Know why I am doing a series on this?

What Psychologists Don’t Talk About?

What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Regulated Thinking?

CONTENTS

Introduction

1. Make the foundation strong
2. Utilize the purpose of Education
3. Provide systematic training
4. Learn from customs and traditions
5. Devoid of prejudices
6. Freedom from attitudes
7. Forego emotions
8. Abhor perceptual inconsistencies
9. Identify fallacies
10. Beware of propaganda
11. Minimize the influence of prestige suggestion
12. Tolerate cognitive dissonance

Summary

 

Left to itself, Endured Thinking gradually leads to Offensive behavior as we have seen in the earlier article. It is then necessary to control how we think so that it becomes beneficial to us and others rather than being destructive to everyone. We can follow certain regulatory mechanisms to ensure our thinking is right. Is this What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Regulated Thinking?

 

Introduction

Certain barriers come in the way whenever we try to think. These barriers invariably lead our emotions to dominate our thinking and we try to protect ourselves by attacking others, even when there is no need for it. Here are some pointers to how we can regulate our thinking.

1.         Make the foundation strong

The foundation of all psychological functions lies in thinking as depicted below.

As indicated earlier in ‘What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Endured Thinking?’, people are still attached to primordial thinking and hence don’t give too much importance to psychological skills. Physical skills are appreciated and rewarded whereas psychological skills are looked upon suspiciously. However, the basis of all psychological skills lies in Thinking Skills.

2.         Utilize the purpose of education

Unfortunately, the purpose of education has become redundant. Psychologists don’t talk about it. Parents and teachers have very little awareness of it. They are all shocked when I tell them that a kindergarten child is supposed to learn at least 30 to 50 sub-skills. Even without a formal syllabus, the child has the opportunity to learn these skills, but people concerned about the “so-called education” are ignorant of it.

The purpose of education is to provide training to children to cultivate thinking skills. If children are exposed to these skills at an earlier age, they will have access to hundreds of psychological skills as they progress in their studies.

The curriculum is designed to nurture these skills, but it becomes an end rather than a means. Thinking remains an ability rather than a skill despite the amount of progression in education. (See ‘DO WE KNOW ABOUT OURSELVES?’)

Is this the reason why, for example, highly qualified people commit suicide?

3.         Provide systematic training

Though the literature on thinking is in abundance, a lot of words are used out of context. Most of the concepts used in thinking are no longer conceptually identifiable. People use them as English words and they tend to give several meanings to them. Some concepts like creativity, innovation, logical thinking, reasoning, etc. are highly misused.

If you just search on Google for “Types of Thinking”, you will find plenty of types overlapping one another.

Psychologists must organize these concepts under specific types so that there is no confusion among the public about what they mean. This will help in regulated thinking and lay proper guidelines for systematic training. (I shall categorize the types of thinking into two major categories depending upon the way the brain is used systematically for thinking. Look out for, ‘What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Structured Thinking?’)

4.         Learn from customs and traditions

Customs and traditions are something you don’t choose. They are passed on from generation to generation and they are being followed all over the world without question. They should be followed to further our culture and they all have a purpose of their own.

For instance, let me take this opportunity to present the “Maha Kumbh Mela” that is starting today 14^th January 2025, at Prayagraj, in Uttar Pradesh. This 45-day spiritual event is expected to cater to over 400 million people. This number is greater than the population of the third most populous country, the USA.

People come from all over the world to witness this event. For those who cannot afford it, free boarding and lodging facilities are being provided. One can also attend free spiritual discourses and consult the sages for spiritual guidance.

This mega event happens once in 144 years. Hence, no one on earth has ever had an earlier experience of this magnanimous event and no one will experience it the second time. Yet, the tradition has continued for several thousand years. Nowhere you will find millions of Sadhus who have rejected materialistic desires completely and are opting for an ascetic life.

The fact is that this event and many hundreds of such events (though not of the same magnitude) keep happening successfully at regular intervals not only in India but also in other parts of the world. This means that regulated thinking must have been used efficiently by not only those who organize those events but also by those who attend them.

All we need to do is to learn from them and apply such thinking wherever possible.

5.         Devoid of prejudices

Biases, prejudices, and stereotypes harm our thinking. We inadvertently make mistakes whenever we engage in thinking because somehow the prejudices we have carried from our childhood interfere with our thought processes.

To regulate our thinking, we should constantly identify our biases, prejudices, and stereotypes so that they don’t influence our decision-making.

Psychologists do talk about 12 types of cognitive biases.

6.         Freedom from attitudes

What psychologists don’t talk about regulated thinking is the impact of attitudes on our thinking. We are always made to believe that attitude is everything and that attitude helps us succeed.

However, biases, prejudices, stereotypes, and superstitions are the pillars on which attitudes are formed. This is depicted in the diagram below and is explained in detail in my article on ‘ATTITUDE CHANGE‘.

Attitudes, based on ideas, opinions, and beliefs are the most dangerous fodder to our thinking and interfere with our thought process. Rather than ensuring regulated thinking, it results in haphazard thinking.

Let me quote from my article.

“Once we have an attitude, whether they are positive or negative, they all have negative connotations saying, my attitude is the only right attitude, all others, who I don’t like, have only the wrong attitude, and all others, who have a different attitude than mine, are wrong”

Regulated thinking happens only when we free ourselves from our attitudes.

7.         Forego emotions

Apart from attitudes, emotions play a very important role in corrupting our thinking. Advertisers, politicians, propagandists, mass media persons, entertainers, and others thrive on raking up emotions because it is very easy for them to make us think what they want us to think once we are emotionally tuned.

Regulated thinking is not possible when emotions come into play. Emotions act as a mirror to our level of stress (See ‘How are Emotions connected to Stress?’). Irrespective of whether the emotions are positive or negative, there is a considerable amount of stress involved in the individual. The moment the person is stressed, the thinking goes awry.

8.         Abhor perceptual inconsistencies

Perceptual inconsistencies can occur as a result of what we have been programmed for.

For example, people who wear traditional dresses are not allowed inside some star hotels and clubs. They think those people can’t afford to pay for it.

Most gossips give you false information and they corrupt your thinking.

Psychologists identify several perceptual inconsistencies and all of them influence your thinking either positively or negatively. So, beware of them and keep them away from you.

9.         Identify fallacies

Plenty of logical fallacies exist in the literature and it suffices for me to say that as long as we can identify the fallacy in an argument, our thinking will be clearer and regulated.

10.     Beware of propaganda

The greatest favorable enemy in the modern world is propaganda. We like what we see or hear, but we don’t know that they are detrimental to our thinking. Whether through mass media or social media, we can be highly influenced in our thinking and decision-making. Our likes and dislikes, our attitudes, our predispositions, etc. are molded by propaganda though we think that the ideas are ours.

11.     Minimize the influence of prestige suggestion

When celebrities are paid millions to promote a product, the advertisers are very sure to conquer your thinking process. The whole essence of branding is to make you think and feel that the names of certain products and services are well-received. We start assuming that the quality is good without bothering to verify whether we are being taken for a ride or not. (See ‘WhatPsychologists Don’t Talk About Choices?’)

12.     Tolerate cognitive dissonance

Sometimes we are accustomed to thinking in a particular way about something or someone. Not all of what we know is based on facts. Whenever there is contradictory evidence to our previous thinking, we should learn to tolerate such cognitive dissonance rather than sticking to our train of thought. This will help us to overcome misconceptions, remove bias, modify stereotypes, and revise superstitious beliefs. This will also help in preventing a host of social problems.

Summary

To regulate our thinking we should try to adopt the 12 pointers mentioned above. This is What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Regulated Thinking?

Know why I am doing a series on this?

What Psychologists Don’t Talk About?

Let me know if I am wrong. I have started this series because there are hundreds of things psychologists don’t talk about. I feel that it would benefit everyone if they did so. I hope at least now, they will make a beginning.

This is an attempt to bring to the fore what has been hidden for a very long time.

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What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Endured Thinking?

 Next:

What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Nurtured Thinking?

What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Structured Thinking?

What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Heightened Thinking?