Podcast Transcript | Ep. 66

Thinking vs. Unthinking: The Dangers of Outsourced Thinking | Ep. 66

[00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to Order Within, navigating a world of endless chaos and crisis. Many of us are experiencing inner turmoil, insecurity, anxiety, fears, and isolation. These feelings are only being amplified by new cycles social media, and never ending political madness. How do we find our way out of the chaos?

[00:00:24] How do we find strength within ourselves? How do we find meaning in a world driven by materialism? These questions and many more I aim to answer on the show. My goal is to be a trusted guide on your journey to selfhood. May you find what you seek.

[00:00:44] Hello and welcome everyone. I'm your host, Brandon Ward. Back with another episode of order within episode number 66. Rolling right along. Y'all. Today's [00:01:00] episode is titled thinking verse unthinking, the dangers of outsourced thinking. It's a lot of thinking in the title there.

[00:01:09] This is a big topic for me. It's something that I'm very passionate about. It's one of the huge reasons why I started this podcast. Is to help level up our ability to think not what to think, but how to think and how to think deeply, how to activate our spiritual potential. How to navigate a chaotic world and live more aligned with who we are.

[00:01:32] And live in an add. In an action to our live in alignment with our values.

[00:01:41] It's a mess out there. The world is quite the mess and it can be a huge.

[00:01:48] Shit show. That we have to navigate. It really is a wasteland. And so the goal is to provide value and insight that can help us level up as humans and overcome the [00:02:00] chaos. X outside of us. And create order within ourselves. It's diving deeper into this. It's really looking at the importance of critical thinking and independent thought.

[00:02:11] And navigating the complexities of our world. It's also looking at the importance of using our minds to explore question and seek knowledge, rather than relying on external sources for our perspectives. Now that doesn't mean we. Obviously don't listen to experts and. External sources, studies, research papers, books.

[00:02:33] All these things, there's all this information available to us, but it must be the key is that we're using our own minds to filter information, to look at information, to decide for ourselves. Whether this is something that we believe in resonate with can see the value of and can jive with it, basically, because ultimately if we don't.

[00:02:57] And if we don't take the effort. The time and [00:03:00] energy. To do that or easily. Led into being manipulated. And misled and that's what's happening right now. There's so much of that happening in our world. And because of that. We're in some tough situations. And the aim is to help empower us as individuals and deepen understanding.

[00:03:23] Uh, of what outsource thinking is, we're going to look at the power of. Independent thought. We're gonna look at the dangers of outsource thinking. We're looking at cultivating critical thinking. And then we're going to wrap the episode. But before I jump in. I'm excited to share that I'm working on.

[00:03:43] A new.

[00:03:45] Show type I'm going to begin publishing once a month. On. I'm not quite sure what date yet, but probably the first Tuesday of every month. I'm going to publish. EI interview. [00:04:00] Episode. So it'll still be within the order within show here. It's going to be on the same platform, but it'll be an additional show that you get once a month.

[00:04:09] And they're going to, I'm going to be bringing on guests. I am a little overwhelmed with the fact that I've had a lot of people reaching out to me lately, wanting to be guests on the show. Obviously, this is a solo pod. This episode, the way this style of show that I'm doing, but I would love to bring on some really sharp people and talk about some of this.

[00:04:27] These concepts and have more of a flowing conversation style. With some brilliant people. So I'm working on that. I'm going to start taking guests and getting those things rolling. So I'll keep you, up-to-date on one. We're going to officially launch, but I wanted to drop that little nugget for you because.

[00:04:43] It's something I'm excited about. I've been thinking about it a lot. And just because of the sheer volume of people that have been requesting to get on the show, I realized I gotta step up and formalize a process. So anyway, Hopefully, you're excited about that. I hope you enjoy that format. I'm looking forward to doing it. And I think too, the goal is to have some really sharp, smart people on there [00:05:00] and have some intelligent.

[00:05:02] Out of the box, enlightened conversations, hopefully. But let's jump into the episode here. So first understanding, outsource thinking.

[00:05:12] Outsource thinking is relying almost solely on external sources or third parties for our beliefs and perspectives. Now there's a lot of reasons. Y the prevalence of this.

[00:05:28] Is everywhere now. So it's very prevalent that we're outsourcing our thinking. And there's a few reasons for that.

[00:05:34] One is, there's just an overwhelming amount of information in the world. It's an absurd amount of information. Out there. And it's just more and more information by the day, every minute. Every second there's new information getting published on social media, on the internet, on blogs, podcasts, YouTube, rumble, all that stuff.

[00:05:55] So it's a lot. It's a lot to sift through. People are [00:06:00] busy. So when you combine busy lives, who are, people are trying to survive, thrive and live in the world, and then an overwhelming amount of information. How do you parse through all that? So there's a need that people have to understand what's happening. And so trusting and leaning into outsourced, or I'm sorry, experts.

[00:06:16] And external authorities can help simplify that process can remove the overwhelm. So it's a lot of this is dictated out of need. But the overwhelming amount of information makes us susceptible to that. And then the second piece to that is the ease and access to information with the internet and social media. So not only is there an overwhelming amount of information, we can access information now, like no other time in human history.

[00:06:42] At least recorded human history. The internet, social media makes things right at our fingertips. So it's not only an overwhelming amount of information. We can access pretty much whatever we want whenever we want. That is terrifying. It's a lot of work to go through and sift between what's this what's real. What's [00:07:00] not.

[00:07:01] I was just having a. Uh, back and forth with one of my good buddies. And we're talking about this. How do you even determine what's real? What's not, who's authentic. Who's not. Who is controlled opposition. Who's honestly. Being genuine in what they're trying to do and who simply trying to mislead people.

[00:07:17] There are a lot of pied Pipers out there and we have to be careful. So that's a key piece to this as the, that there's a lot of information and it's reasonable to want to outsource that component because it's just super overwhelming.

[00:07:31] There's also. A large prevalence. And the influence of authority, figures, and institutions, because of the two things that I mentioned a second ago, the internet and social media have created really this, these powerful platforms. For authority, figures and institutions to drown out any opposing voices.

[00:07:53] So they can leverage those platforms of power, the resources, the power that they hold. The [00:08:00] positions of power that they hold. And they can pummel smaller figures, smaller people. Individuals because of the resources that they have. So the. Institutions and these authority figures can leverage all this technology, all this power behind them, all this reach, and they can drown out anyone.

[00:08:18] That doesn't align with their way of thinking. That can give us the illusion that they're correct, but really it's just a way to gain things in favor of people who are already in power. And in positions of power. So we have a lot to work with there.

[00:08:36] And because of this and this ties into the next piece, ties into the authority figure component, which is we are conditioned to respect and trust the opinions of experts, leaders, and influential figures that starts super early, it starts with our parents. And then goes up from there. Our teachers, our principals, our coaches.

[00:08:53] Our bosses. Our politicians. Our authority figures, all of these things, all the local [00:09:00] experts, leaders, authority, figures, influential figures, all of these people were conditioned to respect and trust them. So we're not taught to challenge. Authority. We're taught to respect it, trust it, and believe what they say.

[00:09:16] Skepticism is healthy. Blind trust of anyone is dangerous. Because it makes it very, it makes us very susceptible to manipulation.

[00:09:26] Another piece. Is that this conditioning can create a tendency to defer our thinking to those sources without critically evaluating the information they provide. So it's, you can see how each of these pieces build up to this because ultimately the overwhelming amount of information, the ease of access to information, the prevalence of authority, figures, and institutions are conditioning to respect and trust these opinions of experts, leaders, and influential figures.

[00:09:53] And then finally tying that into. Because of this. It creates a tendency for us to [00:10:00] defer our thinking to these sources without critically evaluating them and looking at the information that's being provided. So that makes us susceptible to that. So all of those factors lead into us, just differing our thinking around things, and we just trust what's being told to us.

[00:10:16] And then the final bit here of some of the reasons why this is so prevalent now. Is that societal norms? And cultural influences can play a role in shaping our thinking patterns and reinforce the idea that it is safer or more acceptable to conform, to prevailing beliefs rather than challenge them. And that's.

[00:10:36] The concept of really wanting to be a part of the herd. It's our tribal nature. We are tribal beings. We grew up in evolved in tribes. And so it was very dangerous. Evolutionary for us to be cast out of the tribe. Ultimately that meant you were doomed. In our past. And 150,000 years or whatever it is, there's all kinds of debates about how long humans have been around.

[00:10:59] [00:11:00] But. That's not that very long. Even if you look at, even if it's a million and a half years, that we are humans have been around. And the grand evolutionary time scheme, that's a drop in the bucket of time. That is a tiny amount of time. So it's very much ingrained in our DNA, our animal selves, the importance of being accepted by the tribe and being protected by the tribes. So that tribal thinking that tribal cultural influence.

[00:11:26] Can lead us to believe that being a part of the tribe is safer and conforming to those prevailing beliefs rather than challenging them, because in a lot of ways, it is safer. So those reasons can lead us. To favoring, outsource thinking. But there's dangers of that there's limitations and dangers to relying solely on external.

[00:11:47] External sources without critical examination. And one of those is that external sources may present information that is incomplete, skewed, or manipulated to serve certain agendas. That's pretty straightforward. [00:12:00] When we're looking at things, we always have to ask ourselves. Does someone, what does someone have to gain for sharing this information? Does this who can gain from what I'm learning about right now, who can gain from this data or this information about a person or a company or an opportunity?

[00:12:17] Or whatever it may be. Who can gain from the opposition of this. So thinking about the agendas that may serve someone and the sources that you're getting information from is an important way to limit that. But by doing that, it makes us. We're susceptible to inf incomplete. Or manipulated information.

[00:12:40] Without critical examination. We run the risk of accepting this information at face value, leading to distorted beliefs and an inaccurate understanding of reality, which. Reality is our friend y'all and we need to be brutally honest about where we are. And how we relate to it. And if we're not. We're in [00:13:00] trouble because reality will catch up to us. And if we're not engaging with reality, in an honest and open way.

[00:13:06] Then it will punch back. And that's what ends up happening when we have these distorted beliefs. When we have these limited views of the world, when we refuse to look at reality, as it is. It gives us an inaccurate view of the world and can lead to some very painful consequences. If we don't look at it and wake up to it.

[00:13:26] By outsourcing our thinking. We're also relinquishing our ability to form our own opinions. And exercise our critical thinking skills. This can result in a passive acceptance of information, leaving us vulnerable to manipulation and unable to discern fact from fiction. So the less we require the less we lean into our own critical skills.

[00:13:49] And developing our own opinions. The more vulnerable we are to manipulation because we can't discern. Discern between what is real and what is not, what is true and [00:14:00] what is false. Discernment is a critical skill to develop in this world. And that's what we're going. That's like big part of this episode is really developing that discerning thinking.

[00:14:11] To parse through what is, and what is it now we're going to make mistakes. We're never going to get a hundred percent right. A key component of this too, is being humble about the fact that we're not going to get it right all the time. We're going to be wrong. That's okay. Humbly approaching the fact that we are always learning and growing as long as we can be honest and reflect upon ourselves, things are going to be okay.

[00:14:32] But we have to be willing to do that reflection. In order to progress and grow and evolve.

[00:14:38] Relying solely on external sources can hinder personal growth and development. This is another huge component of this without engaging our minds and active thinking. We miss out on the opportunity to expand our perspectives. Challenge assumptions and explore new ideas. It restricts our ability to think creatively and find innovative solutions to [00:15:00] problems.

[00:15:00] So that's a huge limit to ourselves and our lives.

[00:15:06] Potential that we hold as individuals. And what we can do with our life. Because those. Creative. Innovative solutions. The ability to think outside the box to challenge assumptions are how we innovate things, how we grow, how we move beyond what is that's. That's how you move to what's possible. That's how you change that. The landscape of what's possible is when you're open to those things, when you can expand your perspective and you can challenge those assumptions, you can push through to new realms of existence, new innovations.

[00:15:38] When we don't do that, we effectively kill our innovative ability.

[00:15:43] And then finally by an N neglecting. Critical examination. We limit our intellectual growth and failed to cultivate the essential skill of independent thought and truthfully all from my perspective, other maybe than faith.

[00:15:58] Independent thought is the most [00:16:00] critical skill to have in our world, especially in information driven world. Like we live in today. Without independent thought without a strong, critical mind. It's so easy to get devoured by the world. The deception, the lies, all the. Conflicting information and viewpoints.

[00:16:20] It's a crazy world. Y'all. So these, this skill is critical for success for filming fulfillment for meaning. And for living a purposeful existence.

[00:16:32] But now let's look at the power of independent thought. So that's the. Understanding that the outsource thinking components of it.

[00:16:41] The importance of this. Of developing critical thinking, keels and independent thought. So there's obviously benefits of actively engaging our minds in research learning and self discovery. By actively seeking knowledge and information. We expand our understanding of the world. We broaden our perspectives and we [00:17:00] deepen our insights.

[00:17:01] All of those things are good things. Expanding our worldview. Having different perspectives, going deeper into our intelligence, into our wisdom, allows us to bring all that into every area of our life. So when we do that or leveling ourselves up as a human, as an individual that can contribute to society at a higher level.

[00:17:21] And that contribution leads to our fulfillment. Action and doing and producing are what create fulfillment. I had to learn that the hard way. So it's enabling us to live deeper, more fulfilled lives. By expanding our understanding of the world.

[00:17:39] Active thinking allows us to question those assumptions, challenge, prevailing beliefs and uncover new ideas. Just like I was mentioning a second ago, when we do this. That enables that skill. It opens up possibilities. It allows us to challenge assumptions. It says anything is possible. If I'm willing to put my mind to it.

[00:17:59] [00:18:00] And put in the work and time dedicated. To achieving something. And with all the challenges that we face as a society and as a species and as a planet. It's critical that we have individuals in the world who can question assumptions. Challenge prevailing beliefs. And uncover new ideas and innovations for every area of our life.

[00:18:21] All areas of human existence. Would do well. With innovation. Innovation has a great thing. And this, these underlying component of innovation is the ability to have independent thought to not be caught up in assumptions. And accepting the world as it is. We cannot view information and the world as complete. It is not.

[00:18:44] And that is scientifically proven. The universe that we're living in is infinitely expanding. We are the same way we have to approach life with the same way. The same perspective. Because at the end of the [00:19:00] day, This encourages curiosity, intellectual growth. And a lifelong pursuit of learning when we shift our perspective.

[00:19:09] And we start to hone in on independent thought. We look at life differently. And we can engage in life as a means of endless growth. And we can view the world and our lives as a way to level up. Endlessly and continue this amazing. Journey that we call life. And the pursuit of growth and knowledge and understanding, and truth and service and virtue.

[00:19:33] All of these things. Can become our way of life and our way of living. They can become the values that we hold. And hold so near and dear.

[00:19:42] So independent thought. Enhances personal growth. It expands our perspectives and it fosters creativity. How does it do this? Active thinking plays a vital role in personal development. It helps us become more self-aware it helps us gain a deeper understanding of our values and our beliefs, which is [00:20:00] critical to fulfillment and alignment and finding partners and friends and work.

[00:20:04] If we don't have a clear picture of our values and our beliefs and the things that really matter to us, not things that we've been programmed to believe or value, but things that actually value. From within, and that's only possible through reflection. Journaling meditation and spending time with ourselves being deeply.

[00:20:23] Connected to who we are from within ourselves. Because that's what allows us to make informed decisions aligned with our authentic selves. If we don't have that knowledge, if we don't take that time, it's very likely we are not living an authentic life to who we are from within. So many of us go on living program lives based on our culture, our society, our family, our location, all of those things can end up dictating the entirety of our existence without us ever activating.

[00:20:54] That true, authentic expression of who we are.

[00:20:58] They're active thinking. We develop critical [00:21:00] thinking skills, which enhances problem solving abilities, decision-making processes and analytical reasoning. All of those things help us. There is not a. Situation in the world that can be hindered when we have advanced problem solving abilities. When we improve our decision making process, and we can use analytical reasoning to make a decision.

[00:21:21] When you combine those things. With intuition and navigating the heart center, the feeling center of our existence. And we combine those two things. We become unstoppable in what we can achieve. That's the beauty of it.

[00:21:35] This also fosters open-mindedness empathy and the ability to consider diverse perspectives. If we want to live in a more noble, honorable, loving, and accepting world. That's key. We have to live those values. We have to be open-minded. We have to be empathetic. So that we can consider different perspectives.

[00:21:56] It's impossible to consider someone else's perspective without empathy. [00:22:00] And if the first response is judgment casting stones of judgment, we are not empathizing and we are not progressing. Judgment stops, growth, judgment, close the door. It pushes people away. Empathy opens the door and brings them closer.

[00:22:16] That's why open-mindedness and empathy are critical. Skills. That can be enhanced when we develop our thinking and we. Limit our outsourced thinking.

[00:22:30] Active thinking fuels creativity by encouraging innovative thought, connecting disparate ideas and generating novel solutions. Again, coming back to those novel solutions. Tying together, random pieces of things that may not be obvious to others. Developing a deep thinking mind, a creative mind allows us to piece these things together in ways that have not been done before.

[00:22:53] There's so much opportunity in our world today. All of these problems are opportunities. [00:23:00] Waiting to be solved and how thrilling and privileged are we to live in a time like this, to be able to do and participate in and engage in. Innovative solutions to help change and navigate the world that we're going through.

[00:23:14] Active thinking involves seeking knowledge from diverse sources, critically evaluating information and forming our own opinions based on sound reasoning. By actively engaging our minds. We become more discerning consumers of information. Capable of distinguishing between reliable sources and misinformation. And that's again.

[00:23:33] This does not mean main, big. Central authority figures, legit, reliable sources can come from one person. If you vet them. If you look at the quality of the work, if you look at their track records, if you valuate the information of what they've been doing. You can engage and activate. Our minds. That's why diverse opinions matter so much. You want to see all angles. You want to try and [00:24:00] understand how, if you have a, if you're a political position or you take a certain political position.

[00:24:06] It's going to benefit you to understand the deep depth. The depth of the opposition's perspective. So you can truly understand where they're coming from. If you can share empathy with them. You're allowing the possibility to build a bridge to that person, which could offer solutions that could come from both sides. That is powerful.

[00:24:26] An incredible skill. We need that. Hugely do we need that? Active thinking. Allows us empowers us to challenge assumptions, questionnaire, actives. And developed a well informed and independent worldview. It makes you very dangerous. Because if you can challenge assumptions. And you can question any narrative.

[00:24:49] Then there's nothing that you can't do with your life. You can have an independent and informed view of the world based on what you've created yourself, based on all the [00:25:00] information that you're looking at, not what someone's telling you. But the things that you've looked at with your own mind, and you've learned to trust yourself, and you said, you know what.

[00:25:07] Based on what I've seen. I think that's right. I think that's what's happening and I don't believe this. Based on the information that I've looked at, what I've done, the research that I've done, the people that I've spoken with, the people that I've listened to. I'm taking all these different perspectives. I'm putting it together. I'm considering it. I'm saying, you know what? This is where I stand on that.

[00:25:25] And sometimes we'll be listening and more hear people and we're like, wow. You know what? I really resonate with what that person speaking. Because of the inner work we've done. That's also an incredible experience is when you're listening to someone or finding someone that you've never heard of before, and then they are speaking clearly about values that you hold internally.

[00:25:45] But they're communicating in a way that you've never heard before. That is often the.

[00:25:51] The result of an open, free thinking mind. This is the most powerful thing you can do. In the world is to free [00:26:00] yourself from thought and the thought of others. It's escaping the matrix. Because ultimately it enables us to think critically about complex issues. Evaluate evidence and form opinions based on careful consideration rather than blindly accepting external viewpoints. That's why we have to be critical of just about everything.

[00:26:20] Skepticism is a good thing, no matter where it's coming from. Don't jump to conclusions either. That's something. We can easily do is we can jump to conclusions. Be slow. With making these conclusions take our time. That's a key piece is taking our time to manage this and deal with these, this information.

[00:26:41] All right. So now the dangers of outsource thinking, I've talked a little bit about this. But there is negative consequences for blindly accepting information without critical evaluation. One. It leaves us to vote and leaves us vulnerable to the biases, agendas, and inaccuracies. That can exist in the information presented to us. So that's often from [00:27:00] leaders, authority, figures, institutions.

[00:27:02] And not realizing that they have agendas. Everyone has agendas. If anyone tells you otherwise they're lying. We all have agendas. The people you want to engage with the institutions you want to work with. Are there people that are clear about their agendas, clear about their values. Not vague, not generalized, not hidden, but clear and transparent. So understanding that.

[00:27:26] Is a key piece of this, because without that, we're very vulnerable to what they're sharing with us. If we don't accept that everyone has agendas, that's the reality and that's okay. Everyone has some self-interest. They should. It's healthy. But acknowledging that is an, a grown way to do it. And that's a key piece of this.

[00:27:46] When we outsource our thinking, it restricts our ability to think independently, limiting our capacity for critical analysis and discernment. It's. Going to, it's going to cut us off from all these potential outcomes that we could experience because we're not thinking, or we're not [00:28:00] allowing ourselves to.

[00:28:02] Look at these things too. Analyze information to share some discernment with it. We're basically rejecting what could be because we're only looking at outsourced. Sources. And that's the danger for us because we're never going to free ourselves. If that's the case we're going to be ultimately chained to whatever external authority figures and.

[00:28:25] Leaders and institutions that we. Depend on and that's going to make us very vulnerable.

[00:28:31] And then finally it can lead to a passive acceptance. Of information. Blinding us to alternative perspectives and hindering our ability to form well-rounded opinions. And that pretty much describes the whole scenario of the political sphere right now is because we can't. So much of us, we just accept information passively.

[00:28:51] Something I've got to look out for. It's something we all have to look out for. Everything that I talk about on this show is something that I do myself, and then I've got to be vulnerable and I've got to be aware of [00:29:00] as well. That's just ultimately what it is. No, one's. No one's free of this work.

[00:29:05] It's something that we all have to do. But we do it by leading by example. But when we do that, when we passively accept information, It's still completely out rooting and ruling out whole possibilities that we could be experiencing. If we would be open to it.

[00:29:22] Now. Misinformation manipulation. And the erosion of personal agency is a huge problem in our society today. Such a technology driven society. When we unquestioningly accept information from external sources, we may unknowingly accept false or misleading beliefs. This can have profound implications on our decision-making relationships and worldview. So that affects every aspect of our life. The friends that we have, the relationships that we have, the work that we do, where we live, the way we experience life, all of this can be hindered. If we unquestioningly accept information. [00:30:00]

[00:30:00] That we don't look at. With a discerning mind that we don't look at with an objective mind. It leads us vulnerable to manipulation and. Erodes our own personal agency to make choices and live freely. Relying solely on those external sources erodes that personal agency by outsourcing our thinking to others.

[00:30:20] It diminishes our ability to think for ourselves, make informed choices and assert our own values and beliefs. Because when we don't do that, when we don't take the time to reflect on ourself, Our values, our beliefs. We. Make ourselves vulnerable to manipulation and thus become the. Tools of manipulation. We become the instruments of others' values and beliefs. Now, if you've done the work and you've reflected on that, and you align with institutions and individuals and organizations and their beliefs, then fine, you're making an informed decision, but a lot of us don't do that.

[00:30:57] We're doing it because it's in or it's [00:31:00] cool. Or it's a part of the, it feels right. It's that tribal component. And we're allowing it to lead us. But that removes our personal agency, our freedom, our free will we're surrendering so much of our own lives. Our free will our values. When we do that. So we have to be cautious.

[00:31:20] By surrendering personal agency. And a few examples that I want to talk about that illustrate the dangers of outsource thinking in various contexts. So first and foremost, health and wellness. I think a big area of this. Is COVID the vaccines and the lockdowns. Look, y'all. I've been very outspoken.

[00:31:39] With this from the beginning, I was not a fan of any of how that stuff rolled out. The fact that we all just laid down and trusted what our governments were telling us was very sad to me. And now this might offend a lot of people. For saying that. But in my mind, That is a very prominent, relevant, real world example of the dangers of [00:32:00] outsourcing our thinking and just trusting whatever we're being told, because that happened so fast. And we literally shut down the entire world.

[00:32:07] Based on something that we knew, nothing about. And we just surrendered it. I remember the fear now. I was a part of that. Initially, I was afraid. I went along the first couple of weeks. You remember that guys? Two weeks to S to slow the spread was how it started. And then it went on for two plus years.

[00:32:26] So that's the danger of it. Think, whatever you want to think about that scenario, but ultimately that started with two weeks and ended up going over two years and we're still dealing with it today. Because at the end of the day, Situations. Emergencies are often leveraged to reduce our freedom. And liberties as individuals. That's the reality of it.

[00:32:49] When you look at instances. We're big things happen to society. There's always a loss of freedom. And independence with those things. Nine [00:33:00] 11 is a number, another example. We got the Patriot act from that. And then the TSA went nuts with all the scans and the. The searches that they do. We lost liberties because of that and all in the name of safety. So that's one example. Another example is.

[00:33:16] Climate change. Social scores and the limitations of living. Like our limitations of living based on climate. When you look at there, they're seriously trying to ban the use of gas stoves. Gas energy there they're dictating all of these things all in the name of saving the world, but your. Destroying the quality of life.

[00:33:41] For so many people by making things egregiously expensive, the quality of life is on decline. But it's all being done in the name of good. But it's never, why is it not okay to ask questions? And that's another thing. If somebody gets upset about asking questions about what we're being told, that's an [00:34:00] instant red flag.

[00:34:01] There is nothing that's beyond questioning nothing. Nothing is beyond questioning. I don't let anyone tell you otherwise. We should be able to have open and honest conversations about these things.

[00:34:13] Related to the climate. Why does no one talk about the cyclical nature of life? We literally know that the planet is heated up and cooled down many times throughout the entire existence. Of earth. We know that for a fact. The records of earth, show that in all the geographic records. The water levels. All of those things, we know this.

[00:34:34] Also NASA has data showing that the entire solar system is heating up similar to earth. Why is no one talking about the sun and solar activity and the increased levels of solar flares and solar activity coming from the sun. Why is that? Not okay to talk about.

[00:34:52] Good causes. Cause I love the earth. I love this planet. I love nature. That's a huge reason why we moved to North [00:35:00] Carolina because it's so green and beautiful and wonderful here. I don't want to destroy this planet. I love being mindful of that. I want to be. Mindful and decent about how we live and live more aligned with earth and close to the earth. It means a lot to me.

[00:35:15] But it's when we can't have these conversations and it's done all in the name of good. Those are red flags. We have to be cautious. Nothing is beyond questioning.

[00:35:25] And then finally the ethical dilemmas. Choosing political camps and taking the us versus them mentality. Now. Nazi Germany. Don't have to say more than that whole component came about based on ethical dilemmas or is all this moral grandstanding against Jewish people in Nazi, Germany. And it created a horrific scenario.

[00:35:48] The Gulag archipelago. And the USSR Soviet Russia. Many years ago in that. In the 20th century. Led to mass [00:36:00] starvation based on. Uh, outing farmers and locking people up the most successful farmers based on lies that were told. In that time, another example, all this horrible thing happening based on.

[00:36:13] Quote, unquote good things. But what ends up happening is life gets destroyed. It's not okay to destroy and ruin and kill and murder people. To justify an end. There's nothing that justifies. Ma mass murder and extinction of any kind, none. I don't care what anyone says.

[00:36:32] And then modern day politics and America. Painting the opposite as enemies and fundamentally evil. That's a very dangerous and silbury slope. The whole us versus them is a very dangerous and slippery slope. It leads us to fall as a society when we erode trust and decency towards one another. It's very hard to come back from that.

[00:36:54] Because we need that common decency and connection to humanity. To keep us [00:37:00] grounded together and to be able to work through the problems and challenges that we face as a species.

[00:37:06] All right. So now let's look at some ways to develop critical thinking skills. Now I've talked. I have a lot of episodes. Y'all that? Talk about this stuff. There's a lot of different tools and frameworks that you can learn from. But first. I want to talk about. Looking at things with an objective lens, be mindful of the things that emotionally trigger us. So do our best to use our objective minds and note the emotions.

[00:37:33] If we feel high emotional responses. Lean into that. I look at those things, explore why that is. Emotional triggers are good indicators that something deeper is going on. So lean into those emotions and those things that trigger you. Explore them. Don't blame the other person, even if somebody else is being a jerk, look at yourself, look within right.

[00:37:55] We can always look within ourselves, no matter the scenario, that doesn't mean we're to [00:38:00] blame. It's us taking responsibility.

[00:38:04] Search out, contradict your information and explore why this may be. Find things that stand against your position, looking at information that stands opposed to what you believe. And be objective about it. Be open, except that it's okay. That we may be wrong or informed misinformed about things. We don't know everything.

[00:38:23] My goodness. We know very little. The beginning of all this as accepting that we know nothing and that we've got to be open to anything. And that's the key, the world is not fixed. The moment we have a fixed mindset about anything we're in danger. So be open and seek out contradictory information and explore why that may

[00:38:41] I

[00:38:42] listen to information. You usually don't understand the opposition to your perspectives. That's what I was saying earlier. Go find and listen to people you don't agree with that have different perspectives. Take your time. And then note why it is that you don't, what is it about their perspectives that you don't agree with? What do you not like [00:39:00] about it? Where do you.

[00:39:01] Separate yourself from that. And note those things down, be specific. The more clear you can be about this stuff, the more defined you can have for your own worldview.

[00:39:11] Avoid binary thinking. Most things in life are gray. It's a blend of both extremes. There's so little things in life. They're black and white. Almost everything is nuanced. So avoid binary thinking. Don't group entire peoples. Into segments. Of belief or thought that's binary thinking if you're going to say that all Democrats.

[00:39:38] Our leftist, liberal, social, crazy people. That's binary thinking. If you're going to say that all Republicans are racist. Ignorant. Bigoted people. That's binary thinking, binary thinking is the danger that we must avoid. Nothing is that black and white nuance is the essence of life. [00:40:00] Lean in to that, understand that, embrace that.

[00:40:04] Think about what someone has to gain from sharing what they do always consider the agenda of the person that you're listening. And what could they be gaining from this always consider that it's critical to do. All of us have agendas and that's okay. I have an agenda with my podcast. I'm sharing information and that I think is important and meaningful to me.

[00:40:26] That's why I do it. I love it. But that's my agenda. I want to empower people. I want people to understand the power that they hold in their minds, their souls, that soul spiritual power. That's what I'm doing this for. But I'm honest and transparent about it.

[00:40:43] Do your best to uncover the agendas. And if people are not willing to reveal their agenda, if they're not willing to be transparent about what they want, that's a huge red flag. People that are honest and genuine will be clear about what they want and why they're speaking to you and where they're coming from. That's a common thing. [00:41:00]

[00:41:01] And remember that we all share common interest in the connection between all of us is tangible and real. We're all humans on this earth now. That is true for every one of us do not discount that or disregard that. That is the thing that roots us together and keeps us grounded in humanity is recognizing the connection between all of us.

[00:41:22] And so it's important that we question research and seek diverse perspectives. A few reasons. One, it freezes. This frees us from being enslaved by anyone else's beliefs, values, thoughts, whatever. When we research question and look at diverse perspectives, it's going to set us free and allow us to be independent sovereign beings.

[00:41:44] That's the ultimate thing that we can do.

[00:41:47] It makes us less vulnerable to manipulation and falsehoods. That's a good thing, no matter who we are and where we are. But not being manipulated, being. Free of manipulation being immune to [00:42:00] image manipulation in many ways. Now we have to be cautious. We're never fully immune. We have to be very skeptical, and open.

[00:42:06] And with our guard up. But that's how we can go about doing that is that it limits our vulnerability. To manipulation and false hoods. It limits the chance of massive social tragedies, like have happened in the past. Like what I was talking about in Nazi Germany, like what I was talking about.

[00:42:23] And the Gulag archipelago. I always mess that word up. I think I said it and then many more tragedies. Mass tragedies that have happened throughout time. If we're not careful, we're on that path here in the U S too. Demonizing and villainizing all sides is very dangerous. And also ensures the growth and progress of our species by doing this.

[00:42:44] We want to level up y'all we want to make the future better for future generations. We want to have every generation have a better life and keep getting better as a species and keep moving the planet forward. That's why we're here. It takes our [00:43:00] culture and society to new Heights, which ultimately takes our species to new Heights. This allows us to become the potential amazing species that we have the seed within us to become.

[00:43:10] That is an epic and noble pursuit. Let's celebrate that and live for it.

[00:43:16] It makes us very dangerous to rulers and authoritarians. And that is key because those are the people in power and they don't like freethinkers. So it makes you very dangerous. An outlaw, if you will. And then finally it activates our ultimate potential. And that's why we're here to live full free lives, to be the fullest expressions of who we are.

[00:43:39] And to resonate in the universe in a deep and meaningful way. Let the spirit of yourself express and live in the world. The world needs that more than anything. Let that beauty shine through. That's the ultimate aim that we have is to activate our ultimate potential. And I encourage you. To become active thinkers and engage in a lifelong.

[00:43:59] Pursuit of learning. [00:44:00] If you can view your life as an opportunity to learn and grow forever, nothing is a challenge. Nothing is something that can't be overcome and learn from and gain from and built up and become a strength. Everything has the capacity for good and wonder when we take on the perspective that life.

[00:44:16] Is a lifelong pursuit of learning and growth. We've talked about a lot. I hope you get the understanding of here of why the importance of active thinking and thinking for ourselves is so critical, especially in a world that's driven by information, all the access to information, having a critical mind of empowered mind, a free mind.

[00:44:35] Is crucial for us to develop and grow and evolve as a species. So we can bring that empathy, that compassion, that love that balance in the world that we so desperately need. So activate that power of your minds. Question assumption, seek that knowledge challenge. Narratives be respectful, be kind.

[00:44:54] We can be respectful and kind and challenge narratives. Don't attack. People and their [00:45:00] character. That's not arguing properly, man. That's just being a Dick. But look at ideas, look at information, challenge, things like that. That's what it's about. Cultivating critical thinking skills allows us to navigate the complexities of our world and allows us to make informed decisions and contribute to a more thoughtful and engaged and loving society. I don't think many of us would argue that that's a bad thing. So I hope you can resonate with that. I hope you're enjoying the show.

[00:45:29] Have you got any questions? Hit me up. I'm on Twitter at Brandon Lee ward. You can hit me up on LinkedIn at Brandon L. Ward. My website's Brandon, the war.com. I'm excited to be rolling out a new show here soon. I'll keep you posted on that. And I'm also launching my business broker. Business. Which is really great. I'm gonna talk more about that later and the power of entrepreneurship and all those things. Cause I just love it.

[00:45:52] But anyway, hope y'all are having a great week. I appreciate your time, your ears, your thoughts, your love, all of those things. I wish you the best. [00:46:00] Blessings and until next time y'all.

[00:46:04] Thank you for listening to Order Within. If you found the episode helpful, please consider sharing, rating, and subscribing. New episodes will be released every Thursday at 11am Eastern Standard Time. Until next time, y'all.