The Importance of Science Literacy in Health Care

There is no area of life where critical thinking is more important than in your health care choices.

Unfortunately, cutting through the clutter to the science is not easy. I am a member of a woo free mom’s group online. A group of moms who are dedicated to ensuring we make science based choices for our families and ourselves when it comes to health decisions. And we struggle with it.

The most often asked question is – is this woo or not.  (Woo is information that looks sciencey – but isn’t).  If we have trouble figuring it out, it’s not easy.

So why make the effort? Because your life may depend on it.  Is salt good or bad for you? How much fat can or should you eat? Who can we trust when the science seems to change all the time! First fat is bad, then it’s good then it’s only sort of good but only if it’s certain types of fat – but wait – isn’t coconut oil good, maybe not – depends on what you are using it for and whether you have heart health problems. (sigh)

My husband recently had to have some heart stents put in.  Ok – so I research them. Find out well yes, the new stents that prevent reclosing of the artery also increase risks of blood clots slightly – which is why you have to take blood thinners for at least a year afterwards.

Why risk this? Because with no stent, the arteries reclose 30% of the time and with non-medicated stents 25% of the time, but with the new medicated stents they reclose only 10% of the time. So in the risk reward analysis – the slight increase risk of blood clots is outweighed by the benefit of reduced likelihood of needing to do the procedure again.

Of course, if you really want to improve your chances, you have to eat right too otherwise your heart disease will continue to be a problem.

So – what have I learned from our recent medical journey?  That I need to trust the doctors!  I can do all the research I want and totally freak myself out with fear and confusion, or ... I could just ask the doctor who is actually trained on these things and understands the science because – that’s his rather specialized job (I am saying he because my husband’s cardiologist is a he).  Asking this doctor questions taught me more than all of my own research.

I’m not saying don’t educate yourself. I’m saying Doctor Googles isn’t always reliable. (see http://io9.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800)  If you are confused after consulting Doctor Googles, which you probably will be, consult an actual professional. They really do know more than you do.

Stop Making Bad Decisions

2 strategies to learn how to make better decisions.

We all make bad decisions. Some of us more than others.  Being the uber rational person I am (stop sniggering), have rationalized WHY it’s worth the effort to learn how to make better decisions.  Here it goes.  We all make a ton of decisions every day. These decisions add up.  It’s a numbers game really.  If we can make a slight improvement in our decision making process, the impact of that improvement, over the course of our life time will have a exponential effect on the quality of our lives.

Sure, any given decision might not have a huge impact on our lives, but the cumulative effect of all our decisions will.  Which is why it’s worth learning how to think better and make better decisions.

Which is why I loved this article by FastCompany – on 7 ways to make better decisions: http://www.fastcompany.com/3027160/work-smart/7-ways-to-stop-making-bad-decisions There 7 tips are:
1) Get better information (obvious good idea)
2) Avoid pitfalls (learn the logical fallacies and try to avoid them in your thinking – again – good advice)
3) Look at your history – don’t repeat mistakes
4) Check in with yourself (ie: don’t make decisions when  hungry)
5) Take care of yourself (don’t make decisions when tired)
6) Make time to think. (you have to practice thinking to think well)
7) Analyze well (ie: learn from your mistakes)

This is a great list – and it’s a long winded way of saying – learn how to think critically.

Here is my way to make better decisions.  I’m not saying don’t do the FastCompany way.  I’m just saying, my way will complement their way and you will have more fun at the same time.

Think of Three.

The biggest fallacy we fall prey to is the false dichotomy. We limit our decision making to either or scenarios.  Either we are awake or we are asleep. Either we eat in or we take out.  Either I date this person or that person.  Our natural tendency to think in duality hinders our decision making.

So the next time you find yourself thinking either or. Think of three.  What are you going to do for dinner, eat in, take out, or .. go out to dinner.  Maybe you can skip dinner and just have dessert!

The point of this is to expand your options so that you don’t limit your solutions to the most obvious choices. Once you open yourself up to the other possible solutions to your problem, you will often find that one of those other options is actually a really good choice and will give you the best chance of success.

The world is not black and white and you should not limit your decision making to only the black and white options.  Think of three and then maybe four or five and then choose the option you think is best given – what’s real, what’s moral and what’s likely to work.

This little trick is easy, it’s fun and it will definitely improve your decision making.

So, which decision making framework do you prefer?  Mine or FastCompany?  Or both – ok there is three again.

Improve your thinking

One important trick to improve your thinking.

There is one trick that is key to thinking better. That trick is to doubt.

Now, I know what you are thinking.  Doubt?  That’s it?  Well, obviously that’s not it.  Too much doubt paralyzes. You have to doubt your doubt. Too little doubt and you make mistakes in your thinking.  The trick is to get the balance right.  How do you know if you got the balance right?  Doubt.

Ok, this is all getting a bit too circular, even for me. So let’s break down the benefits of doubt and how to avoid going over the edge with too much doubt.

• Doubt allows you to question your assumptions.  Assumptions you may not even know you are making.  This is the first skill of freethought and critical thinking. Question your assumptions.

• Doubt allows you to be skeptical of the claims made by others. Are there really space aliens living in volcanoes dictating how you will act? I don’t think so. Why not see what the scientists who research volcanoes have to say about that.

•  Doubt allows you to question whether a proposed solution to a problem will even work. Heck. Doubt allows you to question whether or not there are other solutions that may work better than the one proposed. 

How do we avoid the dangers of too much doubt? Doubt our doubt. If you find yourself doubting everything and refusing to make a decision because nothing seems reliable, it means you are doubting too much.  We can never have perfect information. The best we can hope for is to be less wrong then we were before. 

At some point, you have to make a decision. That is the point of thinking after all. So if you find you can’t make a decision, stop thinking and make the best decision you can with the information you have.  It’s all any of us can ever do.

Problem Solving 101

There’s a system for proper problem solving. Want to know what it is?

According to the University of Pittsburgh, who has since taken down their link, a group had posted a list of seven steps on how to properly solve a problem. These steps are as follows:

1.    Define and Identify the Problem
2.    Analyze the Problem
3.    Identifying Possible Solutions
4.    Selecting the Best Solutions
5.    Evaluating Solutions
6.    Develop an Action Plan
7.    Implement the Solution

Or in laymens terms.

1. Figure out what your real problem is so you don’t waste your time on proxy problems
2. Figure out what is really causing your problem.
3. Figure out what might work to fix the problem.
4. Select your top 3 potential solutions for further research
5. Figure out which of your potential solutions will actually work the best given science and reality and stuff like that. 
6. Create a strategy to implement your best possible solution, taking into account potential problems you may have in implementing it – in case, it turns out that you messed up the previous steps and your solution doesn't actually work.
7. And finally, fix the problem. 

You will notice that this process requires A LOT OF THINKING!  In fact, 6 of the 7 steps are thinking steps. Is all that thinking worth it? YES!  Why? Because all that thinking usually results in the problem actually being solved.

Compare this with how most people problem solve. They guess about what is causing their problem, and then try to fix it by trial and error and fail and then blame others for their problems or conclude the problem is unsolvable and they carry on living with the problem, never considering that their deficient problem solving process might have been holding them back.

Want to know why Humanists spend so much time on learning critical thinking skills?  Read the above. You can’t solve problems well, unless you know how to think critically.

Key character building traits

How self-reflection can help you to be a better person.

Socrates once said, “The unexamined life isn’t worth living” Ever wonder what he meant by that?  For me, I know that it is through reflection that I am able to set goals, decide on my morals and realign my goals to my moral objectives in life. As a result, I am happier and more productive than if I just floated through life hoping for the best.

Self-reflection, to me, is an essential Humanist life skill. But if you’ve never done it before, how should you get started?  I’m glad you asked. Kelly Bear, who provides character education and anti-bullying educator for school children, has an excellent list of character thoughts to ponder.  (see: 52 character thoughts http://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip52.html?goback=%2Egde_1874438_member_239847139)

Now, you might be wondering WHY I am providing a list of thoughts for children to think about here for you, since if you are reading this, you are most likely an adult.  The reason is because these are good things to think about for anyone. Age doesn’t matter. What matters is how you think.

If you took one of the 52 character thoughts and pondered one every week for a year and tried to actively manifest that thought in your actions throughout the week, you would probably be a better person at the end of the year.

You would be living more intentionally and ethically and that would feel pretty good.

So, question time, which is your favorite thought and why?

Empiricism and Moral Politics

Why critical thinking is so critical to moral reasoning.

I reread some Bertrand Russell recently. One of the essays in particular struck me as important. It was an essay on Empiricism, specifically, how empiricism improves politics.

Empiricism is the idea that knowledge comes from experience. Russell goes further and defines it as a scientific mindset open to revision in which nothing is known absolutely. Basically, an empiricist occupies the middle ground between dogma and skepticism. Dogma is not being open to revision and strict skepticism refuses to acknowledge that we know anything for sure.  Empiricism, according to Russell is a balanced view based, as much as possible on what can be known objectively and understanding that what we think we know may not be so – which is the being open to revision part – which is essential to a scientific mindset.

Taking this approach has significant implications for moral reasoning, especially moral reasoning as it is applied in politics.  On the value of empiricism, Russell says,

“In the sphere of practical politics, this intellectual attitude has important consequences. In the first place, it is not worthwhile to inflict a comparatively certain present evil for the sake of a comparatively doubtful future good.”  He goes on to say, “If it were certain that without Jews the world would be a paradise, there could be no valid objection to Auschwitz; but if it is much more probably that the world resulting from such methods would be a hell, we can allow free play to our natural humanitarian revulsion against cruelty.”

Obviously, it would have been nice if he had taken a stronger stand in favor of the basic and intrinsic humanity of Jews, but his point about the important role that doubt plays in ensuring moral actions is critical.

Doubt prevents us from inflicting certain cruelty for uncertain rewards. This harkens back to the Epicurean formulation for morality. A little pain for a long term gain is ok. It’s amazing how often this formula is invoked to justify cruelty towards others, even today.

The empiricist, as Russell points out, will never accept that sort of deal precisely because it can never be considered moral. In such situations, the proposed better future is unlikely to result, but also because the methods to secure this better future are so heinous. It is highly unlikely you can use heinous methods and not create heinous results.

To translate that into simple English, when it comes to intentionally inflicting cruelty – the ends don’t justify the means because just ends can’t be created by unjust means, no matter how many TV shows and movies purport to show just that.

The Power of Why

Why asking yourself these 3 questions will help you find meaning and purpose in your life. 

Emotive Brands had a blog post about 7 reasons why it’s time to transform your business through meaning. http://www.emotivebrand.com/2012/11/08/7-reasons-why-its-probably-time-to-transform-your-business-through-meaning/

I liked the post. I’m a big fan of being purpose and meaning driven. Having a purpose and meaning gives us a reason to get up in the morning. A reason to do the things we do.

The problem is that not just any reason will do. The best reasons are driven by deep emotions and motivations.  How do you find out what truly motivates you?  By asking yourself questions. We Humanists call this process of asking ourselves deep questions, critical thinking or alternately “freethought.”  The best question to start with is “why.”

This is why this post is titled the power of why.  If you want to know what is really driving you, you need to ask yourself 3 “why” questions.

For instance, if you are looking for meaning in your business.

• Why did you choose this business?
• Why is that needed?
• Why will this help people?

You can obviously use this for personal motivation as well.  When you have drilled down to the why this will help people question that is usually where your deep meaning resides.

As much as we might be motivated to be in business to make money so that we can eat and have things like shelter and transportation, it turns out that this is not a very good motivator.

What really motivates us to get up in the morning to work is to change the world and make it better. So instead of answering these why questions selfishly, focus on how what you do helps others. Once you understand how important your work is to others and how you impact others, your work becomes a calling and a mission. And that’s something that is truly motivating.