When you hear the phrase ‘scientific thinking’, you might instantly conjure up images of lab coats and beakers and lots of long, confusing equations, but the truth is that real scientific thinking is much simpler because it’s really just a way of being more curious in life, asking more questions, and taking a moment to think about things before you react to anything. And what’s even better is that it’s something anyone can learn, no matter what you do for a living or what your circumstances happen to be. With that in mind, keep reading to find out more about how to do more scientific thinking.
Start With Curiosity Instead Of Assumptions
Most people jump straight to conclusions without even actually noticing that they’re doing it. So we might assume we know why someone’s acting in a certain way, or why something went wrong, or what the solution has to be, but a lot of the time, that’s not right. But scientific thinking encourages you to do the opposite because it begins with curiosity, which is gentler and far more helpful. Curiosity means there’s still room to ask questions because you’re not afraid to admit you don’t know something, and you’ll be able to ask what else might be true and what you could be missing.
That way of thinking is a change that ultimately moves everything forward and helps you when it comes to better scientific thinking because instead of just reacting to things based on the story you’ve come up with in your mind, you begin by looking at the situation with fresh eyes and no assumptions in place.
Ask Better Questions
One of the best habits to get into when it comes to scientific thinking is learning to ask questions without worrying about whether or not they sound clever. The fact is, scientists don’t mind asking simple questions and that’s because simple questions often lead to the best answers and the best understanding.
If you ask things like what’s happening here or how do you know that, it’s a chance to slow your thoughts down and it forces your brain to look at the situation in a more honest way. And even writing questions down can help you see which assumptions you’ve made without actually realising it. In other words, you don’t have to know everything, but you do need to be able to ask questions when you need to.
Use Evidence More Than Emotion
Emotions are always going to be massively important, but they’re not always that great at telling the whole story. Scientific thinking, however, helps you work with your emotions while you’re also looking for evidence that supports (or challenges) what you’re feeling with them. For example, if you’re feeling anxious about a situation, that feeling is real and it’s definitely something you need to acknowledge, but it doesn’t automatically mean the situation is unsafe, and if you’re able to look for the evidence for that feeling, you’ll be able to make much better decisions.
One way to understand how to do this is to follow a good science blog because you’ll be able to see other people do their reasoning, and use that as a guide to how you can do it too. Just that new way of thinking could be what turns things around and makes you more able to do things in life that you might have shied away from in the past.
Look For Patterns
One thing that’s good to know about scientists is that they’ll never base their conclusions on a single piece of data – and neither should you. The fact is that patterns tell a much better and more indepth story than one isolated event, and if you want to understand things like your energy levels, moods, work habits, or even your relationships, looking for the recurring trends is always going to tell you a lot more than focusing on one good day, or a bad one.
One way to do that is to keep a simple journal or a running note on your phone so you can make a record of what’s actually happening over time. Remember, the brain tends to blur or change memories, so you can’t rely on that – having a written record of things that happened at the time and spotting patterns is the much better option.
Get Comfortable Testing Ideas
Scientific thinking usually works best when you think about your life in a series of small experiments. Instead of trying to get everything right the first time, you can change one thing, look at what happens, and adjust from there. That’s a good idea because it takes away a lot of pressure to be perfect (experiments aren’t about perfection, after all) and you can learn a lot more in the process.
So if you want to improve your sleep, for example, try adjusting your bedroom for a week, and if you want to deal with stress better, test a five-minute break before meetings. What if your plants keep dying? Change one variable in how you care for them at a time and see what happens. Basically, life becomes a lot easier, and more interesting, when you work in small steps and you don’t try to fix everything in one go.
Look For People Who Think Differently
Scientific thinking does its best when it’s got a number of different perspectives in it, so talking to people who see the world differently is a good idea because it gives you access to ideas and viewpoints you wouldn’t have considered before.
Again, it’s good to ask questions, so you could ask them how they got to their conclusions, what evidence influenced them, what alternatives they might have looked at, and so on. And of course, you don’t have to agree (you’re never going to agree with everyone), but listening can help you think more widely and can even make your own conclusions stronger. It’s a great way to challenge your own ideas, and that’s always a good thing to do.