Welcome to the Filter It Through a Brain Cell podcast! The podcast that is all about recognizing bad thinking, whether it’s coming from other people or from yourself
In this first episode, I just want to introduce myself to you and tell you a little about why I started this podcast.
My name is Kathy and I’m a wife, a homeschooling Mom, an entrepreneur, and a speaker.
Here’s the backstory of why I decided to start this podcast: When my daughter was in 7th grade, I was the director for her class in the homeschool program we’re a part of. One of the books that I read along with my students was a book called The Fallacy Detective. It was so much fun, b/c this book taught us the names of some of the logical fallacies and how to recognize them. The students picked them up super quick and were soon pointing out bad logic everywhere, lol.
What’s crazy is that halfway through the school year, the pandemic hit and of course then we rolled right into the presidential election of 2020 and the birth of the “fact-checkers” on social media…etc, etc.
I started seeing wrong thinking everywhere! It seemed like the world had absolutely lost its ability to think & reason and social media had become a dumpster fire of the aftermath.
Ok, maybe that’s a little strong…but…maybe it’s not…
I just firmly believe that if people knew these fallacies and how to recognize them, they wouldn't be fooled by them and we can move toward a more rational society…at least that is my hope. And even if my generation is too stuck in their ways to learn & change, I have great hope for the next one.
In a world where it seems the word “Truth” is getting more & more muddled, I believe there is truth and we can know it. In fact, I believe it’s our job to seek out & learn truth. There is a Proverb that says: “it is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out”
We were created with a mind and the ability to think and to reason…and we should be doing exactly that!
So, whoever you are…this podcast is for YOU…AND it’s especially for any teenagers who may be in your life. Please share this with your kids, grandkids, siblings, students, employees, sports teams…give them the gift of good thinking skills!!
Here’s the thing. I believe good thinking skills will change the world, and here’s why I think that:
1 Things got so much clearer for me after I had the language & skills of good thinking…I think you should have these skills too
2 Once you learn to reason well, you’ll ever be mentally or emotionally manipulated again…by advertisements, politicians or those who stand to benefit from your lack of critical thinking
3 Society will be better when more people are able to think & reason well
4 Most of us aren’t taught these skills in school, so we have to learn them somewhere
5 Being able to spot bad reasoning & flawed logic is almost like having a superpower…especially when most people can’t do it
6 You won’t get fooled by foolishness
7 You’ll be more persuasive when you talk about the things you care about…without resorting to manipulation or bad logic.
8 It improves mental & emotional health, which right now is reaching epidemic levels in our society…and keeps growing!
9 It improves your relationships
10 It makes you impervious to being used
11 It’s fun!
I do want to give you this Warning: good thinking just may cause you to change your mind about some things you’ve long held as a belief about certain topics, people & organizations! *mind blown*
It’s true…and it’s good. A sign of a mentally healthy person is the ability to look at information in a new way and be open to forming a new opinion or belief. It’s a sick mind that refuses to see or seek truth and just clings to old beliefs out of pressure, emotion or tradition.
And maybe you won't change your thoughts or opinions at all. Did you know you can agree with an organization or a person, but still see the ways they’re wrong? *mind blown*
Maybe, just maybe…YOU’LL be the one to bring about good thinking…better conversation…saner relationships with the people around you. It’s possible!
I’ll be keeping most of the episodes on this podcast pretty short, and we’ll keep it fun (so you’ll hopefully want to listen!)
Ok, one last thing: I would love to hear from you! I’d especially love to hear real-life memes, headlines, articles, and even just the conversations you hear where fallacies & bad reasoning are being used. Seriously, send them to me! I’ll be doing special segments where I pull up the emails you send and we’ll go through them and point out the fallacy being committed (if there is one) and we’ll bring this home right into our kitchens by using the stuff we’re seeing on a daily basis. And other than keeping it G-rated, nothing is off limits. You can send me stuff from political parties, religious organizations, social media influencers, the nightly news…whatever. We’re not holding back from exposing bad reasoning wherever it pops ups (and trust me, it’s everywhere!)
To submit those to me, just send an email to [email protected], or you can connect with me on Instagram at FilterItThroughABrainCell
Now, if you’re wondering what on earth even IS a logical fallacy, a cognitive bias…what does propaganda really mean?
I got you. Check out Episode 2 to find out.
