Thinking for Everyone
Thinking is too important to leave to others to do for you
We cannot avoid thinking, and the quality of our thinking directly impacts the quality of our lives.
This being so, we may as well learn about how we think so we can get better at it.
Sooner or later, it’s time to Think for Yourself.
We live in a world of experts and specialists. However they don’t always agree, the specialists can miss the bigger picture and they may be under political or social pressure to come to certain conclusions.
Thankfully the discovery that there are three kinds of thinking provides a compass to show us when to trust others and when to work things out for ourselves.
The good news is that it is not difficult to recognise the difference between the three kinds of thinking.
Once they are distinguished, clear paths open up how to get better at each kind.
‘Perfect objective truth’ may be an unattainable goal, but we still need to use objective thinking to understand the impact of actions upon the world.
Recognising the importance of intersubjective thinking show how it is possible to enjoy friendship and good relations with people even when you see the world differently. It is key to a better future.
Foundations – the Three Kinds of Thinking
Ideally read these first! They provide the rationale for understanding that we think in three different ways, and why our actions matter more than our thoughts.
If we wish to understand something about the world that is independent of us, then we need to use objective thinking.
Most of the time, though, we are concerned with the world as it relates to us – for this we use subjective thinking.
Occasionally we really connect with another being – we meet subject to subject, and our thoughts are directly influenced by what is happening in our connection. When this happens we are using intersubjective thinking.
The Problem of Knowledge
Things are not always as they seem. For example, it might seem obvious that the earth is still and that the sun, moon, planets and stars orbit around it. For thousands of years this is what everyone believed, until Copernicus demonstrated that all the observations...
The Three Kinds of Thinking
Let us now consider the nature of thinking. A Self can be doing something, or having something done to it. In logical terms it can be a subject or an object. All thinking presupposes the existence of a subject, a being with some kind of awareness and mental activity...
Objective Thinking
There are two main kinds of objective thinking. The first does not, in theory at least, need a world: the second operates in a world. The first is a priori thinking – it is reasoning from first principles: the second is empirical thinking, involving measuring and...
Subjective Thinking
O my Luve's like a red, red rose That’s newly sprung in June Robbie Burns My life does not only consist of facts and logic. I listen to music, watch films and plays, appreciate beauty, read novels and poetry. I have a heart as well as a head, I engage with my...
Why Actions Matter More than Thoughts
If you interview a successful person, there will come a point in which they will identify a key moment in their lives that changed everything. It could be the decision to start a business; to try again after bankruptcy, a serious illness or injury; a move to a new...
Choosing Paradigms
Is the Cartesian paradigm still fit for purpose, or should it be replaced by one starting with action? How can and should we decide? Put another way, which comes first, action or thinking? It’s a bit like the chicken and the egg. Perhaps we normally think first,...
Applications – Applying Objective Thinking
In our culture at the moment objective and subjective thinking are frequently muddled up, with many negative results.
Unfortunately many schools and universities no longer ensure that everyone learns how to think objectively.
Without objective thinking there is no way to work out what is true and what is not. Shouting louder and insulting those who disagree with you is not a good way to work out what is true.
Please only read these once you are sure you have the idea of objective thinking. They are here to illustrate application of the awareness of the three kinds of thinking and to provoke thought and discussion.
An Alternative to Collectivism
There are many pragmatic arguments why restricting freedom of expression on topics like climate change can be harmful. We have already, and may continue to, make policies that cause the environment more harm than good. There are also good psychological justifications...
The War Against Objective Thinking
People can fail to use objective thinking out of ignorance. If you have had no education at all you are vulnerable to superstitions, prejudices; all kinds of irrational behaviours. Much more alarming is a failure to use objective thinking from having too much...
A Nineteenth Century Seating Plan
What do the terms 'left wing' and 'right wing' actually mean, and where did they come from? The answer is surprising. In theory, we get to choose what kind of government we have. In practice, it seems the really important decisions are kept out of reach. Our...
Thinking Objectively about Viruses
(China) is a communist one party state, we said. We couldn’t get away with it in Europe, we thought… and then Italy did it. And we realised we could Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London speaking to the Times newspaper Since the beginning of time, humans,...
Thinking Objectively About Economics
When the tide goes out you can see who’s been swimming naked Warren Buffet Economics affects almost every area of our lives. Like it or not, we are all economic beings: we all trade our time and skills for money, and exchange that money for the things we desire in...
Some Environmental Challenges
It is wonderful that nearly everyone today agrees that the natural environment needs caring for. Ever since the first astronauts sent back images of our green blue planet surrounded by the darkness of space the awareness has grown that we can do harm as well as good...
Life
The preceding sections concern matters that affect everyone. What can we know for sure? What are the different kinds of thinking? How to use objective thinking to tackle challenges that affect us all. I urge as many as possible to read them because confusion about objective thinking is undermining our very civilisation.
This section is quite different – a personal take on things that I find interesting. My subjective thinking in action. What’s it like to write your first book, go self-employed, design a website for the first time and try to keep organised?
No ‘rights and wrongs’ here, just one man’s personal view.
How I Worked out What Matters
My reading and reflecting on Philosophy led me to see that We think in three different waysOur actions matter more than our thoughts For anything that has an impact on the world the only way to accurately measure and understand that impact is by using objective...
Dangerous Ideas?
Have I changed or has the world? I'm not a person who seeks out conflict; indeed, one of my values is 'harmony'. I like people to get on with each other and I like to think I can build a good rapport with nearly anyone. However I also value authenticity even more. I...
Things I Learned when I was 18
Some things I thought and did when I was 18 are best forgotten, but there are others that have kept me in good stead in the intervening years. I had the fantastic experience of living and working as a teacher for a year in rural South West Kenya, thanks to the...
My Ideal Reader
My ideal reader is ... you. Ok, that may not quite be true if you're boiling with rage and wanting to burn me and everything I've written at the stake for heresy. If thinking is for everyone, then my ideal reader could be anyone. It doesn't matter where they live,...
Future
I once heard visionary leadership described as ‘creating a world to which people want to belong’.
Even more important than flying cars and personal jetpacks is the challenge of getting on with our fellow humans.
Our ability to love, be reconciled and live in harmony does not seem to have improved much in the past five hundred years. Such a contrast to the incredible progress made with mastering the physical universe.
How we get on with each other is all about our intersubjective thinking – how we connect (or fail to connect) with each other. It is time to give it the attention it deserves.
What is Intersubjective Thinking?
All meaningful knowledge is for the sake of action, and All meaningful action is for the sake of friendship John Macmurray Objective thinking is concerned with understanding how the world IS, independently of me and my subjectivity. The aim is to reduce the ‘human...
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