Critical Thinking in a World of Distraction: The West

Note: This article is mostly with the lens of Ken Wilber's Integral Theory, or at least, my understanding of it.

The more I learn about psychology, and in turn myself, my thinking, and how to think about thinking, the more I learn how society, in particular the western world, has set us up as individuals, to fail, through our culture, degradation of values, levels of consciousness and increasing complexity of life.

The Illusion of the Separate Self

Dimensions, Ken Wilber, Integral Theory

You are not just you. You are part of a collective, and that collective is part of you. Culture and the individual are inextricably linked across all four quadrants. Inject yourself with dye, jump in an MRI, and when you have a thought (I - Subjective), you see this in your brain (IT - Objective). They mirror.

"An individual is an expression of the total evolutionary process up to that point" - Ken Wilbur, A Brief History of Everything

That evolutionary process is not just an individual and their ancestors. It's the culture, and the physical (interobjective) world. We get trapped in our own subjectivity when we don't consider this. None of us can just evolve by ourselves.

Lack of Critical Thinking

We are not encouraged to think critically. In fact, the recommendation algorithms prevalent on social media are there to catch our attention, and exploit our emotional weaknesses. This is the state of the 'attention economy'. You naturally click on what provokes a higher emotional response. That emotional response reduces your ability to think critically, if you are not aware of that, in of itself. A subject sits particularly close to your heart? You may react, and respond. I've caught myself getting absorbed in knee-jerk reactions. Developing this meta-cognitive awareness is an essential skill that our culture undervalues.

In Western society, mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety is commonly solved through prescriptions. Most often, SSRIs, which are a neurological inhibitor. They ‘calm’ your excited neurons. They reduce brain activity. You are dumbed down, at a conscience level. If a drug fundamentally reduces the excitement of your neurons, it fundamentally reduces your ability for complex thought. It's a crutch, without corresponding inner work. I have been there personally myself, actually increasing my dose to numb myself and avoid the deeper self-examination needed for true healing. Problem is, neurosis is a multi-dimensional problem, so it requires a multi-dimensional approach. My thoughts? That's another can of worms.

Developing Self-Awareness

We are not taught to critically evaluate your thoughts or your mental state generally, or be self-aware. Oh, how many times confusion, anguish & despair could've been solved with just a line of questioning:

• How did that make you feel? Why?

• What past experiences influenced your reaction?

• How might others interpret this differently?

• Now, with that context, is that feeling true?

• What cultural norms are you accepting without question?

• How will your reaction be interpreted in relation to everything I have just considered, but for them (everyone has their own life, after all)?

• How has that changed over time?

This isn’t overthinking, it’s critical thinking. If you can get to the bottom of why you do, and feel, you can take the most objective step back, and choose to change. You have already heard “you can't define what happens to you, but you can choose how you respond to it.” But to be a little more nuanced, you can transform your relationship to it, which will fundamentally change your response to it, every time, in the future.

"Development is a process of increasing the number of perspectives that can be taken on an issue" - Ken Wilbur

"The subject of one stage becomes the object of the subject of the next" - Ken Wilbur

And you make a change, and you evaluate through feedback from your environment, how that change affected things. You consider the dimensions.

Self-reflection doesn't have to be complicated. Begin with the questions above, or simply ask, "What am I aware of right now?'. The more you practice, the more clarity you'll gain. And over time, you'll gain more perspective on your inner world and show up more wisely to the outer world.

"Growth is always possible, and it starts with a single moment of reflection."