| Hello Lisa,
New year. New Mindset.
Personally, I'm not a fan of resolutions or living in a world of absolutes, always, and never-isms. Life is too messy and our need to navigate life on life's terms is too great to box ourselves into prescriptive thinking or blind faith. Instead, I choose to follow a path of truth-seeking through sound ideas for deeper thinking.
I'm a humanist at heart who understands that everyone has the right to a good life. Fear-based propaganda sabotages and undermines our health, happiness, and well-being. Our very real basic needs and desires for safety and comfort, regardless of our beliefs and backgrounds, make us more similar than separated.
When I was a kid, critical thinking was a subject taught in school. It was fun to learn and has lifelong usefulness. Learning to think well has helped to shape the curious and healthy skeptic that I am today.
Information is like a double-edged sword: wield it wisely by honing your truth detector, because distinguishing fact from fiction is the virtuous art of navigating the sea of data. For the past few months, we've been producing a special podcast series that explores the intersection between positive psychology, mental immunity as the unsung hero for common sense, and cognitive immunology: the science of crafting a more resilient mind—because just like the body, a well-defended mind inoculated against dangerous ideas is the key to sustainable well-being for everyone.
This month, Harvesting Happiness, in partnership with Andy Norman author of Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think and founder of The Mental Immunity Project (MIP) and The Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative (CIRCE) , is proud to release our nine-part series on the podcast that delves into different facets of mental immunity, showcasing esteemed experts in the field. Take a look at the press release to learn more.
An additional nine episodes of More Mental Fitness further explore these Sound Ideas for Deeper Thinking and are available exclusively on Substack and Medium, offering a deeper examination of mental immunity and its practical applications across various contexts.
Here's another way to think about this important topic as it relates to unlimited amounts of unverified media, our beliefs, and the world in which we live:
- Common sense: the rare ability to think both inside and outside of the box when the world insists on listening to unfit information, misinformation, and disinformation.
- Critical thinking: the mind gym where ideas lift weights and weak arguments struggle to bench press for better mental fitness.
- Common sense: the unsung hero of decision-making, whispering, 'Maybe don't believe everything you see, hear, read, and think without evaluating data and facts.'
- Critical thinking: the VIP pass to the front row of the mind, where hasty judgments are shown the exit.
- Common sense: the knack for avoiding the trapdoors of life, even when everyone else seems to be tap-dancing around them.
- Critical thinking: the 'Ctrl + Alt + Del' for flawed logic, rebooting your brain to escape the blue screen of irrationality.
- Common sense: the silent superhero of everyday dilemmas, swooping in when chaos threatens to save the day with a sensible cape and steady demeanor.
- Critical thinking: the art of reality-testing information for truthfulness in order to give rise to a rainbow of consciousness that serves the greater good.
This project has been a labor of love and a call to action as our world has been torn apart by — extremism, hate, pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, propaganda, etc. Our goal is to equip everyone, at any age, with the tools and skills needed to spot, shed, and protect ourselves from the worst kinds of information.
Listen, learn, and pass it on.
Truthfully yours in hot pursuit of common sense,
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