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When we only look at evidence that proves what we already think, that’s called a confirmation bias. [1] It’s a great way to feel confident that you’re always right, but it’s a terrible way to learn anything new.
In response to these worries, the Institute for Government has produced a report on the ethnic and socio-economic diversity of the think tank sector to try to understand why some perspectives might be missing, and propose solutions. Our new report, Diversity and Inclusion in the Think Tank Sector, aims to answer some of these questions.We should insist instead that philosophy consists in the effort to say what cannot be said, in particular whatever cannot be said directly […] In this sense it has to be said that the concept of philosophy is itself the contradictory effort to say, through mediation and contextualisation, what cannot be said.’ So if you want to think smarter, think in another language. Push your brain and really challenge yourself.
The problem has a lot to do with focus. Just having their smartphones in the same room as them made participants perform more poorly on cognitive tests. For Adorno, the effort to ‘say what cannot be said’ is worthwhile, because it is only through the attempt to do this that we might ever possibly hope to break away from the various presumptions foisted upon our thinking by the social whole through which not only it, but also us, have come to be. The Adam Smith Institute is one of the world’s leading think tanks. Independent, non-profit, and non-partisan, we work to promote free markets and a free society, through research, economic analysis, publishing, media outreach, and public education. We inject economics and sound ideas into public debate and help shift the climate of opinion. The ASI has always been a practical think tank rather than a purely academic organisation. Despite its strict political independence, it has worked with policymakers to deliver real change, and to make its ideas reality. Most Smart Thinking authors aren’t philosophers. While the subject matter of Smart Thinking books does tend to be at least somewhat philosophy-adjacent, its authors are typically psychologists, economists, political scientists, who advance their fundamental theses about the nature of thought, or society, or the mind in a snappy, TED talk-ish, fulsomely data-driven way. But at least one is: step forward Julian Baggini, founding editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine.But most importantly the sector needs to work together. Many of these problems are difficult to solve on an individual level. Think tanks need collective action to create a cross-sector graduate scheme, and co-ordinate university outreach. And last but not least, they should improve representation at events and in the media. In the words of one focus group participant: A live tutoring session where you can get immediate support with how to approach a written task, presentation, style and appropriate use of citations Be very suspicious of an argument that only considers one side of an argument and doesn’t consider any negative points of that side.
The yin and yang of the genre are represented by Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow But Smart Thinking is also just a vibe: core Smart Thinking texts not only include those which purport to show us how to be better individuals and ratiocinators (Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules For Life, 2018; Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2011), but also big-picture texts about Who We Are and Where We’re Going (Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature, 2011; Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, 2011).Adam Smith was born over 300 years ago. We have consistently celebrated his legacy as the Father of Economics. The ASI erected his 10-foot bronze statue on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, holds the annual Adam Smith Lecture, and publishes primers on his works, ensuring he remains relevant to modern discourse outside of dusty textbooks and libraries. Truly brilliant people know what they don’t know. They don’t pretend to know everything. The more you learn, the more you realize how much you don’t know. We know that free markets and capitalism have already been proven to be the best way of reducing poverty and giving people the freedom to live the lives they want. Our work is inspired by Adam Smith, and is heavily empirical, grounded in practice and evidence from around the world. Though we favour bold, radical policy solutions to society’s problems over the status quo of managed decline, we base the case for this in facts not dogma.
Everything we do, from our first breath to the moment in which we die, is a matter of trial and error. A baby cannot learn to walk without falling down first, and we cannot do better at work if we don’t know what to improve. Errors are actually how the brain learns; when we make decisions, neurons are activated, and if these decisions turn out to be wrong, the activated neurons are subsequently suppressed [1]. Smart people reflect on these errors, and work to ensure that they do not happen again – it just takes a smart person to realize when a decision is wrong. 2.Re-evaluate your views If you have ever wondered why it is that while you struggle to get the simplest idea down on paper, others effortlessly write clear, elegant well- structured prose incorporating relevant and interesting ideas, this book is for you. It will take you through all the five key stages of essay writing showing you how to structure your ideas, develop your arguments consistently and present your ideas in a style that is concise and effective.
6. Put Your Smartphone Down
Our membership enables think tanks to pool resources and provide regular professional development for their staff. All training is specifically tailored to the think tank sector, with trainers who have either worked in, or with, think tanks before. Both our training and events programs have been designed so that there is something for you whether you work in research, communications or operations and whether you are a junior researcher or a think tank Chief Executive.
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