INTRODUCTION

​Each of us is born with a blank mental slate. Then parents, educators, and society fill it in before we are old enough to do any critical thinking for ourselves. These givens crystallize into beliefs we then hold as true, often carrying them with us for a lifetime. We become very fond and protective of them, cherishing them as if they were a part of our bodies. Throughout life, contrary information is cast aside and facts and experts are selected that agree with us, giving us comfort that we are right. The strength of the beliefs increases in direct proportion to the degree our sense of belonging, comfort, security, ego, or livelihood depends upon them.
 
This is a book about starting over and skipping the imposed beliefs part. That means, once we are mentally mature, setting aside all the acculturated norms we are invested in. Some of them may be good, some not. How will we know unless we find out?
 
The kind of thinking we need is not the sort that settles us into an immutable belief and faith. When locked-in beliefs are examined, they are usually found to be quick fixes, easy solutions to a thinking chore that people wish to set aside. Once a belief is adopted, we tend to retire our minds. But living life as if thinking matters cannot tolerate such mental laziness.
 
Instead of settling on static beliefs, we must engage in a dynamic inquiry using the best and most reliable mental tools we have. I call these tools the SOLVER principles: Self responsibility, Open mindedness. Long view thinking, Virtuous intent, Evidence first, and Reasoning. Using these principles and a desire to find truth, we have the best opportunity to make our lives the best they can be and to transform the world into the peaceful paradise it could become.
 
But society would rather that we not think for ourselves. "It" wants us to just fit in. "It" would lead us to believe there is something wrong with us if we are not committed to its popular political, social, health, scientific, and religious beliefs. This, and the companion book, Solving the Big Questions, will demonstrate that common beliefs are not solutions, they are usually the problem. Since beliefs dictate actions, wrong beliefs, no matter how right they are thought to be, create wrong lives and a wrong world.
 
In a nutshell, unjustified wrong beliefs are the underlying problem facing us. The solution is to unload belief baggage, back up and start fresh with a clean slate. That is perhaps asking the impossible, but it is the only way we can ever hope to arrive at any semblance of truth—and truth, or as near as we can get to it, is the only real solution.
 
Why is life so difficult? Why are feelings of frustration, desperation, cynicism, and hopelessness so common? Why are people everywhere engaged in self-destructive behavior? Why, with so much technology and medicine, is our health failing? Why is the world teetering on the brink of disaster from environmental ruination and warring factions? Such threats leave us with feelings of uncertainty, powerlessness, and despair.
 
Fortunately, there are answers and there is hope. Daring to depart from the givens, and living life as if thinking matters can bring health, longer and more pleasant life, transform the Earth, and solve economic, political, religious, ethical, and social problems. The companion book will even show that by using these tools we can gain a high degree of rational confidence about where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going.
 
Such optimistic goals may sound naïve and overly enthusiastic. We're used to conceding that complex human problems are to be forever mired in conflicting opinion and disagreement. But before tossing in the towel, consider this. Every person on Earth agrees that 2+2=4, and that heavy things tossed into the air will fall to the ground. So, we must admit, people can agree. We will see that the same thinking process used to conclude the things we can agree on, can apply to all the things we don't agree on.
Unfortunately, education, in itself, does not put us on the path to good thinking. Although school may tell us about reason, it then denies it in practice by teaching us to rely on experts and be herded into the consensus view. But experts can be found on any side of any given subject, and sophistry can masquerade as reason. Tidbits of fact blended with the venom of unreason may create infinite 'truths' that people clutch near to their hearts, but such 'truths' have been the undoing of mankind from our beginnings. Truth cannot be so fickle or treacherous.
 
Although following the crowd seems a safe haven, we will see, for example, that 'accepted' modern medicine is ineffective in ridding us of the modern plagues of cancer, arthritis, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc.; 'accepted' nutritionist-formulated processed foods are killing us; 'accepted' politics can ruin society; 'accepted' unbridled freedom and the 'me generation' are driving people apart; 'accepted' materialism brings no meaning to life and can justify any act; 'accepted' science and the thousands of 'accepted,' competing, and contradictory religions provide no verifiable certainty as to our origin, purpose, and destiny. Almost no matter which way we turn, when the SOLVER principles are applied, we discover that the majority is usually wrong. That's the bad news. The good news is that obvious solutions lie before us.
 
Making the best of life requires us to take responsibility for ourselves, to never stop learning, and to always be open to change. Thinking, the kind that matters and can bring hope, is an exciting journey, not a boring destination.
 
This book is structured in sections and chapters dealing with specific subjects to demonstrate the usefulness of open thinking. As you move through the topics—many of which may trigger 'hot buttons'—judge what is said based on the fairness of the reasoning and the evidence, not its consistency with popular beliefs. You will surely find thoughts here that are counter to your present views. I am not asking you to convert to yet another belief, but only to consider where evidence and reason can lead. In so doing, I hope you will be inspired in an extraordinary way.
 
If you feel it leads elsewhere and wish to express yourself, a special asifthinkingmatters.com website has been created for that purpose. The search for truth and improvement in the human condition is always a work in progress, so questions, comments, agreements, and reasoned, evidence-based disagreements are invited and most welcome.