Researching
Be Willing to Read
There is no shortcut to reading, unfortunately. It can be articles, books, wikipedia entries, news articles, documentaries, whatever; when you read and study something, you develop a fluid vocabulary and working knowledge of the particular thing you are studying. This will help you critically evaluate how trustworthy a particular thing you’re reading is, and will help you weed out good from bad information.
Check Your Biases
Don’t ever fool yourself into thinking you are free of biases. Instead, when you begin reading an article, write down what you are predisposed to believe and who you are predisposed to disagree with. This will ensure that, as you’re reading or listening, you’re aware that you might be primed to agree or disagree with something due to your biases, so you can double check that information just to be sure you’re not falling into a preconceived bias.
Don’t fall into the pitfall of believing things because they feel good. Do your own research, but for real. Don’t be selectively skeptical. Always ask yourself what it would take to convince you of the other side. Always be able to argue both sides of an argument, better than anyone else you argue against. Match your conviction with your knowledge. Don’t identify your positions with your character, save that for your moral positions.
MAYBE PEOPLE WHO’S INCENTIVES ARE MIS-ALIGNED (OR CAN’T BE ALIGNED) SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THAT PARTICULAR DECISION MAKING PROCESS, OR HAVING A “RED TEAM” FOR CERTAIN THINGS
“PRINCIPALED ILLUSIONS” WHERE YOU THINK YOU ALIGN PRINCIPALLY WITH SOMEONE BUT YOU’RE ACTUALLY COMPLETELY MISALIGNED ON EVERY SINGLE APPLIED POSITION
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THINGS IN HERE THAT YOU MUST CONTROL FOR/BE AWARE OF VS THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER DO
ECHO CHAMBER EPISTEMIC BUBBLE
BLACK/WHITE THINKING REGARDING AN ENTIRE FIGURE, EVERYTHING IS GOOD OR BAD, EVEN REWRITING HISTORY TO FIT THE MOLD
WHEN PEOPLE SAY THINGS THAT ARE OBVIOUSLY PROJECTIONS OR OBVIOUSLY HYPOCRITICAL, IMMEDIATELY SELF-EVIDENTLY SO, ARE THEY AWARE OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING????
IDEOLOGICAL CONGRUENCY SHOULD VARY BASED ON HOW LOCAL YOUR COMMUNITY IS
COMBATTING COGNITIVE DISSONANCE