9 ways thinking like a philosopher will make you wiser

9 ways thinking like a philosopher will make you wiser9 ways thinking like a philosopher will make you wiserHow often do you reflect on yourlife?We often think of philosophy as something esoteric and impractical. However, it doesnt have to be that way. Thinking like a philosopher doesnt mean asking never-ending questions or setting up intellectual traps.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraThe word philosophy literally meansthe love of wisdom - its about getting more involved with the world. To better understand how we act and think.Wisdom distinguishes great leaders from the rest. If knowledge is information, wisdom is acting upon that knowledge. We can gain a lifetime of knowledge, yet never extract any wisdom out of it.You dont need to become a philosopher to think like one - you need to be a lover of wisdom.1. Go Slow to GoFastOur world is driven by speed. We feel forced to kee p pace with things because we fear missing out. But, if we are always in a rush, we are more prone to making mistakes and losing perspective.Thinking like a philosopher requires to create space for reflection.To be fast in making decisions, you have to have to slow down - make time for contemplation.As Christian Madsbjerg, author of the Moment of Clarity said, Every sentence should be on trial for its existence.By taking more time when reading or writing, you train your mind to slow down. You clarify your thinking. Instead of moving from one thing to abedrngnislageher, you try to understand whats underneath something - whats driving our behavior.Wise leaders slow down their minds - they observe things from a distance. Making wise decisions requires balancing urgency and rigor.Greek philosophers and Buddhists monks booked a considerable amount of time for self-reflection, learning, and meditation. Make space topause and reflect, not just to do things.2. Focus on Whats EssentialWe associate more with better. The more you do and the more you have, the better person you become. Unfortunately, this endless race to do and achieve more and more drives confusion and frustration. When everything is important, we cant separate what matters from what not.As Marcus Aurelius said, If you seek tranquillity, do less.The Roman emperor and philosopher didnt say do nothing, but less. He invited us to focus on whatessential. He called it thedouble satisfactionto do less, better.Thats the premise behind the bookEssentialismby Greg McKeown get only the right things done. Its not about getting less done or about getting more done in less time. Essentialism is challenging the assumption of we can have it all and we have to do everything. You focus on the pursuit ofthe right thing, in the right way, at the right time.Another Greek philosopher, Seneca, was amazed by how people were so protective of their property, money, and possessions, yet careless about their most precious asset their time.Life is never short if weknow how to use it.As Seneca wrote,It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.3. Think in Shades ofGreySeeing the world in black and white terms gets us stuck. In the US, theres a strong debate currently going on around capitalism. Those who highlight any flaw from the system, are immediately labeled as socialists - you are either in or out.Thinking in shades of grey is about learning, not taking positions - we stop seeing opposing concepts as enemies.Integrative thinking is the capacity to hold two diametrically opposing ideas in our head and reconcile them for a problem at hand.Buddhists refer to this as the middle way - its not an average of two concepts, but not seeing them as opposites. We shift from duality to integration. Rather than seeing materialism and spiritualism, for example, as exclusive things, we embrace both - we realize they aretwosides of the saatkorn coin.As Robert Wesley Miller wrote, When you are at the top you only see shadows and when youre at the bottom you are blinded by the light, but from the middle everything is pleasing day and night.Wise people embrace nuance and diverse perspectives.4. Spot the Weakness in anArgumentThe words we dont challenge become true.The purpose of philosophy is not to find an error, but to avoid acting based on false assumptions.We are usually prone to various cognitive biases. Theconfirmation bias, for example, is our tendency to look for and to recall evidence that confirms, but not that disconfirms, our beliefs and hypotheses.As Daniel Dennett said, The word surely is as good as a blinking light locating a weak point in the argument.The philosopher shares a quick trick that may save you much time and effort. When reading a whitepaper, look for surely in the document, and check each occurrence. Most of the times, it marks the edge when the author states a truism without offering sufficient reason or evidence - s/he hopes the reade r will quickly agree. If the author were really sure, s/he wouldnt need the word surely.Thinking like a philosopher means not taking things for granted.Logical fallacies are arguments that fail to make sense scientifically - though they can often make an emotional appeal, they do not prove the underlying claims. Proof by example is a fallacy that uses one or more cases to suggest a general rule. For instance, when you observe people from a particular group doing something and then assume everyone who belongs to that group acts the same way.5. Be Intellectually HumbleMost leaders tend to overestimate how much they know. They dont make wrong decisions because of a lack of facts but of low self-awareness.Thats the problem of celebrating intellectual brilliance - we reward certainty, and condemn doubts. Being right, then, matters more than finding the correct answer.As Bertrand Rusell wrote, The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselve s, and wiser people so full of doubts.Intellectual Humilityis about recognizing that the things you believe in might, in fact, be wrong. Its an invitation to empty your cup, so you can fill it up with new knowledge.Practice being obsessively curious. Challenge everything - especially what you believe is right. Leave the door open for better solutions, rather than sticking to your answer. Intellectual humility is letting go of certainty.As Edgar Schein explains in his bookHumble Inquiry, being intellectually humble requires accepting that, in many aspects, our status is unten liegend to others - they know or can do something we cant.Being wise requires acknowledging when you become temporarily dependent on other peoples knowledge or expertise.6. Knock Down Your OwnIdeasWe all tend to fall in love with our own ideas - especially, our most recent ones.To spot the weakness in other peoples arguments, we must practice challenging our own first. Thats exactly what Christian Madsbjerg s uggests by saying that you must knock down your own ideas.As a philosopher who consults Fortune 500 companies, Madsbjerg spends a lot of time observing things that dont make sense. He believes the corporate world is absurd. Companies invest in silly things but then cut down others that are vital to their community.When you have an idea about something, the first thing you do is try and kill it. You try to empty a gun into the head of your own idea. The first inclination of a philosopher is to be as rough on your own idea as possible, Madsbjerg explains.We usually try to defend or sell our ideas. What if we treat them as rough as possible? Challenge yourself What would be the opposing view? If they stand up to that test, then they are worth pursuing.7. Consider Alternative PossibilitiesMost of the times, we cant find the real solution because were not looking for it. Thecongruence biascompletely dominates our minds we cant even realize therearealternative theories.Systematically cons idering alternative possibilities - common to both philosophical and scientific thinking - is an effective way to overcome this bias. Practice generating various explanations for each observation.By creating alternative possibilities, we pursue the best possible answer, not the one that comes up first. When you have options, you can make a more educated decision. Isaac Newton used the term crucial experiment to refer to decisive tests between rival hypothesis.As Plato said, Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance.To arrive at the truth, generate multiple hypotheses and methodically evaluate how they fair against reason and observation.Evaluating alternative possibilities is a useful tool for wiser thinking.8. Theres No RightThingCertainty is the enemy of wisdom. The right answer is a stop, not the final destination. Seeking wisdom is a never-ending journey.Of all the words yet spoken, none comes quite as far as wisdom, which is the action of the mind beyond all thing s that must be said. - HeraclitusAlan Hjek, a professor of philosophy at the Australian National University in Canberra, has an excellent exploration of what he callsphilosophical heuristic. Several of his tools involve questioning assumptions in how we ask a question.For example, asking whattheright thing to do is presupposes that there is asingleright thing to do. That could be the case occasionally. However, right has many senses - it could be what is rational or what is moral, etc. Also, there can be multiple actions that could be equally good.Moral superiority is another righteousness trap, asI wrote here. We think our beliefs - religion, political affiliation, etc. - are superior to other peoples. Rather than trying to have a civilized argument with someone with different beliefs, we try to impose our views. We believe our morality is superior - it becomesthe right thing to do.Thinking like a philosopher is understanding that theres not just onesingle right answer.9. Bala nce Ethics and PragmatismBeing a lover of wisdom requires acting with a purpose.We often hear people having to decide between acting according to morality or pragmatism - like if one thing excludes the other.Wise leaders make decisions that are both ethically sound and pragmatic. As the authors ofFrom Smart to Wiseexplain, wise leaders, align their actions with their purpose, act boldly yet prudently, and are sensitive to the context. They maintain their composure, rely on their intuition, and act with integrity.Practice examining peoples ruling principles - even those of the wise, as Marcus Aurelius suggests onMeditations. We must understand what people avoid, but also what they pursue.The authors cite how Microsofts Bill Gates stepped down from his CEO role and created the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation. He started using his wealth, smartness and leadership skills for the greater good. Today he is no longer seen as a polarising figure, but as a wise one tackling global problems such as the lack of universal education and infectious diseases.Theres never a perfect day to get started - choose today.As Marcus Aurelius wrote, This is what you deserve. You could be good today. But instead, you choose tomorrow.Are You Making Progress?We spend our entires lives being a lover of wisdom. But, how can we determine if we are making progress?Seneca came up with a simple approach. He believed that accepting oneself is the first step to be more open to accepting other people and their views. The Greek philosopher believed that a person who is a friend to themselves is an aid to all humankind.Isnt that the most important purpose of being wise?As Seneca wrote, What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself.This article first appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily sched ule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people