Category Archives: What is true?

Parsing Stories

People tell you stories all the time. You have to parse them. What is true in them and what is not?

Some of them are your friends, who are just humans and so they only have a partial grasp on things. Some of them are your friends who are just silly. Some of them are enemies. Some of them are authority figures who are duped… or worse.

In all cases, you have to parse the stories. How do you read the situation?

Check out the freebie that is a parsing challenge. How will you do?

Think Rather Than Just Be Triggered

Thanks so much for the uptick in listening! We always have a high rate for listening completions, but we saw a geometric increase in number of listens this week. So, for that reason, I decided to give you this episode in our Better Thinking Series (rather than more of the requested “pray better” series. Also, have a couple more series in the hopper: EMF and LD discussion. It will be a spicy and useful fall. Even if you have distractions that are really important.

So, how to think better, must include failing to be triggered. Wow! people have intentionally trained students to slip into emotional rather than logical thinking! Further, I notice shenanigans in business might tempt a normal person to just get angry or just get scared or just get depressed, rather than press through with logical thinking — and thereby solve problems.

We consider these dynamics today. Notice how people try to shift you to emotion. Are they covering up something and hoping you don’t notice something? Thus reducing your evidence. Maybe they want to weaponize you, making you a weapon in their campaign? First, you must notice this. Then, you must be able to control your emotion — and keep thinking.

We have two goodie handouts up. The Parsing Stories Handout goes with the next episode, but does have a little triggered point. Don’t be so triggered that you can’t to the challenge! LOL The challenges are more for adults, or near adults. Please use this to increase your ability and then teach your children in real time, as you live life together. It is much harder for me to come up with examples with children, at least for now.

This relates directly to students with learning disabilities, but at least if they are in government school, they are spending so much time struggling with school and academics, that they miss the training in social behavior and logic. In other words, they might be stuck in decoding letters and words and missing the deeper meaning. So, teaching them directly about this. Of course, they can get it — entirely — just let them have an opportunity. I remember a boy in my daughter’s dyslexia class. He had so very many problems, but if he were on a stage, with hecklers, he could manage them better than anyone I know of. So, of course they can understand this how to think better series. They just need access, opportunity, and mentors!

How about telling us about a situation where you won against this method, in our comments section?

THINK BETTER: There IS Truth

Continuing our series about how to think better, I show you how to look for evidence. Lots of people make claims. Few think to give you good evidence. Often because they don’t have it; they only have emotion or hearsay or opinion. Some, however, intentionally give you a partial story, with lots of emotion, in order to trick and weaponize you.

Don’t be fooled.

And be persuasive.

Oh, wait, great writing, but on wrong topic. This week: THERE IS TRUTH. School has worked so hard for so long to teach us that there is no such thing as truth. But we know better. When you take your motorcycle in, you know whether or not it runs when you get it out. Either it runs or it doesn’t. So you know there is fact.

Similarly, you can test Truth. And besides, just because things here are in a mixed state, that doesn’t mean that there couldn’t be, in the abstract, Truth. You can conceive of it, and that, in the abstract is proof enough.

And wow it makes a difference. If someone can convince you that there is not truth, then they can convince you that anything they say is the truth. Then you are enslaved. There is Truth; you can know it; therefore, you can be free.

I invited you to listen.

Think Better by Looking for and Evaluating Evidence

Think better by looking for and evaluating evidence.

A lot of people don’t even give you evidence, but just emotional slogans. Watch out for this! You are being deceived, tricked, and led around by the nose. Slow it down, and remember to look for evidence.

Other people refuse to consider what I have to say, because it contravenes “what they know” but they fail to hear out the evidence. Remember to slow down and hear the evidence.

In other cases, people do give you evidence, but it is faulty or fragmentary. Remember to evaluate the evidence. Is it strong?

Hear more about how you — and your children– can think better by demanding and evaluating evidence.

Also, check out my “How to Tell What is True” series in “The Store.” at www.overcominglearningproblems.org