Art Anderson gets a little Tipsy...       

Regulating What You Put In Your Brain
 
In today’s world, the consequences of careless thinking can have disastrous results.  So how do you improve the filter through which you run everything you read and hear?”   Here are some suggestions:
 
1. Know your biases. We tend to be influenced by our backgrounds and the beliefs we have grown up with.  Because of this we tend to admit into our thinking only the evidence that supports our preconceptions. Knowing this, it’s important to keep an open mind.
 
2. Listen and learn from everyone.  This doesn’t mean you accept everyone’s opinions.  But if you don’t listen to them all, you will have a limited basis on which to decide what you believe.  Read the writings of newspaper columnists, philosophers and religious leaders. Give special attention to those whose beliefs disagree with your own. 
 
3. Be skeptical. Writers know that one way to get attention is to attack the status quo.  That’s why you see articles titled, “Stay Fat and Stay Fit,” or “Grow Up but Don’t Grow Old.” Maybe the status quo needs changing, but remember it didn’t get that way without reason.
 
4. Consider the source.  Ask yourself who is providing the information, what is the evidence and what is merely opinion or hearsay.  When you have considered all of these things, you can compare new opinion with existing knowledge and see if you should alter your thinking.
 
5. Try new ideas out on your friends.  Especially try new ideas out on those you know will be of the opposite opinion.  That will give you additional perspective.
 
6. Keep an open mind.  “What goes up must come down” was valid until we discovered how to overcome gravity and get into space.  One of the exciting things about life is that the more you know, the more you realize there is more yet to learn