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Three Filters Needed to Think Through Problems
The goal of mental filters
It is to understand reality and human nature as it really is, without premature, impulsive judgment.
Mental filters help you understand reality by improving your capacity to analyze the statements of experts, promoters, and persuaders of all kinds.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
Externalities
An externality affects someone without them agreeing to it. It can be positive or negative. Most externalities are small but can make a significant impact over time. Understanding the types of externalities and the consequences they have can help us improve our decision making.
One family member leaves their dirty dishes in the sink. They get the benefit of using the plate. Someone else bears the cost of washing it later.
The First Law of Ecology
We can never do one thing. We should consider what the second-order consequences will be. When we interact with a system, we need to find out what the broader repercussions of our actions will be.
Negative Externalities
They can occur during the production or consumption of a service or goods. Calling something a negative externality can be a way of avoiding responsibility.
If a factory pollutes nearby water supplies, it causes harm without added costs to the factory. The costs to society are high and are not reflected in the price of whatever the factory produces. Even if pollution is taxed, the harmful effects still remain.
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Key Ideas
Questions about the meaning of life contain assumptions:
- “What’s the meaning of life?” Assumes that there’s a single meaning.
- “Does my life have meaning?” Assumes (or at least hints) at a “yes” or “no” answer.
Problems of meaning=problems of insufficient value
To find meaning in life, we can either:
- Add more value: identify activities that are valuable to us or we can remove activities that reduce value.
- Change our thinking: Perhaps our life already has sources of value, but we just aren’t looking at things in the right way.
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Key Ideas
Communicating Mindfully
We all may have committed the mistake of speaking something that we regret, and wish our words were mindful and compassionate.
Mindful speaking is effective as well as the ethical choice, causing less harm to others, both offline and in a digital space.
THINK Before You Speak
The popular mnemonic acronym THINK provides us with simple guidelines to consider before we graciously proceed to put our foot in our mouths:
- Is there Truth in what I speak?
- Is it Helpful to anyone?
- What are the Intentions and Impact of me making this statement?
- Is it Necessary?
- Is it Kind?
Think Before You Speak: Truth
We live in a world of confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance, where our belief patterns bend reality without our realizing it. Each one of us may have a different version of the truth, that may not be what others believe. One has to reflect within and move beyond ego, guilt and self-identity.
Speaking the truth isn’t just ‘not lying’ but speaking truth to power, making our words a revolutionary act in this age of falsehood.