Our ‘principles of thinking’ challenge, initially taken up by prof. Edward Nęcka in his Decalogue, has also triggered Vincent Martin, a Student of the Iota Year at the School of Thinking, to contribute his take on the matter.
Decalogue
by Vincent Martin, 2021
- Never start with any conclusion already in mind. Always start with the smallest premises you can find and make your way to a conclusion. But don’t get attached to it, if premises change, your conclusion will change too.
- Don’t argue, exchange ideas and be humble. Winning an argument is your mind. Nobody is above anyone else, any thought has a meaning.
- Fight the human need to belong to be associated with a group of individuals. Your thoughts should be as neutral as possible, and not the result of the image you wish to project.
- Always make it clear if you’re sharing a personal experience or if you’re trying to get closer to any type of objective truth or morality. They should not overlap.
- Never deny feelings. Yours or others. Feelings may exist regardless if you understand or approve of them.
- Update your belief systems (projection model) as much as you can. Don’t be afraid to update it even during a conversation, fight your ego, thoughts should come first.
- Never look for coherency and consistency in your behaviour. Your narrative is a movie that only exists in your own reality. Instead, focus on applying a way of thinking that is open-minded and systematic, regardless which conclusion that may lead to.
- Spend time on understanding yourself and your patterns. Always spend more time trying to understand your own self than others.
- Get rid of social pressure as much as possible. If it feels right and it doesn’t hurt anyone, go for it. Authentic energy is the most beautiful and powerful thing one can have, don’t let judgement take it away from you.
- Things are the way they are. Problems do not exist by nature, we create them. Acceptation about our world, our past, our history, will lead to more positive energy to spend in thinking.
