Rational Thinking 101
Rational thinking is using relevant information, including data, judgments, and facts, to analyze a situation and determine a sound conclusion. In many ways, rational thought could be considered to be the opposite of emotional thinking, which generally involves doing what “feels” best rather than what will lead to the best outcome.
Rational thoughts are logically structured, considering established facts as well as pertinent personal information. Being rational requires the use of reason rather than solely emotion to come to conclusions that are in line with your own values and needs but also take into account the broader knowledge of the world.
It is important to realize that, no matter how hard you may wish it, it is not possible to completely remove all emotion or personal bias from any thinking process. We are emotional, naturally biased humans who are influenced by our past mistakes and experiences.
We cannot (nor should we want to) completely remove the influence these things have over your ability to make choices. But it is possible to learn to incorporate these human needs and aspects of ourselves into a more logical, reasonable thought process that allows you to make the most informed choice possible.
Learning to Think More Rationally.
If you want to improve your rationality and become a more critical thinker, there are ways to develop your skills. Here are a few suggestions for improving the process of considering, analyzing, and evaluation information to make the best choices for you and your life.
Realize Your Basic Assumptions
Whether you are trying to answer a question or solve a problem, an excellent place to start when trying to go about it more rationally is to question whether your underlying assumptions about the situation are correct.
This means that you need to evaluate your own beliefs about the situation as well as look at how other people have tried to solve similar problems. When you are really stuck, ask yourself, what if I am starting from flawed information. What if there is more that is possible than what I am considering?
Become More Metacognitive
When you think about your own thinking, that is metacognition. Learning to pay attention to how you tackle a problem or approach a situation can help you find possible flaws in your rationality as well as develop new skills along the way. A rational thinker is aware of their own thought processes, including how their personal prejudices influence their thinking.
Try to Be More Balanced
When you are looking for information or solutions, be sure to consider all angles and sides to the story. Try to be balanced in your depth of coverage from all positions, as this can help you see flaws in your ideas or identify potential pitfalls in your plans. Sticking hard to your preconceived notions does not enhance your argument.
Work on Your Situational Awareness
All issues are complex. Nothing is black and white. The more often you can see and acknowledge the thousands of shades of gray that affect various issues and problems, the more rational you will be in your thinking about those topics. Consider the problem from other people’s perspectives.
Ask more questions instead of throwing out answers. Learn to listen more and talk less when sharing perspective with others. Learning to see how a situation may be completely different depending on your perspective is helpful to develop your rationality.
Final Thoughts
Learning to think more critically and rationally means evaluating information more closely, considering your own bias as well as the bias of others, and making decisions based on all the available information, not just your gut instinct. And learning to think this way more often can help you make more informed choices about your life.