"True reasoning is only possible when there is no motivation." - Naval Ravikant
The above quote continues our series of introducing you to free and critical thinkers. Naval Ravikant is unique in that he spans the philosophical and business worlds. He is a software engineer and entrepreneur who also studies the bigger picture of what is knowledge and how to best acquire and use it. He is extremely well-liked and is referred by many as simply Naval.
This quote is a subtle warning to be aware of the different forces which affect what and how you think. We are all influenced by friends, family, professors and random people we interact with on the Internet. For some, the news media is the ultimate influence.
These influences shape how you assess new information and, depending on the stakes, motivate you to think in specific ways. If you are motivated to think a certain way because to do otherwise would negatively affect your relationships, it follows you are not being truly objective. You may think you are, but you are not. The same applies to pressures from one's job and colleagues.
You are motivated to adopt particular lines of thinking and to make certain assumptions because no one wants to be seen as being left out. The first lesson on critical thinking provides such an example and shows how misinformation is spread through motivated reasoning: https://bit.ly/3irXUZD.
The only way to arrive at objective truth and reasoning is to be devoid of outside motivation, i.e., pressures. Hard to do? Yes. Worth trying to achieve? Another yes.
This post is not an endorsement of Naval's views and opinions. Whether you accept his arguments on a subject is your decision. When you find yourself in agreement or disagreement with him, ask yourself why and analyze to confirm that your positions are reasoned and defensible.
You can find him on the following site: https://twitter.com/naval
This 30-second video by one of the world's top scientists, Dr. Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996), explains why there is no such thing as "Follow the Science" or "The Science."
Additionally, as stated in one of our lessons on the scientific process (https://bit.ly/3s2KBAW):
"Science is misunderstood because the term is so misused. Let's start with the fact that science is not a thing. It is a process. Science is a specific methodology for asking how and why things function and then developing experiments to test if the predictions (called hypotheses) are correct.
More importantly, science does not give results; experiments do. Therefore, poorly designed experiments produce flawed data. Flawed data are not the fault of science; they are the fault of badly designed experiments. One can only follow the data/results of experiments. Hence, there is no such thing as "following the science."
Each subscriber post is a lesson on a specific skill in critical thinking. In 15 minutes, students learn how to put it immediately into practice.
With Mindvax, students develop a reliable critical thinking system that they instinctively use everyday. It teaches how to analyze information for integrity and accuracy, thereby reducing the influence of misinformation.
Mindvax lessons are written in easy-to-read story form using common real-life scenarios. Students can visualize themselves in the narratives and learn critical thinking application from normal life experiences.
There are 7 sections in most lessons:
Overview
Description of the Skill
Examples
Analysis of Examples using Critical Thinking
Conclusions after Critical Thinking
Specific Recommendations on how to put Lesson into Immediate Practice
Preview of the next Lesson
There are three specialty lesson series that show how to specifically use critical thinking in areas outside of school:
Not Falling For That - Teaches how to identify ...
There are two behaviors that humans instinctively do. We dutifully reject erroneous details about what we read/see when it is a topic we know. Alternatively, we dutifully accept erroneous details about what we read/see when we do not know much about the topic. These behaviors set us up to be manipulated and misled.
Imagine that you read two stories in a newspaper. The first one is about a sport you have played for 10 years. The story has several major facts wrong. You decide to disregard the story because the author did not know enough to write a competent article. You turn the page and read another article about something you know nothing about. You find it intriguing and were thrilled to learn something new.
Across town, a lady you do not know reads the same two articles. However, her reaction is the opposite. She knew nothing about your sport and believed everything. However, she knew about the topic in the second article and ignored it because many details were wrong.
Do you see what ...
"The tendency should always be towards the general, and the bias towards self is the beginning of all disorder, in war, politics, economics, in man's individual body." -- Blaise Pascal (French Philosopher 1623 - 62)
Many lectures can given to fully dissect this quote. We would like you to focus on this more simple interpretation: If each person focuses too much only on him/herself, the end result would be societal dysfunction.
Do not confuse this as stating individuals should not have personal goals or exhibit self-interest. Self-interest is what drives one to find what you like most, which you can then contribute to society. However, there is a limit because everyone is different and, to function as a society, there must be some common accepted truths and norms.
Self-interest and selfishness are wholly different, but are often conflated. An example of self-interest is: You have 20 apples and decide to sell 10, give two away free and keep eight for yourself. You profited from the apples and...
