Correct Thinking: Basic Principles of Clear Reasoning

By Randall Chester Saunders from Intellectual Renegade link Sep 26,

2017

Your life is yours to live as you choose to live it. Assuming you don’t want to
live a life of misery and failure, you must choose to live your life in a way
that will achieve success and happiness. To do that, however, you have to
know how to live that kind of life and how to choose to do what is necessary
to achieve that success. The faculty of your, “Mind,” you must use to make
the right choices necessary to true human success is your ability to think
(formally called reason or rationality).
There is another reason why the principles of correct thinking are important
today. There is an idea being pushed in schools and universities and other
influential sources called, “critical thinking.” Most people have been fooled
into thinking it refers to, “careful thinking,” or, “rigorous thinking,” or even,
“correct thinking,” but it is actually a very bad movement that makes true
and correct thinking impossible. There is an older article explaining what is
wrong with, “critical thinking.” An updated one will be available soon.

What Is Thinking

Thinking is silently talking to yourself. People accused of talking to

themselves are often just thinking out loud. Just as children begin reading
out loud but eventually learn to read silently to themselves, most adults do
most of their thinking silently.

We do many things consciously in addition to thinking, however. We imagine

and day-dream and are continuously conscious of our feelings and desires.
Only those mental activities that use language and words are thinking.

Some people say they can think without words, but they confuse feelings
and impressions with true thinking and of course they cannot tell you what
they think without words. If what you are doing is true thinking, you can
describe it in words, you can write it down (for further examination, for
example), and can, if you choose to, explain it in words to someone else.

What Is Not Thinking?

Other kinds of mental activity are not really thinking. Mentally reciting
things, memorization, imagination, expressions of beliefs, fears, or
nostalgia, may include thinking but are not thinking itself.

All undirected mental experiences are forms of perception, not thinking. We

are certainly conscious of our emotions, feelings, desires and sentiments,
but they are not thinking.

Thinking Is Intentional

Real thinking is done consciously and on purpose. Whatever goes on in our

consciousness that is not done deliberately is not really thinking.

While it does not have to be overly serious, all thinking is done with some
objective or purpose. It may be as simple as deciding what to wear or have
for breakfast or as important is what career to pursue or whether to marry?
Deciding what to think or to think about is itself thinking.

The four aspects of thinking; identifying, questioning, judging, and choosing

must be done explicitly and consciously. To think about anything, what it
is, what its nature is, and how it relates to everything else must be
clearly identified. Beyond those questions, whether one is thinking about
buying a new car, or changing a career, one must ask and answer
the questions why consider such a choice, what will be the
consequences, how can it be done, where it will be done. The answers to the
questions should lead to a judgment about which choice or decision is the
correct or right one in relation to what one values most, enabling the thinker
to make a decision and choose an action.

Must Have Knowledge to Think

As human beings, every choice and every decision we make, literally our
whole life, is determined by our thinking and the extent of our thinking (how
much we are able to think) is determined by how much or how little we
know. We cannot think at all about what we do not know, and we cannot
think very much about that of which we know very little.
If one is really interested in thinking correctly one must learn as much as
they can about as many things as they. This is the whole reason for the
emphasis of the previous article, “Two Moral Principles: Knowledge and
Reason,” on knowledge.

Know How You Know

Not everything in our heads is knowledge. I pointed out in the article,

“Knowledge:”
“In every day speech the words “know” and “knowledge” are
used to identify many different things, such as developed
skills and abilities (he knows how to drive, she knows how to
type, he knows how to use the computer), things one has
experienced (I know what cinnamon tastes like) or is
acquainted with (I know where the library is) or even for
things animals can do (Rex knows his way home).

“Intellectual knowledge, however, pertains only to knowledge

acquired and held by means of language.”

It is intellectual knowledge, knowledge held by means of language, that one

must have in order to think.

Know What Knowledge Is

Mark Twain said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.
It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” Unfortunately, a great deal of
what most people think they know is not knowledge at all. It is things
they’ve been taught, or picked up along the way that they believe, but most
of it is untrue. Only that which we have learned that is true is knowledge.

Only thinking that is based on (true) knowledge is correct thinking.

Know What Truth Is

In an article about Autonomy called, “Basic Ideas,” I illustrated the meaning

of truth as follows:

“Truth is that which correctly describes reality or any aspect

 of it.

“Suppose you are very thirsty and find a bottle containing a

colorless, odorless liquid. The liquid in this bottle is either
water or a deadly poison. If you choose to drink the liquid
one of two things will occur, your thirst will be pleasantly
quenched or you will suffer excruciating pain and die.

“Reality is what the liquid in the bottle actually is. Truth is

whatever correctly describes that liquid. If the liquid is
poison, only a statement that says the liquid in the bottle is
poison is true. If you believe the liquid is water and drink it,
if it is poison you will die. If you take a vote of everyone who
has an opinion about what is in the bottle and they all say it
is water, if you drink it and it is poison, you will die. If you
feel very strongly that the liquid is water and drink it, if it is
poison you will die.

“Truth is not determined by belief, consensus, or feelings. It

is determined by reality. It is determined by what is so, no
matter what anybody believes, feels, thinks, or knows. In
this case, the truth is determined by what really is in the
bottle and only a statement that correctly describes that is
the truth.”

Sources of Untrue Beliefs

By beliefs I mean anything one believes is true and includes both what is
true and what is not true. (Belief, in this sense, has nothing to do with
“faith.”)

If we are going to think correctly we must understand how to avoid believing

things that are not true by identifying the sources of false ideas. There are
six main ones:

Beliefs based on authority alone, such teachers, religious authorities, or

political leaders are a frequent source of untrue beliefs. There is nothing
wrong with learning from others who are experts in their field, so long as
nothing they teach is simply accepted on the basis of their supposed
authority. There is hardly a wrong idea in this world that is not widely
accepted simply because some authority teaches it.
Beliefs based on consensus or popularity, are likely to be untrue. Nothing is
true because of the number of people that believe it. Every wrong idea in
history was at one time widely and popularly held to be true.
Beliefs based on custom, tradition, or culture are often untrue because truth
must be based on reason, not what one is comfortable with or based on
what everyone ‘just knows’ is true. In most cases what everyone knows is
true usually isn’t true.
Beliefs based on bad but convincing arguments are always wrong. Gullible
and credulous people are easily deceived, but even the most discerning are
sometimes fooled by sophisticated arguments.
Beliefs based on feeling, one’s desires, emotions, impressions, whims, and
fears, cannot be true except by accident. [See, “Banish Feelings,” below.]
So long as any of the ideas you hold are not true, no thinking that involves
those false ideas can be correct. [See, “Avoid Wrong Premises,” below.] The
following sections will help prevent embracing untrue ideas.

Allow No Contradictions (Logic)

Because, “truth is that which correctly describes reality or any aspect of it,”
any two statements about the same thing that contradict each other cannot
both be true. At least one of them has to be untrue and both could be false.

The window cannot be both whole and broken. The glass cannot be both full
and empty. No sentence can be both true and false.

Formal rules of logic and reason incorporate this principle, but the basic
principle is, if you hold two ideas that contradict each other, one or both of
them is untrue. The reason is because reality is what actually is, and only
that which describes any part of reality as it actually is can be true. A
contradiction would attempt to describe something as being one thing
(living, for example) and also as something else (non-living, for example).

[NOTE: The principles of logic and reason which are based on the non-
contradictory principle are The Principle of identity: A is A, The Principle of
Non-Contradiction: A cannot be non-A, and The Principle of Excluded Middle:
A is either B or not B; and from these the principles of formal, or syllogistic
logic are derived as well. These are important to advanced levels of “Logic
and Reason.” Here we are only interested in the basics of good thinking.]  
Of course contradictions must be avoided in one’s thinking as well as one’s
beliefs. The moment your thinking leads to a contradiction, you know you
have made a mistake. To think correctly one must always be on guard
against contradictions, in both those things you believe and in your own
conclusions.

Banish Feelings

At the conclusion of my article on “Feelings,” I wrote: “Most human mistakes

in both thought and action are the result of allowing the emotions and
desires to affect one’s thinking. Our feelings are our means of experiencing
and enjoying life but only reason enables us to think and make correct
choices.”
This quote is very important because it describes what feelings and emotions
actually are. At the end of my article on the “Mind,” I wrote: “Though our
feelings are determined by the mind, and we are conscious of them, they are
not part of the mind, and are non-cognitive; that is, they provide no
information about anything beyond the feelings themselves. Decisions or
choices influenced by feelings, which are not fully determined by reason, are
irrational, and almost certain to be wrong.”
I describe the dangers of allowing feelings and sentiment to influence
thinking in my article, “Sentimental Journey,” but here it must be
emphasized that the feelings are never a valid basis for thinking, and no
decision or choice based on feelings can be correct.
The feelings and emotions are very important. “The emotions are our
nature’s way of converting the abstract elements of conceptual
consciousness, our concepts, values, and thoughts, into “physical”
experiences. The emotions make our minds, as well as our bodies,
sensuous.” The emotions provide an actual conscious experience of what we
otherwise could only know mentally and abstractly. It is our emotions that
make it possible for us to “feel” joy when we achieve good and experience
“happiness” when we know we are living our lives successfully.

We should never ignore our emotions, especially unpleasant ones, because

unpleasant emotions are an indication of something wrong, and what is
wrong in most cases are the wrong beliefs and bad reasoning we base our
values and choices on. The emotions can provide us pleasure when things
are right, and be unpleasant when things are wrong, but the emotions can
never tell what is right or what is wrong. Only reason and careful
examination of our beliefs and thinking can tell us those things.

When I say, “banish feelings,” I do not mean banish them from our lives. I
mean, banish them from our thinking because they can only interfere with
correct thinking; but when our thinking is correct so will our feelings be.

Using Words and Language Correctly

Since thinking is identifying things, asking and answering questions, making

judgments and choices in the form of silent conversation with ourselves, our
thinking can be no better than accuracy of the words and the correctness of
the language we use in that process.

If every true statement identifies some fact of reality, we must know clearly
and specifically what facts of reality our words represent. If I think, “water is
transparent,” but only have a vague, “I kinda know what transparent
means,” idea of transparent, my thought cannot be true. Facts of reality are
exactly what they are, nothing is “kinda like” anything, and to “kinda know”
something is to not know it at all.

If we are to think clearly, every word we use must be precisely and

unambiguously defined and understood, and we must know exactly what
every word we use identifies.

Correct thinking, except in a rudimentary sense, is also impossible if one

does not use their language correctly. One’s thinking can be no better than
the clearness and precision of their use of language. Grammar and syntax
are the rules by which ambiguity and confusion are eliminated from one’s
language.

Most people understand the necessity of using language correctly when

communicating with others if they want to be understood. What is not
always understood is that communication is a secondary purpose of
language. The primary purpose of language is for gaining and holding
knowledge and using that knowledge to think. One must first know
something before it can be communicated.
While most people understand they must use language correctly if they are
to be understood by others, they do not realize they must use their language
correctly when learning and thinking or their knowledge and thinking will be
as confused as their communication with others.

Avoid Wrong Premises

All thinking is based on ideas and principles we already know, or we

“believe” we know. If what we believe we know is not true, any thinking
based on that false knowledge will not be correct.

An idea or principle that is the basis of a particular thought is called

a premise. For example, a lot of food fads are based on the premise, “you
are what you eat.” A thought based on that premise might be, “if I eat fat I’ll
be or become fat,” which is not true. Some people do not get fat no matter
what they eat. No animal is what it eats. If animals, including human beings,
were what they eat, cows would be grass. The premise is false because it is
based on a faulty understanding of the relationship between nourishment
and health.
All wrong premises are based on incomplete knowledge or beliefs that are
simply false. The example may seem trivial or even silly but most people
have beliefs just baseless which form the premises of all their thinking; such
as beliefs in various forms of the supernatural, or beliefs in the superiority or
inferiority of races, or beliefs in political or social solutions to individual
human problems. Perhaps a most common false belief is in inherent value,
that is, that belief that anything is inherently or intrinsically good, bad, or
important.
On the basis of that premise almost anything can be put over as good or as
evil and any thinking based on that false premise leads to wrong conclusion
and bad choices.

False Teachers and Logical Fallacies

Every true idea and all true knowledge is discovered. No truth is simply
declared or determined by an expert or authority. None of us live long
enough, however, to discover even a tiny fraction of what we know
ourselves. Most of the things we learn we have to learn from others, all
scientists, thinkers, mathematicians, and explorers who discovered the
things we have learned and even take for granted.
If our knowledge is not to be limited to the tiny bit, we can discover
ourselves in our own lifetime we must learn from others. In the world there
are endless professional and self-proclaimed teachers, experts, and
authorities clamoring to teach us, and most of what they want to teach is
untrue. The question for anyone who wants to think correctly is how to
determine which teachers to listen to, and which to ignore.

It is not possible to judge what is being taught by judging the teacher. What
must be judged is what is being taught.

A teacher’s apparent sincerity, air of authority, charismatic charm,

credentials, certifications, popularity or broad acceptance do not matter,
only the content of their teaching matters. One may only learn from others if
one completely understands why what they are taught is true and it does
not contradict any certain knowledge they already have.

False teachers are not necessarily deceitful. Many leaders and teachers
sincerely believe the things they teach, but are deceived by their own bad
thinking and lack of knowledge.

Many false teachers are intentionally deceitful for any number of reasons,
which are not important. What is important is being able to discern the
methods by which they spread their deceit.

Many false teachers attempt to by-pass reason altogether appealing directly

to the irrational feelings and emotions—especially, fears, desires, guilt,
sentiment, fantastic aspirations, and unrealistic ideals.

The teachings of these scam artists can be avoided by the thinker who has
banished feelings from their thinking as described above.

Both the self-deceived and nefarious false teacher use a number of mind-
numbing “logical fallacies,” which are arguments that seem plausible when
not carefully examined. There are endless varieties of logical fallacies which
you can examine here: Logical Fallacies, Formal and Informal.

The Purpose of Thinking Is Not Debate

 Every individual is endowed with the ability to learn and think. The purpose
of knowledge and thinking is for the individual to be able to make right
choices in conducting one’s life.

The purpose of correct thinking is not to win debates or convince others.

Others have their own minds and must do their own learning and thinking.
To attempt to interfere in another individual’s learning or thinking is in fact
immoral.

There is nothing wrong with friendly discussion and defending one’s own
opposing views, and there is nothing wrong with teaching if those being
taught choose to be taught. But these are not the purpose of correct
thinking.

If others disagree with you, even if you know what their mistakes are, it is
just none of your business. Others mistaken views are their problem, not
yours. If you are certain you have done everything possible to learn what is
true and to think correctly, you do not need anyone else’s approval or
agreement. If you have learned the truth, then you know it, even if you are
the only person in the world that knows it.

Summary

The whole field of knowledge and reason is very broad. This has been an
introduction to the most important principles that must be observed to think
correctly. The whole field of the nature of knowledge (formally called
epistemology) reason, including formal logic, the nature of propositions, and
a host specific fields of reasoning is very broad; nevertheless, these
principles are fundamental to all correct thinking.

Here is a brief summary of the principles of correct thinking:

 Thinking is using language to ask and answer questions.

 Thinking must be done intentionally and deliberately.

 Knowledge is necessary to correct thinking. What one can think and

how much they can think about it is determined by how much they know
and how well they know it.
 Knowledge must be true knowledge that correctly describes some
aspect of reality.

 Beliefs that are not true and based only on authority, consensus,
popularity, tradition, false arguments, or appeals to emotions, must be
rejected.

 There are no contradictions in true knowledge or correct thinking. A

contradiction means one’s knowledge is wrong, thinking is incorrect, or both.

 Feelings and desires must never be allowed to influence one’s thinking.

 One’s language must be used correctly and one’s word’s

unambiguously defined.

 One’s premises must always be based on true knowledge.

 Never accept anything on the basis of authority and only accept what
you, using your own thinking, understand to be true and does not contradict
what you already know is true.

 Correct thinking has nothing to do with influencing others, only with

ensuring you know what is true in order to make right choices and to live
happily and successfully. [Previously published on the Moral Individual]