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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Read This Essay And Eliminate A Half Dozen Common Ways Of Being Fooled
Saturday September 23, 2006

"It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office."
H. L. Mencken

In 1997, a high school student submitted a project at a science fair in Idaho Falls designed to illustrate how easy it is to fool people, especially ninth grade students. His project was modest: he simply adapted a spoof he found on the Internet by circulating a petition to ban a scary-sounding chemical (dihydrogen monoxide). Many students signed to do just that, even though the substance, when used sensibly, is harmless enough and rather useful (water). Though he only retooled a widely circulated story passed along as an urban legend, the student won first prize. This in itself might reflect poor critical thinking skills in the adult judges, as well as the ninth grader dupes who signed the petition to ban water. The student, however, got more than a prize -- he got his promised fifteen minutes, and then some. He got his name and picture in newspapers and magazines and was often mentioned on radio and TV stations.

This tale introduces the first of a dozen ways people are easily fooled, namely, by peer pressure. If you cave every time "go along to get along" pressure is applied, you surely will remain mired in icantdoit life situations. You will be an easy mark. So, critical thinking rule number one is:

Don't cave -- be alert to and quick to sidestep peer pressures.

The remaining five of the half-dozen better thinking tips are simple but easy to overlook. Good luck. Chances are you can't do it, but give it a shot.
Don't believe everything you think, in fact, be suspicious of most of what you think. After all, you have probably been exposed to a mountain of nonsense over the years, and a lot of it probably got past your poorly developed, suppressed bulldoo detectors.
Don't hold on to weird ideas. If you embrace beliefs at odds with science, and who doesn't save a few unusual characters among us, subject these superstitions to critical scrutiny. The goal is to lighten the nonsense load that will weigh you down. Examples of absolute nonsense that many otherwise semi-sensible people embrace include such foolishness as homeopathy, ESP, astrology, psychokinesis, haunted houses, reincarnation, devil possession, clairvoyance, telepathy, communication with the dead and therapeutic touch. There's much more but this will get you started. Eradicating weird notions is a big job for most people -- get started now.
Don't fall for anecdotes. Develop a healthy respect for statistics and rely more on data than stories. Data enable decision processes that are more objective, unemotional and conducive to sound decision-making. Anecdotes are usually ladled with bias, partial information, rumor and/or urban lore, plus self-interest. Be especially cynical about stories that support what you already believe, another common thought process tendency that is quite dysfunctional. Pay as much attention to information that contradicts what you want to believe as to information that supports your expectations.
Don't think everything that happens has profound or other meaning. If you think "there's a reason for everything," get your head examined. Just kidding --that's harsh. Just having a little fun here. No, seriously, this "reason for everything" cliché is a grotesquery, a truly twisted notion. Chance and coincidence play a major role in everyone's life. Because evolution made us causal-seeking animals and religions led us to believe the gods intervene in the minutiae of our affairs, we are programmed to look for meaning in everything. These cultural norms are worth resisting. Do NOT accept associations, connections and links when none exist.
Don't oversimplify or rely on your memory to excess. Yes, life is complex and we have to streamline decisions to save time and effort. This can't be helped but be alert to a tendency to overlook important information in the rush to judgment. Memories are unreliable -- they change over time in response to current beliefs, expectations, suggestive questioning and dying brain cells.

Finally, and I won't count this as a bonus tip, avoid overconfidence in your thinking processes. As Bertrand Russell advised, "the fundamental cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt."

Good luck thinking and always look on the bright side.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MENTAL DOMAIN under the skill area of effective decisions. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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