We all strive to think clearly and to express ourselves with clarity. "How To Think" author, Tom Chatfield argues that a lack of self-knowledge can be the cause of a lot of ineffective discussions, and that habitually questioning your ideas - first by admitting to yourself that your points may be unclear - is the best way to gain clarity. When seeking clarity on your argument, your aim isn't necessarily to be proven right but to deepen your understanding by shedding layers of preconception, misconception and false consciousness.
Before you begin attempting to clarify your thinking, start with a pause. In the book Do Pause, Robert Poynton says pausing allows us to "question existing ways of acting, have new ideas or simply appreciate the life you are living." Once you've slowed down, you can begin the three-stage process of clarifying your thinking.
Stage 1: Reflect on why you believe something to be true or important. Standard form is a tool used in philosophy to write out a numbered list of statements on why you believe something, followed by a conclusion. This exercise entails reconstructing your reasoning systematically.
Stage 2: Tease out your assumptions. A vital component of clarifying your thinking involves stripping away oversimplifications and replacing them with an honest acknowledgment of circumstances. Leave no idea unexamined. Our assumptions are the origin of our identities and therefore are the sources of the greatest good and deepest harm we can do to one another.
Stage 3: Offer charitable assumptions. Principle of charity is a term that means: "unless you have decisive evidence to the contrary, you should start by assuming someone else’s position is reasonable and sincerely held, rather than that they’re malicious, ignorant or mistaken." Attempt to understand someone else’s perspective so you can come to conclusions based on a fair-minded assessment.
Reflecting on the origins of your belief, working through assumptions, and giving people the benefit of the doubt will ultimately help you become a better communicator.
