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GTFU :How to Grow The Fuck Up and become an ELDER at any age

Truedrivers

Keep your bullshit detector finely tuned

Chapter 8 of GTFU is presented as a “Bullshit Detector Service Manual,” but I tried to make it a bit more entertaining than most technical documents. It includes the new concept of a truedriver, which I define as any “tool” you use to repair and maintain your built-in, truth-discerning “equipment.” I covered two of the most important truedrivers — critical thinking and what I call heart resonance — and a few more are covered in later chapters. A deep dive into these and other truedrivers could fill many books, so I’ve posted this page as a resource hub for BS detector technicians who are new to the trade and eager to master it.  ~ Scott Noelle

Note:  To view the recommended videos without ads, I recommend using this browswer extension.

Critical Thinking

  • Logical fallacies are various forms of faulty reasoning commonly used by bullshit artists to win arguments unfairly or even mislead themselves. The List of fallacies on Wikipedia is comprehensive and well-organized. If you prefer to learn from videos, here’s one that explains 67 fallacies in 11 minutes. (Maybe I’m a bit slow, but I frequently had to pause the video and proces the explanations.) Here’s one that’s less comprehensive but easier to process: 31 logical fallacies in 8 minutes. For a deep dive, try this playlist of 15 video mini-lectures by a professional instructor of critical thinking. (That last part was an example of the “appeal to authority” fallacy.)
  • Introduction to Critical Thinking is a series of short, animated/illustrated YouTube videos that cover the basics beyond (but also including) logical fallacies. Some of them are more abstract than I would prefer, but most of them include examples that are easy to understand. If you like more structure, these videos have been made into a self-paced course on Khan Academy, complete with automated quizzes and scoring, and it’s 100% free. You can use Khan Academy anonymously, or create a free account and log in for better progress tracking.

The Balance of Logic and Intuition

After I previewed and compiled the above resources, which are heavily focused on logic, I actually became quite irritable and short-tempered. This is because most critical thinking resources neglect the need to balance logic with intuitive, big-picture thinking. Logic relies more on the narrow grasp of the left brain hemisphere, while the big picture is visible only to the right brain hemisphere. So my hyperfocus on logic turned me into a half-wit! I’ve encountered many people who clearly lacked wisdom despite being highly skilled at analyzing arguments and finding logical flaws. But they neglected the left/right balance required to turn mere data into valuable wisdom.

Iain McGilchrist is a brilliant neuroscientist and philosopher who advocates (and exemplifies) this left/right, logical/intuitive, narrow/broad balancing act. You can hear him summarize his model of how the brain works in a short, illustrated video called The Divided Brain. That will provide a good foundation for a deeper understanding through his lectures and interviews, which I recommend to anyone who enjoys being taught by a world-class teacher:

The above lectures, recorded in March 2024, are also available as episodes of Ralston College’s podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Libsyn, etc.

Below are three excellent McGilchrist interviews: the first is with the current leader of the Transcendental Meditation movement, the second (in two parts) is with an atheist intellectual, and the third is a moderated dialogue with a Christian neuroscientist. These interviews will help you understand his balancing model AND see how balanced thinking and attention empowers him to have collaborative conversations — regardless of anyone’s spiritual beliefs (or disbelief) — and to have them in good faith. (Pun intended!)

Accessing Intuition & Balanced Wisdom

Practical tools for accessing your intuition and right-brain superpowers are numerous, so I will likely be adding to this section, and if you want to be notified, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter below. That said, here’s one that you can learn in one day and start using immediately:

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