Applied Curiosity is using a strong desire to fill a gap in knowledge to strategically accomplish something specific. This mini-guide will show you how you can use Applied Curiosity to help you make better sense of this world.

Our critical thinking skills are in a State of Emergency. Not because we’re dumb. We’re not. We simply have too much information for our human brains to process. We are increasingly relying on other humans, our own biases, and AI algorithms to nudge our thinking.

Possession of knowledge does not guarantee the ability to think wisely. We can change this using Applied Curiosity.

We can pretend that the lack critical thinking skills is just a problem that educators must tackle for our kids. It’s not.

You want more control over how you think and make decisions? Great. Here’s your mini guide to using Applied Curiosity to become better at critical thinking

This mini-guide comes with opportunities to earn Bonus Points

Notice, reflect, and act on thinking.

Being here earns you your first Bonus Point for accomplishing this first step. You’re on your way.

If it feels good, don’t do it.

At least not yet.

Separate emotions and desires from thinking.

Ask: What do I want to believe? Try believing the opposite.

Look out for: Confirmation bias which is our human tendency to believe evidence that conforms to our pre-existing beliefs and world views, and disregard evidence that does not…regardless of the value of the evidence.

Example: If you learn that a group of people you don’t like has done something bad, wait. It’s tempting not to. Don’t let yourself believe it too easily.

Give yourself a Bonus Point for getting a wee bit more comfortable with uncertainty.

Bust Brain Bugs.

Do not trust your mind to analyze automatically. It will try to trick you. Don’t let it.

Ask: What do I want to believe? What do I not want to believe? What makes sense? What doesn’t make sense that could also be true? What comes to mind first? What’s something that I could be missing if I am sure that I am right?

Look out for these two biases:

Availability heuristic makes what comes to mind easily seem like it happens more frequently than it does.

Example: Plane crashes come to mind easily. They don’t happen frequently. Our assessment of how frequently they happen is impacted by how easily they come to mind. Algorithms know this about humans. We should remember this about ourselves, too.

Affect heuristic makes what feels good seem right. If you don’t like someone, you’re more likely to think that they’re wrong. This is another reason why #2 is important.

Example: I like Tesla cars, therefore, I should invest in Tesla.

Come up with one more example for each of these biases. Give yourself 2 Bonus Points.

Assess Victims and Victors.

This one deals with the motivation of the information provider. It matters.

Ask: Who benefits from my believing the information? How do they benefit? Who suffers? How do they suffer?

Example: An article gets shared in a place where your gaze lands. Who generated this article and what could they possibly gain by doing so? Do you have time to consider this before deciding what to believe or not believe?

Identify Who, What, Where, How, and Why.

Does this seem like too much to think about? It’s not. The forces nudging your thinking make neglecting this last step a luxury you can’t afford.

Who…

provided this information in the first place? Who provided the information to me?

For example: Who edited the information? Who was holding the camera?

What…

exactly was communicated? What was communicated before and after what I witnessed being communicated? What happened before/after the camera started rolling? What was edited?

These questions can often be helped by asking:

What was the original source?

For example: Original source is not an article that references a study. It is the actual study. It’s not a movie or book review. It’s the actual movie or book.

Where…

did the information come from? Where did I learn how to think about information like this?

How…

come I believe or disbelieve this information? How did I come to believe or disbelieve this information?

Why…

was the information made available? Why was it made available to me? Why should I believe it? Why should I doubt it? Why should I not believe it?

For 2 Bonus points:

Ask, “What if I’m wrong?”

For 5-10 Bonus points:

Answer the question with 3 possible answers.

Add another 4 Bonus Points for teaching this to a kid.

Tally up your Bonus Points.

Add another Bonus Point for bragging about your score to whoever will listen.