We have had lots of questions during our free NLP VidChats about critical thinking. It seems that this theme is not going to rest easily. It fascinates people. It makes them curious.
Why is critical thinking compulsory for success in life and how do you get to have it? How do you know you have it? You will remember past articles in which we addressed issues like “question everything” as a defining mark of a critical thinker as well as many others. Today I would like to address another aspect of it.
In order to function in this tri-dimensional universe, you need to use your cognitive function – otherwise known as the Conscious Mind. You need to be capable of reasoning correctly, clear headed and not respond with a knee jerk reflex (emotionally) to events and circumstances in your life.
Correct reasoning applies to the understanding of how language works. Most of you reading this article, if you are NLP trained, have gotten a taste of understanding how much more there is to language than just putting words together and how easy it is to manipulate people with the use of them.
Correct reasoning (IE critical thinking) is a wonderful thing. Many people I know forget to take it with them when they leave home. They even forget to take it out of the box when they are at home. They operate mostly unconsciously and react in a childish emotional fashion to life. These people analyze life without reason and critical thinking. They have others do the work for them. They don’t bother to look at facts. They are unipolar and tenacious about it.
Since critical thinking is absolutely necessary in relation to success and fulfillment in life, there is also another step. And this step is being systematically squashed out of you by as many means as possible. This is your ability to be creative. Creativity is based on imagination. The creative power of the mind must of need be out of the “common box” of common thinking. We said many times in the trainings that common thinking is just that: common. And since this is the case, the implication is that it is also mediocre. How do you think you will lead a good fulfilled life when you belong to a majority of people on this planet who do not have a fulfilling and happy life? You want a mediocre life? Use mediocre thinking, with lack of creativity and imagination. You’re assured to be successful…in being mediocre.
To our surprise we meet people that cannot imagine anything. Their perception of life, events, relationships, jobs, etc. is … common and given to them by school, televisions set, family, neighbors. They don’t have a shred of thought that is theirs alone. Unique. They operate in this fashion: restricted, narrow and bounded by “should’s”, “must’s”, “ought to’s” and rules upon rules, beliefs upon beliefs that are not even theirs.
How many people you know that are real free thinkers that can deploy logic, but they can also invent new things, new solutions (in NLP known as lateral thinking) in any area of life without self-imposed limits?
Oh, and even worse, how many people you know that can deal easily with contradictory information? Not as in Parts Integration contradictions and conflicts, but as in the capacity of holding in mind two opposing ideas without any cognitive strain. All right – let’s say it in English. Being able to function when you see something that is “white”, but the TV says “it is black”.
If you’re capable of noticing how both white and black are possible at the same time, and especially if you’re capable of navigating among all the contradictions present in the world…well…you’re leaps ahead of your peers.
In Ancient Huna, a real Kahuna was exactly that one who can hold these contradictions in mind without having trouble with both ends of the contradiction. In NLP that is considered values level 7 as in the values section in the NLP Master Practitioner.
Also in NLP we call this the 3rd perceptual position as in the technique called “Perceptual Positions” which you (hopefully) remember from your NLP Practitioner. And if you’re not an NLP Practitioner, you may want to become one to be able to understand this and use it in your day-to-day mental processes.
People like these, with creativity, imagination and a good sound critical thinking based on facts and not on emotional knee-jerk reflex reactions, can build whatever they want. They can create a different space and time and energy in which they succeed – and other people looking at them wonder how on earth they do it?
Magic is nothing more and nothing less than imagination and creativity superseding this tri-dimensional universe. Magic occurs when imagination is used differently from “reality”.
But if you’re one of the people committed vehemently to one single tri-dimensional reality based on what you think your beliefs are, then you cannot but continue on this Time Line consensus and this is the end-all and be-all. Remember one thing: many of your beliefs which don’t serve you but you cherish and defend so desperately and which you think are “the truth” are not even yours. You have accepted them from the moment you were born and most of them came into your Unconscious Mind before you had any business of making a critical evaluation of a belief or a decision (which is the age of about 7 years old).
People without creativity and imagination strive to fit themselves into a reality constructed for them by others (don’t forget the TV set here folks!) and this eventually leads to some interesting negative consequences which we’ll explore in Part 2.
Until then, be well