YOUR “RATIONAL” MIND

When it comes to the word “rational,” there are two very, very different meanings for that term. One is positive, the other is negative. One supports and validates you as a reasoning and reasonable person, the other questions just how reasonable you are as it assumes you are mostly irrational, unreasonable, biased, and blind to all of this. In critical thinking, we define “rational” as using reasons to reason or figure things out. It identifies legitimate explanations and creates correct understandings about how things work. By contrast, “rationalizing” mis-uses reason as it comes up with false explanations and understandings to justify an idea or behavior. So which is it? Are humans rational or irrational?

That last sentence, as a question, illustrates the problem. “Are humans rational or irrational?” makes a gigantic assumption. It frames the answer as either/or. In the background of the mind it dichotomizes the situation by presupposing that the answer has to fall to one side or the other— as polar opposites. By leaving out any room for something in-between, it presupposes that there are only two incompatible answers. Yet in doing this, the question itself sets up an irrational choice.

Does that mean we are by nature and innately irrational? Or could it be that using reason in a reasonable, mature, and healthy way is a skill that has to be learned? Could it be that there are language formats (templates) that lend themselves to thinking and formatting things in an irrational way? And if that is so, could there be other language formats as templates that can help us overcome such cognitive fallacies and biases and be more rational?

Because I think the answer lies in the latter, I also think that to “think for a living,” we need to understand how to use our higher cortical functions for critical thinking. When you can do that, you can do smart thinking, in contrast to dumb thinking. An when you can think smart—you can do all sorts of creative thinking. This brings us back to the brain by which we engage in this essential skill— thinking.

The brain operates with multiple modular parts— parts which do a great many different things. Instead of being a single monolithic unit, the brain is a collaboration of many aspects, some conscious and some unconscious. Consequently we can identify different brain anatomies which have different functions.

For example, there’s a part of the brain and our mind which registers what we see (encodes it, represents it) and there’s another part by which we interpret what those things mean. In interpreting you evaluate, make decisions, make choices, theorize, understand— in a word, you explain things (or at least attempt to). There’s another part that activates the motor cortex so that you act on your thinking. Because you have different areas of the brain and different parts

having different functions, and because they operate somewhat independently of each other, you can expect that there will sometimes be conflicts between the parts. If the interpreting, rationalizing part is too strong, you can be jumping-to-conclusions and coming up with inadequate “explanations.”

The fact of your rational mind does not determine how you use it, for what you use it, or how effectively you use it. The fact that you can reason, that you seek to explain things, that you use your current understandings to grabble with things you do not yet understand is simply a description of one aspect of thinking. The quality of your thinking, of reasoning, is a function of how educated you are to think through things, think critically, question, explore, search for facts, hold evaluations and judgments in abeyance until you have sufficient information, etc.

The rational mind can be certainly be misused. A person can use “reasons” and “explanations” in a way to justify whatever he wants to justify. That’s agenda thinking. You start with your conclusion and then you go find so-called “evidence” to prove it. The problem with that way of thinking is that you are “rationalizing” and will become a victim of Availability Bias and Confirmation Bias. Could you convince yourself that your conclusion is true? Yes. Millions of people do. This is what gives the term “rational” a bad rep.

In contrast to that kind of sloppy, lazy, and irrational thinking, you can learn how to develop the ability to think clearly and rationally. You can learn how to reflect on data, turn it into information, then turn it into meaningful ideas. You can learn how to evaluate your ideas by measuring it against criteria, solve problems systemically in a disciplined way, challenge hidden premises, and think with precision and inspiration. You can learn to develop the ability to reason intelligently as a powerful skill.

It is not the case that reason or rationality is the problem. It is not. Yes, human reasoning will always be fallible— “liable to error,” yet that doesn’t mean it cannot be used effectively and productively to solve problems. It can. How? By learning to step back and “reason about reasoning” and “think about thinking.” Ultimately, such meta-thinking and meta-learning allows you to quality control how you use your brain so that you can be a great thinker.

For more, see Executive Thinking (2018) There is a special deal still on for the newest book from Neuro-Semantics, Hypnotic Thinking. o 1 copy --- $20 (normally $25) --- $27 in US $57 outside of the US o 2 copies -- $35 (normally $50) --- $42 in the US $70 outside the US o 3 copies -- $ 50 (normally $75) – $57 in the US $87 outside of the US Postage is determined by the US Postal Service --- $7 inside the United States $35 outside the US Click on https://www.neurosemantics.com/pay-a-statement/ Accepts any credit card.