Empower Yourself Through Thought

I always say critical thinking is empowering, but why? How?

The short story is that it leads to the closest approximation of the truth, which leads to real knowledge. Real knowledge leads to a greater degree of power and freedom over your own life, on a personal level. This could be from life changing medical or financial implications, to work* and family life, and mental health and stress coping mechanisms, down to the simple enjoyment of particular foods or hobbies in life.

*I actually came across a page on the job search website Indeed, after writing this post, that illustrates this exact point of empowering your work and daily life – very encouraging to see filtering through into society! A really good article as well, give it a read!

Not only does it give you that power and freedom on a personal level, but it enables you to adapt, integrate, and function more easily, and effectively, within your social circles and wider society; and still while maintaining your own autonomy and identity. This is true empowerment.

For example, did you know that people who are more likely to override intuitive thinking with analytical thinking are less gullible, less likely to exist in echo chambers, and less likely to spread misinformation from unreliable sources? This large study details this effect.

Critical thinking is important for everyone, in every day decision making.

I’d like to begin with a quote which illustrates the meaning in this post:

“There is joy in rationality, happiness in clarity of mind. Freethought is thrilling and fulfilling - absolutely essential to mental health and happiness."

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It Takes Practice

If you always make life decisions, even day to day, non-important ones, based on nonsense, fear, purely social conformity (e.g. not based in scientific consensus but on an argument from popularity), misinformation, hearsay, etc., then you are not a free thinker. If you accept claims without evidence or prior understanding, then you’re not empowered with the freedom to make your own decisions. Other people are making them for you.

Typical mediums for the above kinds of reasoning would be in the form of persuasion tactics (not evidence based), such as anecdotes/testimonials, emotional appeal, appeal to the masses, misinformation, marketing, religion, politics, grifters etc. It’s normal for this to happen, and everyone in the world does some form of this, every day. This is because it’s all around us. That’s why it takes practice to think critically – but every small change is a win.

If you think critically and apply good logic and reasoning, then you are going to end up at a much more accurate approximation of truth. Armed with that knowledge, you can make decisions for yourself which are grounded more solidly in reality. Therefore, you are free and empowered to make those decisions based almost purely on your own preferences and informed by truth. When accurately informed, a decision becomes your own, free from external and hopefully some of your own internal biases. From here it’s all you. Remember:

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Break Free of Bias

It’s true that even if we are deciding based on belief, misinformation or simply because it ‘feels good’, we are still making our own decision. However, that decisions’ origin was influenced by untrue or inaccurate premises, and this does not empower us. It misleads us. In fact, we often ‘want’ to be misled subconsciously - it’s easier than facing some hard or boring truths. This is when a plethora of cognitive biases take over.

When this happens, it becomes much easier to ‘believe’ instead of reason. It’s comforting, easy, requires no thought and essentially tells us what we want to hear. We do this without even being conscious of it. It can feel as true as something we know to be true, even if it isn’t. While reasons vary, tonnes of things can motivate these biases.

This short video is a brilliant explanation of cognitive ease – just one of many said human biases.

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Critical Thinking isn’t Criticism

When not informed by critical thinking, we tend fall back on much less reliable forms of reasoning rather than hold off on making a judgement call. Rationally speaking, it is fine not to have an answer immediately, but people don’t like this. It can feel uncomfortable not to have an answer, not to decide. Ironically, it’s more empowering to reserve judgement if there is insufficient knowledge to decide – it’s a humble position to hold.

When not informed by truth, your decisions are often based in – and therefore controlled by – biases, mistruths be they lies or honest mistakes, unsubstantiated fear, feelings, or desire for things to be true. This is not a personal fault – it is an intrinsic human trait. Critical thinking is the tool to inoculate you from these easy patterns to fall into. If you can begin to break free of these patterns, you are already more empowered than you were; even if the outcome or realisation is initially more painful to bear.

It's very common for people to conflate critical thinking with criticism. Specifically, personal criticism, or a personal attack. This reaction is understandable given that many people hold their core beliefs so sacred that they confuse them as being part of their identity. However, critical thinking does no such thing as attack a person. Instead, it questions things with good reason – and usually has a constructive approach, and a positive goal. It’s not an ideological attack and it’s not driven by emotional needs or spite. This quote sums up the differences between criticism and critical thinking quite eloquently:

I’ll end this with another quote from astronomer, physicist, and mathematician Arthur Eddington. He was also a philosopher of science and a populariser of science. ‘The pursuit of truth in science’ exactly boils down to critical thinking. The quote surmises that:

“The pursuit of truth in science transcends national boundaries. It takes us beyond hatred and anger and fear. It is the best of us.”

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Introspection

As explained above, critical thinking naturally comes from a position of good faith. This is because the inherent goal is to discover truth, not to deceive. If it’s not that way, it’s not really critical thinking. You have to question your own motives. Personally, I want to help people. The best way to do this turns out to be an honest, thought out approach which is rooted in reality.

We owe it to each other to think critically from a place of good faith. More than that, you owe it to yourself to think critically to empower yourself, and share the fruits of free thought.

The easiest person to fool, is yourself. This short video sums that up nicely:

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Conclusion

What is empowering about critical thinking, then? Critical thinking is the bedrock of positive change, progression, and truth.

People can ignore or hide from hard truths in the comfort and warmth of any number of narratives, all of their life, if they choose. But this won’t fix underlying, or unaddressed fears or issues. Some truths might be difficult to bear, but what critical thinking can do is offer a pragmatic, grounded perspective – and offer its own comfort by facing things honestly and head on.

This video is a perfect summary of the empowerment of self that comes with Skepticism and critical thinking:

If you can be completely honest and humble with yourself, you can be at peace. From there, it extends to those around you. It can unite people and offer a shared solace, and a practical way to work through life’s challenges and help those around you. That is true empowerment of self.

On a somewhat cheesy, yet serious level:

“The truth shall set you free”.

Finding it is the real skill.

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