Clear Thinking Skills for Enhanced Lifestyle and Longevity by Ralph Teller

Clear Thinking, Lifestyle and Longevity. Clear Thinking plays an important role in our Lifestyle and Longevity. The higher our thought clarity the better will be our ability to perceive, solve problems, create and be self-aware. In turn, Clear Thinking skills translate into making smarter decisions regarding our life’s purpose, personal achievements, and interpersonal relationships.  Clear Thinking improves the contributions we make to our play, work, employment, and contributions to society.  Clear Thinking improves our lifestyle. Clear Thinking improves Longevity because it enables a more efficient Metabolism, a metabolism focused on the long term.  

What is Clear Thinking?  Clear Thinking is the ability to think critically and rationally with the ability to engage in independent and reflective thought. Clear Thinking is not just a matter of accumulating information. A person with a good memory is not necessarily good a clear thinker. A clear thinker is able to deduce consequences from what is known, and knows how to make use of information to solve problems.  Clear Thinking can help us acquire knowledge and make better life decisions.  Clear Thinking skills includes the ability to:

• understand the logical connections between ideas
• identify, construct and evaluate arguments
• detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
• solve problems systematically by correctly using information
• identify the relevance and importance of ideas
• perceive accurately
• hypothesize
• be emotionally aware
• reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values
• think quickly

According to Dr. Peter A. Facione, Critical Thinking:  What It Is and Why It Counts, “The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed, trustful of reason, open-minded, flexible, fair minded in evaluation, honest in facing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing to reconsider, clear about issues, orderly in complex matters, diligent in seeking relevant information, reasonable in the selection of criteria, focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking results which are as precise as the subject and the circumstances of inquiry permit”.

What is the Clear Thinking state of mind?  Once Clear Thinking skills are improved and mastered it is then important to exercise those skills in the best possible state of mind for optimum Clear Thinking.  The optimum state of mind for Clear Thinking is similar to the Ideal Performance State under which athletes are able to achieve at peak performance.  The Ideal Performance State is:

• Personally challenged
• Energized with positive emotions
• Ready for fun and enjoyment
• Focused and alert
• On automatic instinct
• Relaxed and calm
• Maintaining confidence

What are Valuable Intellectual Traits?  Richard Paul and Linda Elder, Foundation of Critical Thinking have identified the following intellectual traits that provide a framework to discipline and improve mental functioning:

-Intellectual Humility -Intellectual Courage -Intellectual Empathy -Intellectual Integrity -Intellectual Perseverance -Faith In Reason -Fair-mindedness

Clear Thinking and Physiology. The brain utilizes a significant portion of our total energy to perform.  While resting and quietly awake, the brain consumes about 20% of our Metabolism even though the brain represents only 2% of the total body weight.  During active periods, the brain can consume up to 30% of caloric intake.  Since the brain consumes such a large percentage of the body’s energy, it is physiologically important to have a clear mind so that brain energy is not wasted.  Clear Thinking is efficient thinking and from a physiologic standpoint focus energy more productively.  Clear Thinking that does not waste brain energy also helps in the overall objective of maintaining an efficient metabolism.  Having an efficient metabolism is an important element of achieving Longevity.  

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