Asking the right questions in critical thinking

 The right questions are the most important source of critical thinking. Doing them and/or doing them in the right order is more important than getting the right answers to the wrong questions. Let's take one example of such a pair of questions:

• How can I do this more effectively?

• Does this need to be done at all?
  
  

We don’t have to ask the first question at all if the answer to the second question is no. If the answer to the second question is yes, we should also ask ourselves the first question. The right questions will radically reduce our waste. We only get great answers with great questions. We need to set aside time to ask great questions because their benefits can be invaluable. By getting the right answers to the wrong questions, we are creating an opportunity for a great catastrophe for ourselves. In the long run, a chain reaction could result in a major disaster after asking the wrong questions.

Most of the questions we ask are wrong. They lead to wrong conclusions. The question is almost always more important than the answer. For example, when we do science, we ask questions for which we have no prior knowledge of the answers. Surprising breakthroughs can result. The benefits of the right questions then become irreplaceable. The right questions simplify things. To get the right answers, we need to keep our questions simple because our brain capacity is limited. Here are a couple of question pairs where the first question is wrong and the second is correct:

• Why do I spend so much effort on this client?

• Do I need this customer at all?

• Why do politicians have to raise taxes all the time?

• How can I pay less taxes?
  
  
  

Asking the right questions is difficult, but they bring great benefits. In less is more philosophy, one question transcends all others:

What are some of the critical things we can do to make all of these things either easier or unnecessary?

We need to go through the anatomy of this question carefully:

Point 1. What are some of the critical things we can do. The most important word in this paragraph is can. This is a possible action. We can’t put a word in a conditional form, as we could, we would, we should do. Doing always wins the intention.

Step 2. To make them by doing. This point means doing the purposeful thing. That doesn’t mean we do things for the sake of doing it. Finding purposefulness requires in-depth thinking, because by doing one thing, other things are not done.

Point 3. other things become either easier or unnecessary. This means that our critical issues yield such great benefits that it becomes easier to reach our goals as other things become easier or unnecessary. Most of us don’t realize how much we cannot do to achieve something significant.

Asking the right questions saves time for the most important things and tasks. I hope you find this text useful.

-TT

Critical thinking

The importance of critical thinking increases as the amount of information increases. The result is a difficulty in thinking critically. We should not directly think of the text of any book as such. Instead, we need to think about how well the text is true. We work on instinct most of the time. It works well most of the time. We need to think more about important things. The role of critical thinking is emphasized. There are many obstacles in its way and their impact can go beyond making sensible decisions. Critical thinking means examining things and our careful reflection on their various aspects. This requires us to ask the right questions. Critical thinking is a competitive advantage today. Many current university degrees do little to encourage this. What, why, how, etc. are questions we should be asking all the time to think critically.

The increase in modern day´s stress, workload, and amount of information affects our ability to think critically. Improving critical thinking includes prioritizing, maximizing the utilization of our working memory, and informational flexibility. We have a lot to consider. Resolving priorities makes it easier for us to focus on the essentials. When there is too many things to consider, things are handled at half capacity and the outputs are decreased. We constantly have to increase the use of our working memory and we need to focus better despite the disruptions. Informative flexibility means that we are able to change our patterns of behavior according to the situation and the facts.

Critical thinking has changed recently and its demands on us have grown. Ways to get information have changed. That’s why it’s good to think about how our environment affects us. Today, the pursuit of propaganda and self-interest by influencing the information fed to others is constantly increasing. Anyone can publish their own opinions and their own facts. Our criticism of the source must be intensified. We need to think more about the publisher’s intentions. Google doesn’t always bring out the facts. Our life situations change faster and adapting to a new situation may require a new reflection on the facts, displacing the old facts. Finding out the essentials requires more of our thinking. The exploitation of our critical thinking suffers from many obstacles. They can cause errors in our rational thinking that lead to wrong conclusions

One of our most common mistakes is our natural way of focusing on sources that support our own views rather than trying to think things from different perspectives. Blaming others for our own mistakes and focusing on the mistakes of others instead of looking in mirror. The other mistake is our belief in authority which means that we do not question the facts of someone because we consider him or her infallible. This can apply to our family members, bosses, and politicians. Our pride can also be an obstacle to critical thinking because we find it hard to admit that we don’t know all the facts. Following a herd can also lead to distorted thinking.

We can develop our critical thinking and our brain capacity. There are many ways. Some of them seem self-evident. By questioning our assumptions and examining the information from many perspectives, we get to think more critically. However, we cannot examine too many perspectives, because this can paralyze our thinking into too many perspectives.

We can interpret things differently. We should not just hang out in one way that suits us. We need to learn to think differently. One way is to do things between them out of the ordinary. This helps us to outline different perspectives. We must always think that we are also wrong. We should also ask ourselves “what do we not know?” Self-development and honesty in our skills also help improve our thinking.

Let’s set aside time for critical thinking so we can respond to an ever-faster world. Even the wisest of us are sometimes wrong. The better we accept this fact, the better our critical thinking develops. It will become increasingly important in the future. While critical thinking may seem like an increasing burden to us, it becomes a habit of avoiding unnecessary deeds and thinking of unnecessary things. As a result, we will have more time in the future.

Critical thinking helps when you have to separate the useful facts, actions, opinions, behaviors from the less useful ones and the waste from brilliance . In other words, less is more thinking requires critical thinking.

-TT

Less Is More Thinking is non-linear

Less is more thinking is non-linear. It means that using small investments in it brings great benefits. It increases the time used for thinking, but it creates benefits for our lives. It is important for us to be able to think about things that are important and interesting to us. People are individuals. We cannot do everything as others do, producing fun and benefits for both ourselves and our environment. The core idea is that only a small portion of our efforts yield us most of our benefits. Ratios vary by subject. The number can be 80/20 or even 99/1. 20% of the products can generate 80% of the company's sales. An even number is just a number. Actual ratios can be as high as 50/1 or 97/20. The latter could mean that 20% of authors sell 97% of books in the United States. Radical fluctuations are due to the non-linearities of life and the world. This is important in social outcomes.

The difference is very large, which means that by exploiting the great effects, we can maximize the power of small things. We should start by thinking about the small core issues, those that produce the greatest benefits in relation to their size. After that, we can reduce our workload by focusing only on core issues, or we can try to keep our workload the same by increasing their share, thus increasing our benefits. We must not just focus on them. It is equally important to get rid of harmful things from our lives. The less is more principle also works in terms of negative effects. A small part of our lives produce the biggest negative effects. Eliminating them is difficult. We need to pay close attention to those efforts.

Focusing on core issues and eliminating unnecessary things requires constant thinking. We can’t avoid it if we want to get more out of our lives. Detecting them requires independent action and the use of your own thinking. On average, we are wrong all the time, even in important things. This is done by following the herd. It is sometimes right, but not nearly always. Cause-effect relationships are key. Often the consequences are considered to be the causes, even if they are not. For example, when one muscle is sore, the pain may radiate to another that is treated without failure. Pain is usually corrected with an analgesic that takes away the pain but does not eliminate the problem. The most important thing to think about is to find the main cause that will be put in order and through it we will get great benefit with less effort. We do not have to solve all our problems at once, but we can think of those that will bring the greatest benefits.

This way of thinking is much different from how we often see things as linear, that is, one by one. A small portion of actions will always be of the greatest value to us and others. We need to think about which action produces the most value. It is not found in mediocrity but under a deeper layer. We need to think new and get under the surface. The surface is our way of thinking linearly and traveling with the herd. Focusing on the same insignificances as the others, we create the same outcomes. To quote Mark Twain, “When you find yourself doing or thinking like the majority, it’s time to stop and think again.” For us, the best way to get to the highest value is to create a mindset where we often reject the opinions of the majority. They include dominant states of mind, consensus thinking, traditional wisdom, and easy answers. These obscure the reality from us, that is, the things that bring the greatest benefits. Giving up mediocre wisdom brings great benefits, but it is difficult. Changing our thinking is the hardest thing for us because it is hard for us to admit to ourselves that we are wrong.

The Minimum Effective Dose (MED)

The term means the minimum dose required to achieve a wanted result. We can use it in almost everything. We should not focus on increasing investment, but focus on taking into account the unnecessary consumption of energy after certain amounts. The balance of benefits and harms must be maximized to get the best results. It is achieved with the Minimum Effective Dose. In medicine, the term is used to prescribe as little medication as possible because they cause side effects that can be worse than the ailments for which medications are prescribed. The minimum dose is not just a useful term for individuals. It is suitable for larger crowds. For example, we should only clean enough of our house for the person who needs cleaning the most. If it were done according to another amount, the consequences would be too great and the benefits non-existent. We can use the minimum dose in almost all walks of life. It is worth sacrificing a lot of our thinking to take advantage of it.

It is easier for us to give up or reduce things. This way of improving our lives reduces mental burden. Giving up reduces the wrong kind of stress and makes things easier. Giving up everything is not the best solution. Therefore, a minimum dose is the best option. Cause-effect relationships are important when thinking about the minimum dose, because everything has good and bad effects. Cleaning improves cleanliness and reduces the number of bacteria. The negative effect is the time spent.

The usefulness of the term is not a simple matter. We are so different that the same rules do not apply to everyone. We need to find out our own resilience. We can only do it by experimenting. It may take time to experiment, but it is worth the time. We can use some stimulants too, like coffee. Testing the right amount is done by drinking different amounts of coffee a day, observing your own reactions. For myself, the optimal amount is two cups a day. At this level, my level of alertness is at its best. A larger amount causes mild restlessness. A smaller amount does not have enough good effects. By enjoying two cups a day, I get the best night’s sleep relative to the level of alertness of the day.

The Minimum Effective Dose also applies to social epidemics. It describes the number of people to get the epidemic spread around. In other words, the MED means enough people to reach the tipping point in social epidemics. Some businesses require the MED of money to finance successful investments, etc.

-TT