermer (19:01) TED

How Does My Brain Work? (Playlist, TED)

Critical thinking:

Playlist on my channel (KahunaKeith), short videos: Course In Critical Thinking
Read this like a book

The pieces are in logical order.  (And/or watch the videos.)
Much more in depth

Put those terms in an internet search engine to get the links:

This will carry you beyond the core level, for those who wish to go further. 

Creative Thinking
Creativity Links by C. Osborne - This page links to great resources on creative thinking.

Edward de Bono's Methods & Concepts of Lateral Thinking - This page provides an overview of deBono's ideas about creativity.

Introduction to Creative Thinking by R. Harris from VirtualSalt - This page compares critical and creative thinking and discusses the myths of creative thinking.

Tutorial on Creativity, Brainstorming and Innovation from Infinite Innovations Ltd. - This tutorial provides basic information about creativity, brainstorming, and innovation. It also provides ideas and activities.

Creativity Pool - This is a database of creative and original ideas. Submit your own or check to see if someone else has thought of the same thing.