Orientation

Human reason is complex and truly amazing. Most of the evolution of our brains took place in a much different world than the one we live in today. Well before the "invention" of mathematics, logic, the printing press, or any forms of written language. Yet those same brains are able to cope in this modern world of mechanization and technology. We innately set high expectations for our abilities. Expectations that are often idealistic and sometimes unrealistic, but which help the human race survive, thrive and progress.

Early humans were generalists. We had to be able to perform all tasks to survive. Living in societies allowed us to become more specialized. One person could become adept at cooking, another at hunting, another at medicine. By sharing the results, we created a "synergy" that allowed us to be collectively better off than if we didn't specialize. That is a core component of societies, we can benefit from the specialization of others. In our modern world, we continue to become even more specialized. Whether that is in our professions, our hobbies, or simply our approaches to thinking.

In a world that requires us to specialize, sometimes it is useful to step back, to observe the world we live in from a different, more general perspective. To not only observe others, but to observe ourselves objectively as well. To do our best to let go of our preconceived notions, and observe neutrally, as if we were vacationing visitors from another planet.

That isn't easy. Our subconscious brains are not wired for that. Our conscious brains are capable, but it takes effort. We need practice, encouragement, and travel companions to help make sense of what we are seeing. The goal of this website is to serve as a travel companion.

As such, there will be 3 main areas of focus on this website. One is simply to try to better understand how humans think and make decisions, and the evolutionary reasons for why that is. This helps us understand both ourselves and others, as both are essential if we want to work on solutions to contemporary complex problems. We may not always be able to change others' minds, but if we understand them better, we might be able to come up with pragmatic solutions. Visit the How We Think page for an introduction to concepts that will be further elaborated on as this site develops.

Another area of focus is to encourage our own conscious minds to be better observers and objective thinkers. This takes practice, and we can benefit by observations of others. For lack of a better term, I will group this under "Critical Thinking." Visit the Critical Thinking page for further discussion on the importance of stepping back to gain a broader perspective. Over time, additional discussions will be added.

The last area of focus will be on uncertainty. Complex problems have uncertain answers, but our brains and our culture are oriented to finding certainty (e.g. yes/no, true/false, guilty/not guilty). This tendency leads to polarization. If we expect to be able to mitigate polarization, we will need to become more adept at handling and understanding uncertainty. Visit the Uncertainty page for a very quick summary. That section is just barely getting started. 

And to act as glue, I hope to create monthly "issues" that focus on specific issues/thoughts. The next issue, Issue #2, focuses on Polarization.