How to think?

depends on what you want to think about

>>8891095
I saw your thread in /lit/ too. Okay, here's your answer: First of all, you need to read great works of philosophy and science to raise your powerlevel. Even if it's just through handbooks at first --- when i was like 16 or 17 i read a very short introduction: hegel. It was like blasting my brain through the first stages of intellectual puberty overnight. imagine being 12 and suddenly waking up one day with a hairy 9" dick. That's what it was like. But the point is this is possible at every stage of your mental training: even now in uni when i read stuff like kant's prolegomena, it's like doing mental benchpress. The reason for this is that you are forced through these people's genius reasoning, and thus learn what that actually looks like at the highest level. The only way to actually become intelligent is to put the work in and read the shit that is famous for a reason. Or you can just remain a pseud and keep scrolling through sam harris memes on r/atheism.

At a certain point your brain biceps will be big enough to actually have deep insight about things, and be able to parse problems into smaller parts. That's all thinking is: subdivision and analysis until you reach the fundamental nature of the issue at hand At a certain point however you break through to the other side, and are actually no longer subdividing but unifying phenomena based on the universal principles you have uncovered.

Yes, conspiracy theorists do this too, but the difference is that they are completely close-minded and do not challenge themselves. And that is the most key part of all of this: challenging and questioning yourself at every turn. Utter rigor. Take nothing for granted --- no assumption, no definition, nothing. The second you stop questioning yourself is the second you have become ignorant. I don't care how much you have read --- what truly distinguishes an actually intelligent person from a pseud is to what length they are willing to question their own assumptions.

>>8891184
Thanks for this but I already started reading philosophy(primary sources of course) and that is my main objective but the thing is that I just get knowledge on things but not the fundamental of how to think so I can understand them better. Of course philosophy by itself is difficult and exhausting but I thought there are some kind of way to a better thinking, something like algorithms.

>>8891200
Try to test, restate, change the knowledge. Look at the results and compare with other results. Draw conclusions try to apply those conclusions to other situations.

A better way of thinking might just be one with(maybe infinite) growth. One where you keep trying out new ways of thinking, failing and succeeding. Looking at the bad and good results. Taking the good out of the bad and the bad out of the good.

>>8891095
Question things, imagine answers to things. That's all there is to it. Let your mind flow and consider any ideas that cross your mind. And remember, Question everything as nothing is absolute.

>>8891095
http://lesswrong.com/

The process of thinking at least in words occur when you have learned a language. For you to think of something you first have to learn something new, because all that you have available to think of right now is the accumulation of knowledge you have acquired up until this point. So, learn and

>>8891200

I've tried to explore this question a month back. I don't think you can reduce thinking into an "algorithm", though there's certainly a few key essences to it. I felt that there were many different "types" of thinking, which can be used to outline ideas in their various simple and complex structures. There are many types of "core" thinking skills, which may be unique to one subject or shared with multiple kinds of subjects (quantitative, verbal, etc. in science, literature, etc.). There seems to be structures of ideas common across all subjects (feedback systems) and structures of ideas unique particular to a type of subject (rhetorical language).

Of course, while some subjects exemplify certain types of thinking (math and quantitative), other subjects require multiple types of thinking, and can be said to be not as fundamental (like economics as a combination of math, history, and philosophy). And, if you've ever noticed, the structures of ideas between subjects tend to follow patterns, so when once becomes adept at philosophy, it may become easier to understand concepts in physics because you're more capable of carving out the ideas at their joints due to your experience.

It's fairly complicated, so I'll try to explain what I mean through an autodidact's booklist, meant for capable and determined high school graduates who want to understand how everything works and develop a firm foundation for rigorous study. You have to explore the various ways of thinking, the particular and universal structures of ideas, the psychological aspects of thinking (heuristics, biases, etc.), the methods of studying that accompany the process of thinking (reading, note-taking, problem-solving, increasing your knowledge of what you know and what you don't know, asking questions, etc.), and some random habits that would help you at being at your peak when learning, reasoning, and communicating (emotional control, writing essays, basics of social skills, etc.)

>>8892401

I just realized that I forgot to mention that it is important to explore the "states of consciousness" that you may have in your understanding of ideas. When do you think best? What does thinking feel like to you? What do ideas "look like" to you, i.e., in what ways do you think about ideas (verbally, visually, sequentially, chaotically, etc.) How do you keep yourself thinking at your best? How do you push yourself to states of higher capacity for thought? etc.

Anyway, here's the booklist:

>AUTODIDACT CORE:
How to Read a Book - Mortimer J. Adler
The Trivium - Sister Miriam Joseph
The Oxford Essential Guide to Writing - Thomas S. Kane

Basics of studying, the basics of thinking, and basics of the structures of ideas which you may think about. A strong studying method and a grasp of the basics of thinking/ideas will help you develop an appreciation for the complexity of ideas and teach you to reformulate ideas to express them in the clearest ways possible.

>AUTODIDACT CRITICAL THINKING:
Creative and Critical Thinking: W. Edgar Moore
Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman

Basics of the "cognitive" aspects of thinking. What are you doing when you think? How do you take your thinking beyond the limits of your biology?

>AUTODIDACT SELF-IMPROVEMENT:
The Discourses - Epictetus
A Primer in Positive Psychology - Christopher Peterson

Basics of the "psychological" aspects to thinking, i.e., the habits that will help you become a better thinker. You can't think when emotions are impeding your ability to see things as they are.

>>8892401
>>8892417

>AUTODIDACT LIBERAL ARTS:
The Art of Fiction - David Lodge
The Bible (KJV/NKJV)
Atlas of World History - Patrick O'Brien
The Interpretation of Cultures - Clifford Geertz
Western Philosophy: An Anthology - John Cottingham
Music In Theory And Practice - Bruce Benward
Pre-Calculus - C. Stitz & J. Zeager
<an introductory-level college textbook on either physics, chemistry, or biology>

An investigation into the essences of all different kinds of thinking, with the goal of understanding the purpose of a subject and the fundamentals that govern it (perhaps not quite the foundations, though you should be prepared to begin progressing towards them with hard work). This isn't the final goal, but just the stepping stones to either more sophisticated kinds of thinking in a field, or less fundamental subjects that combine multiple types of thinking, such as economics.

>AUTODIDACT SOCIAL SKILLS:
Improve Your Social Skills - Daniel Wendler
How to Speak, How to Listen -- Mortimer J. Adler

I think that no investigation into thinking is complete without understanding how others think. This prevents you from underestimating other people and neglecting the ways of thinking that you may have missed.