On a sunny day in Southern California years ago, I was driving to work on the Harbor Freeway. I was thinking about thinking. It gradually occurred to me that when I became attached to a particular way of understanding something, I immediately became vulnerable to error because I wanted that way of understanding to be accurate. I became biased. So, I was less likely to recognize or value information that challenged it.
What to do? I figured that one thing to do would be to try to be aware of the ideas I was attached to. At least then I would know where some of my blind spots were likely to be. That approach is still with me decades later, though I’ve come to realize that a very fragile step in that process is the first one: being aware of the ideas I’m attached to. Some things seem so obvious that they hardly seem to have involved any thinking, per se; they just seem true.
A decade or so after my freeway reflections, I was walking with a fellow grad student on Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We were discussing the relationship between our emotions and our thoughts, and she described a physical feeling that served as an indicator for her that she was having strong emotions--I don’t remember what it was for her--maybe an automatic tightening of her jaw or her neck muscles. She had realized that when she noticed that, it meant she was having strong emotions. We decided that there might be different indicators for different ones of us. This has led me to realize that in some conversations I'm able to notice that my voice has become louder, or that I'm not paying attention to what the other person is saying; I'm waiting for an opening to make my case.
To back up a little, I’m not saying that strong emotions are wrong or that they always indicate that our thinking is mistaken. We naturally get very attached to our deepest values, and we react with strong emotions when those values seem to be under attack. I’m saying that those strong emotions can indicate that we are vulnerable about perceived challenges to our values and ideas, and that vulnerability may lead us to assert and defend our ideas even more strongly. Our ideas might be accurate or not. But, if we can notice our assumptions, we can use that awareness to reflect on two things: Why do we care so deeply? And how do we know what we think we know?
It seemed simpler to me all those years ago, but now I think it’s actually pretty hard to pull off this kind of self-reflection with any consistency. In fact, it’s often downright unattractive to hold our own ideas tentatively and to be curious about other perspectives. Why would we want to question our assumptions? Does it mean challenging our most cherished values? To paraphrase one of my mentors, Kiyo Morimoto, it can feel as if the coherence and integrity of our entire world view is on the line. No wonder we aren't always enthusiastic.
I’ve been pondering this partly because "critical thinking" is in the headlines, and all the people I know see themselves as thinking critically, even when they have come to very different conclusions.
So, I’m wondering...
If you notice your own attachment to your ideas and assumptions, how do you become aware of them? Do you notice physical indicators? Other signs?
Given that it’s natural to get attached to our ideas, how do you notice when that interferes with seeing and listening?
In other words, what can tip you off that you’re not engaging in critical thinking?
What happens when you notice that?
I welcome your thoughts! Feel free to email them to me at arielphillips3@gmail.com
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