Module 10 Accurate Thinking R e a d i n g A s s i g n m e n t s Review pages 27-36, 44-63, 83-95 of Three Feet From Gold Read any additional selections your coach recommends: Primer Session Objectives I n t h i s s e s s i o n y o u w i l l l e a r n t o : Identify the difference between knowing and believing Separate Facts from Information Create your own Three Feet From Gold Standard Separate facts into the two classes important & unimportant Master Session Objectives I n t h i s s e s s i o n y o u w i l l l e a r n t o : Use induction and deduction in your reasoning when most appropriate Identify flaws in your personal reasoning system Address the seven thieves and keep them from robbing you of Accurate Thinking Identify Four Mastermind Alliance Talents that could help you maintain Accurate Thinking
Concept Summaries Introduction What does it mean to know? There is a big difference between believing in something and knowing it. In, Greg had a conversation with Richard Cohn, publisher of The Secret, in which Cohn told him that the thing which kept him going through the hard times was the knowing. For example, Cohn said, what would be more powerful, believing you may find true love one day? Or, knowing that someone is waiting for you and all you need to do is move toward that person until you meet? Accurate Thinking Accurate thinking is about listening to the right sources. It s about taking information and putting it into a real perspective shining a spotlight on it and evaluating its truth. When you are thinking accurately, you are dealing only with facts, regardless of how they might affect your own interests. That s because you know that ultimately this strategy will bring you out on top will propel you toward your Definite Major Purpose. Remember the words of the ancient legendary Hellenic king, Croesus: There is a wheel on which the affairs of men revolve, and its mechanism is such that it prevents any man from being always fortunate. You must learn to accept setbacks and face challenges to your thinking and opinions head on. You must also accept when you are wrong. 2
Steps To Accurate Thinking There are seven major steps to Accurate Thinking: 1. Choose your form of reasoning induction or deduction. 2. Gather information from at least three sources. 3. Separate fact from fiction or hearsay evidence. 4. Divide the facts into what s important versus what s unimportant. 5. Analyze, judge, and create. 6. Draw conclusions and gather opinions from your Mastermind and/or personal mentor. 7. Make final decisions or plans regarding how these conclusions and/or opinions affect the direction and achievement of your Definite Major Purpose. Logical Reasoning There are two types of reasoning we use when we re thinking logically induction and deduction. In the case of induction, this is the process of drawing universal conclusions from specific situations. For example: All fish I ve ever seen have scales. Therefore all fish have scales. Sir Isaac Newton induced his Law of Gravity from what he witnessed. Because of the nature of inductive thinking, he was aware that he could be wrong that 3
his theory could have been disproved later on. He happened to be right. It was through this same style of reasoning that many of the distant planets were discovered. Scientists noticed the effects of gravity so they began looking for the cause. In the case of deduction, this is the process of drawing conclusions from universal laws and applying them to specific situations. Usually there is a universal premise and then a consequence. For example: All humans are mortal. Gina is a human. Therefore, Gina is mortal. Both types of reasoning have their limitations. In deductive reasoning, the premise may be false so consequences that follow and the conclusions you draw would generally be false. In inductive reasoning, making a generalization based on your limited experience is not only unfair, but it also can turn out to be false. Separating Fact from Fiction You must separate fact from fiction, or hearsay evidence. Hearsay evidence is information received second- or third-hand. When Gina tells Bob something that she heard from Mike, Bob only has hearsay evidence. Even if Gina witnessed something and shared it with Bob, Bob is not a first-hand observer. You must separate facts into two classes, important and unimportant. What is an important fact? It is one that can be used to the advantage for living out your Definite Major Purpose and fulfilling your goals. All others are relatively unimportant. 4
Opinions Never accept opinions as facts! Even though Greg was writing down the wisdom he received from others, he was always ready to evaluate the truth rather than just accept it as fact. Truly accurate thinkers withhold their opinions until they feel they have sufficient evidence to support them. In other words, they wait until a person is proven guilty before they pass judgment. Most people don t think this way. Instead, they are quick to share their unsubstantiated opinions as truth. Many of these opinions can be dangerous and destructive when used in conjunction with Personal Initiative, because if they are based upon bias, prejudice, intolerance, ignorance, guesswork or hearsay evidence, they are flawed. No opinion can be considered safe unless it is based upon known facts, and no one should express an opinion on any subject without assurance that the opinion is based on facts. Friends and acquaintances are often quick to offer free advice and it may not be worthy of consideration. Remember when Greg felt that most people in his life would question his goal of writing a book? Charlie Tremendous Jones demonstrated that he should listen to people who have done what he wanted to do, not people who can t see the possibility. The accurate thinker, therefore, never acts on advice without giving it close scrutiny. Accurate thinkers permit no one to do their thinking for them. They gather their own facts, information and counsel from others, but they retain the privilege of accepting or rejecting such advice in whole, or in part. Accurate thinkers do not form opinions based upon newspaper or television reports, because they can t be sure that the information is always the result of accurate reporting. When someone says to them, On TV last night they said..., 5
an accurate thinker immediately understands that the speaker has an opinion that may or may not be based upon fact, and they do not allow themselves to be influenced solely by what that person says. You know the gossips, the watercooler contacts, and the scandalmongers. They are the printed magazines in the supermarket checkout lines, and they are unreliable sources for supplying facts on any subject. But people buy those magazines and give undeserved credibility to them. Law of Evidence In the legal realm, there s a principle called the law of evidence and the object of this law is to reveal the facts. Any judge can proceed with justice to all concerned, if he or she has the facts upon which to base his or her judgment. But that same judge may ruin the lives of innocent people if he or she circumvents the law of evidence and reaches a conclusion or judgment that is based upon hearsay information. The law of Evidence varies according to the subject and circumstances, but you will always stay on track if your keep an open mind when you lack the necessary facts to draw a fair conclusion. The Standard As an accurate thinker, you have only one standard you can live by to seek the objective truth whether that means the information you gather seems to hurt you or help you. In the long run, getting to the real truth will help your chances of fulfilling success. But long-term success is worth a setback or two in the short run. 6
There is a certain level of temporary penalty that comes along with accurate thinking. There s no getting around it. But on the other hand, it means that the reward will far outweigh the temporary pain you feel from facing the facts. Creativity, Judgment, and the Truth Your mind is the greatest of all your assets, yet it is often the least used and the most abused. The worst abuse and most common that it suffers is non-use. Every accomplishment in life, whether it is good or bad, develops first as a thought. All creative vision, all ideas, are conceived through thought. All plans, purposes and desires are created by thought, and thought is truly the only thing over which we have complete personal control. Quality thinking is the effective and timely combination of one s analytical, judicial, and creative thinking. Analytical thinking examines a problem piece by piece, moving from one established fact to the next. It is objective and disciplined. It checks, verifies and insists on specific answers. Once you have conducted analytical thinking to collect and arrange information, you can then make judgments. Judicial thinking looks at facts and weighs them using experiences, intuition, understanding and personal standards. It accepts and rejects information, makes choices, prioritizes quality and enables you to make your decisions. As you exercise your judicial thinking, you sort out the best decisions from the alternatives. Creative Vision flourishes when your analytical and judicial thinking cannot locate or use the facts. Creative vision often picks up where the two other kinds of thinking leave off. Creativity draws direction from your intuition, from your inspiration, from your subconscious. Good creative thinking ranges freely, connects random associations, and then can find new and unexpected solutions to a problem. This creative vision can be positive or negative depending on your ultimate goal and depending on your personal mindset. 7
Tests To Help You Separate Fact From Fiction To be an accurate thinker, scrutinize everything you read in books or newspapers, everything you hear and see on radio and television. Do not accept any statement as fact merely because you read it or hear it spoken. Understand that statements that sometimes sound factual are often intentionally or carelessly skewed, modified and exaggerated to give them a persuasive meaning. Accurate thinkers have definite tests that they apply to the statements of others. When they read a book, for example, they test its accuracy by these questions: Is the writer a recognized authority on the subject covered? When writing this book did the writer have a motive other than that of imparting accurate information? Is the writer a professional whose business is that of influencing public opinion? Does the writer have a profit interest in the subject of the book? Does the writer have a profit interest associated with the success of the book beyond the book itself? Is the writer a person with sound judgment presenting sound evidence and not a fanatic on the subject of the book? Are there readily accessible sources that the writer credits statements that you may check and verify? Do the writer s statements harmonize with common sense and experience? 8
To be an accurate thinker, before you accept the statements of others as facts, determine the motive that prompted the statements. Most people never do anything, and seldom say anything, without a motive. The accurate thinker examines with care all statements made by people who have obvious motives. The accurate thinker is equally careful about accepting the statements of overzealous people who have the habit of allowing their imaginations to run wild. In searching for facts you ll sometimes have no other way to gather evidence than through the knowledge and experience of others. It then becomes necessary to examine carefully both the evidence submitted and the person from whom the evidence comes; and when the evidence is of such a nature that it affects the interest of the witness who is giving it, there is reason to scrutinize it all the more carefully because witnesses, who have an interest in the evidence that they are submitting, often yield to the temptation to skew and tint it to protect their personal interest. As an accurate thinker you must learn to use your own judgment, and to be cautious, no matter who may endeavor to influence you. If a statement does not seem reasonable or does not harmonize with your experience, hold it in abeyance for further examination. Lies have a peculiar way of bringing with them some warning, perhaps in the tone of voice, or the facial expression of the speaker. Written words also carry with them something of a warning as to their truth or falsehood, something that corresponds precisely to the mental attitude and the belief or disbelief of the writer. When you seek facts from others, do not always disclose in advance the type of facts you desire, or the purpose for which you need those facts. As an accurate thinker you must understand that people often try to please, even if they have to exaggerate or dance around the truth. Much of the propaganda, advertising, or persuasive media that you come in contact with is playing on your negative emotions. Napoleon Hill called these negative emotions the seven thieves because they rob you of your opportunity of achievement, because they make Accurate Thinking impossible. 9
We ve explored these negative emotions in past modules, but for the sake of reference, here they are: 1. Fear 2. Hate 3. Anger 4. Jealousy 5. Revenge 6. Vanity 7. Greed Keep these negative emotions in mind and keep them at bay when you begin sorting through information to determine real fact. Thought Habits We all have habits of thought ways we think and evaluate that have become naturally ingrained in our thinking. All thought habits come from either one of two sources, both of them hereditary: Physical Heredity We inherit from our genes some of our temperament, character, attitude, and mood. While we have no control over this inheritance as dictated by the laws of nature great deal of it, can be modified by Accurate Thinking. Social Heredity This consists of all environmental influences, education, experience and impulses of thought that affect our thinking. The greater portion of our thinking comes 10
from the influence of social heredity. This is the same as saying that most of our thinking is made to order for us by others. Often we embrace a certain religion, or ally ourselves with a given political party, not because we may have given full thought to the subject, but because of the influence of those nearest us friends, relatives or acquaintances. The accurate thinker does not accept a political, religious or other type of thought, regardless of its source, until he or she has carefully analyzed it using the rules of Accurate Thinking. Credulousness is the habit of believing on little evidence, or no evidence at all. It is one of the things that can be fatal to accurate thinking. The mind of the accurate thinker challenges everyone and everything that influences it, and has no opinions except those arrived at by careful examination of all the available facts. Accurate thinkers are not slaves, but masters of their emotions. They live among people without allowing those people to determine their inner thoughts or their methods of thinking. When their plans fail, they promptly build others to take their place, but they never deflect from their purpose because of temporary defeat. They are the philosophers who determine cause by analysis of its effects. They get most of their cues by observing the laws of nature and adapting to them. When accurate thinkers pray, their first requests are for more wisdom. They never offer insult to a deity or cosmic force by asking for the exception to natural laws, or by demanding something for nothing. In this humility they align themselves with the source of Infinite Intelligence. Another common weakness in most people s thought habits is the tendency to disbelieve anything that they do not understand. When the Wright Brothers announced that they had built a machine that could fly no one believed them. Newspaper reporters were invited to Kitty Hawk experimental grounds to see for themselves, but they were so skeptical that they refused the invitation. While many inventors had tried to create a flying machine, they all had failed. No 11
one believed one could actually work, except the two men who had created the machine and had successfully flown it. Solicit the Right Opinions from the Right People Accurate thinkers surround themselves with a Master Mind Alliance consisting of at least four different types of talent: A spiritual adviser A financial adviser A health adviser A personal adviser Practically every judicial law is evidence of the need for a means of restraint of individuals who are anti-social. If everyone recognized and understood the laws of nature, there would be no need for us to design additional laws, but force is not enough to bring us into an understanding of the laws of nature. 12
Primer Session Assignments: Discuss with your mentor which of the following assignments would best suit your needs, progress, and development: Knowing & Believing The Knowing Separate Facts from Information Your Gold Standard Facts: 2 Classes Master Session Assignments: Discuss with your mentor which of the following assignments would best suit your needs, progress, and development: Induction Versus Deduction Flaws In Your Personal Reasoning System Seven Thieves Four Mastermind Alliance Talents 13
Primer Session E x e r c i s e s KNOWING & BELIEVING For you, what is the difference between knowing and believing something? Outline 5 things that you only believe and 5 things that you know: Believe Know 1. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 14
Primer Session E x e r c i s e s THE KNOWING Have you ever experienced a knowing that goes beyond the textbook, beyond your experience and hard evidence, beyond just a hunch? Describe that experience below. Include how you read the signs, how you interpreted your hunch, how you used all of your senses to know. 15
Primer Session E x e r c i s e s SEPARATE FACTS FROM INFORMATION You must separate fact from fiction, or hearsay evidence. Create your own test for all the information you gather from any media. Take this set of sample questions for books, articles, magazines, or blogs: Is the writer a recognized authority on the subject covered? When writing this book did the writer have a motive other than that of imparting accurate information? Is the writer a professional whose business is that of influencing public opinion? Does the writer have a profit interest in the subject of the book? Does the writer have a profit interest associated with the success of the book beyond the book itself? Is the writer a person with sound judgment presenting sound evidence and not a fanatic on the subject of the book? Are there readily accessible sources that the writer credits statements that you may check and verify? Do the writer s statements harmonize with common sense and experience? In Mastermind Mentoring, we suggest that you adopt a filter a standard of evaluating information to separate absolute truth from mere opinion or hearsay. We ll call this standard your Gold Standard. It is the accurate way that you will measure every tidbit of information that comes your way. On the next page list 10 questions you can use to determine if a piece of information is absolute truth. 16
Primer Session E x e r c i s e s YOUR GOLD STANDARD Now create your own test questions you d like to ask yourself, your own Standard: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 17
Primer Session E x e r c i s e s FACTS: 2 CL ASSES Now create your own test questions for separating facts into two classes important and unimportant: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 18
Master Session E x e r c i s e s INDUCTION VERSUS DEDUCTION List five examples of when you personally have used induction over deduction in your personal reasoning system and vice-versa. Explain why you chose one over the other and why you think that was a valid method of reasoning for the circumstances: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 19
Master Session E x e r c i s e s FL AWS IN YOUR PERSONAL REASONING SYSTEM Consider an experience where you assumed something was factual, made a decision based on that judgment, and later discovered you were wrong. What process could you have used to determine the truth? In what ways should you have weighed the facts? How well did you consider the source? What criteria would you now use to consider a source? How can you be sure to withhold judgment remain impartial until you gather enough evidence? 20
Master Session E x e r c i s e s FL AWS IN YOUR PERSONAL REASONING SYSTEM (cont) List five thoughts/ways of thinking that you would attribute to physical heredity. What have you done to examine those thoughts? What will you do with each one to be sure that they don t keep you from Accurate Thinking? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 21
Master Session E x e r c i s e s FL AWS IN YOUR PERSONAL REASONING SYSTEM (cont) List five thoughts/ways of thinking that you would attribute to social heredity. What have you done to examine those thoughts? What will you do with each one to be sure that they don t keep you from Accurate Thinking? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 22
Master Session E x e r c i s e s SEVEN THIEVES Remember the seven fears that are the biggest thieves that rob you of your opportunities and destroy your accurate thinking? How can you address each one to be sure they don t influence your personal reasoning system? 1. Fear 2. Hate 3. Anger 4. Jealousy 5. Revenge 6. Vanity 7. Greed 23
Master Session E x e r c i s e s FOUR MASTERMIND ALLIANCE TALENTS Accurate thinkers surround themselves with a Master Mind Alliance consisting of at least four different types of talent. List potential candidates in your own pool or network that you could assemble for this purpose: A spiritual adviser: A financial adviser: A health adviser: A personal adviser: 24