What if the unconscious part of your mind is very similar to other people’s unconscious? Well, if your subconscious is like the majority, you will come up with ideas that are similar to the ideas of the majority of people; That is, ideas that are obviously not so extraordinary.
Higher-Order thinking happens when multiple unique ideas merge to create extraordinary insights that lead to discovery and intuition, just like colors that combine to create new colors. Such discovery and intuition, which is born from the minds of higher-order thinkers, has the capacity to influence the world.
Higher-Order thinking is not derived from talent or right, but is a privilege that few people enjoy; Those who have paid the price of raising their mentality.
4 signs of high level thinkers
1. You have a unique set of experiences
a large part of your life takes place in your subconscious. All the things you experience and learn in life are recorded in your subconscious mind and become like a huge jumbled ball of millions of thoughts and ideas. When you need an idea, your subconscious sends its suggestions to the conscious part of your brain and then decides what to do with those experiences.
Now consider the subconscious part of your mind. What if the unconscious part of your mind is very similar to other people’s unconscious? Well, if your subconscious is like the majority, you will come up with ideas that are similar to the ideas of the majority of people; That is, ideas that are obviously not so extraordinary. The complex and big problems that are currently plaguing the world cannot be solved with simple ideas. Solving them requires the mental power of people we call higher-order thinkers. But what exactly is the difference between such people and ordinary people? It’s simple. They have a unique set of experiences that give them a special and distinct unconscious. For this reason, these people come up with extraordinary solutions that ordinary people are unable to use; So a sign of being a creative thinker is that you always like to take the path less traveled.
- In the sense that even if you have read the best-selling books, you prefer to read rare books that most people have not even heard of.
- In the sense that you have the courage to watch movies in a foreign language and prefer it to watching a movie that has been seen by millions of people.
- In the sense that you choose places to travel that are not famous.
simply! Higher-Order thinkers try to have experiences that others do not have the courage to experience. Are you such a person?
2. You pay a lot of attention to new ideas that are rejected by the majority
People always reject new ideas. Maybe because of being too skeptical or maybe feeling uncomfortable with change. For example:
- People rejected the development of the Internet. Only a few people like Jeff Bezos bet on it. That’s why Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world.
- If you’ve seen the movie The Big Short, you’ll understand how the smartest bankers and investors on Wall Street failed to recognize that the housing market was collapsing. Only a few people, like Dr. Michael Berry, realized that something sinister was about to happen.
- When the concept of virtual currency was first proposed, many people rejected it. However, cryptocurrency has grown the fastest compared to any other market in human history.
While the majority reject such ideas, high level thinkers are able to see the potential of new ideas. Why is that? Personally, I feel higher-order thinkers have taken pains to strike a perfect balance between openness and skepticism, welcoming new ideas, trying not to prejudge, and scrutinizing new concepts before deciding on their potential. Ordinary thinkers do not welcome new ideas because their minds are filled with prejudices that prevent them from searching for truth.
However, higher-order thinkers apply welcome and skepticism in equal measure. This is an important issue, because if they are not skeptical enough, they will waste their time and resources on every new idea that appears, and this weakness will not prevent them from investing in ideas that really work. Therefore, being open to new ideas and at the same time skeptical enough to know which idea to bet on is a sign that you are a higher-order thinker.
3. They post-judge instead of pre-judging
Consider the meaning of these two words:
- Prejudice: having a firm opinion about something without testing the facts
- Postjudgment: having a firm opinion about something after testing the facts
The common thinker has an opinion about everything in the world: since no person has enough knowledge to be bigoted about anything, most of these opinions are prejudices, only a few (sometimes none) are likely to be prejudiced. Higher-Order thinkers do not give an opinion about anything, even when they express their opinion about something, they must have checked the facts, in other words, they made a hindsight, not a prejudice.
You can’t prematurely see a gap between the occurrence of a situation and the formation of an idea: Higher-Order thinkers take time before an idea is formed. You might hear them say, “Well, I don’t know much about this. “I have to do some research and think deeply before I give my opinion.” You will never hear such sentences from the mouth of a normal thinker.
The average thinker is self-righteous about his beliefs even when the evidence shows that his beliefs are wrong: Higher-Order thinkers welcome the fact that, despite checking the facts before expressing an opinion, their research may not have been sufficient, so when the evidence is insufficient Show them their research and they will accept the truth without their pride being bruised. What is the reason for this intellectual conflict? The answer lies in the level of security that people feel with themselves.
Ordinary thinkers give opinions about anything because they cannot accept the fact that they may not know enough about something. The reason they are quick to express their opinion is that they are afraid to accept the “I don’t know” mentality, so they don’t take the time to check the facts and insist on their own opinions because they are afraid to admit they are wrong. A higher-order thinker feels so secure with himself that it is not difficult for him to tolerate rational humility.
4. You are curious
Higher-Order thinkers ask a lot of questions. Their thirst for knowledge far outweighs their almost non-existent desire to “show off” their awareness. Next, I share a quote that summarizes all these points:
If your mouth is open, you’re not learning.
Those who talk a lot don’t really know much. They rarely ask questions, instead, they focus on giving unmeasured answers because they think it makes them look smart and knowledgeable. High level thinkers are very curious people and ask a lot of questions. This habit may seem easy on the surface, but it is not at all. Curiosity has two layers:
- First: to ask, you have to accept the fact that you don’t know. Otherwise, why even ask? Unfortunately, accepting this issue is very difficult for selfish people. For this reason, people prefer to remain in the illusion of “omniscience”.
- Second: Even if people internally admit that they don’t know, asking is like making the news of their ignorance public. Yes, some people may accept the fact that they don’t know everything, but announcing it to the world with a string of words ending in a question mark? Are you crazy? It is impossible to bear!
For this reason, asking questions that seem simple are actually very difficult for most people, because their pride is damaged. But not so with higher-order thinkers. They know that asking questions is an important skill to learn in life. Therefore, intellectual humility is an important factor in their thought process.
If you are someone who admits that your awareness is limited when asked, you are most likely a higher-order thinker. Experiencing such thinking is important because this is where the extraordinary insights that the world needs emerge.
How to become a higher-order thinker?
- Build a unique collection of experiences
- Pay close attention to ideas that the majority rejects, and in doing so strike a balance between welcoming and skepticism.
- Have hindsight, not prejudice. Before forming your opinion, check the facts and know that you don’t have to be self-righteous and bigoted about everything.
- Ask a lot of questions.
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