Four principles of rational thinking

Most people agree that people become human because they are rational or rational. Because of this, we are fundamentally different from animals.

However, many people will feel that rationality is not suitable for everyone.

Descartes, the author of On Methods, tells us for sure that everyone has reason, which is the most evenly distributed thing in the world.

Descartes liked reading since he was a child, and he received a good education since he was a child. Later, Descartes discovered four principles of rational thinking in the process of traveling around:

The first principle: I will never believe anything I don't know.

This sentence means that when we understand something, we must first understand and clarify it ourselves, and then draw a conclusion and make a judgment on it.

Descartes' "my judgment" refers to our own judgment. This is actually the basis of understanding things.

The second principle: when encountering difficulties, try to be as detailed as possible and then solve them one by one.

Many people give up easily because they think the problems they encounter are too difficult and simply give up.

In fact, most difficult things are just complex superposition of simple things. As long as we break down a very difficult thing into simple things and do them well one by one, the difficult things will eventually be solved.

The third principle: think in turn, starting with the simplest object and the easiest object to know, and gradually rising to the most complicated object step by step.

In fact, this principle is the development of the second principle. In other words, after splitting the problems, we arrange the small problems in the order from easy to difficult, and then solve them one by one.

The fourth principle: No matter what happens, we should conduct a comprehensive and thoughtful investigation and conduct a thorough review to ensure that there are no omissions.

What does this mean? In a popular word, it is "resumption". In other words, whatever we do, we should check it after we finish it.

Therefore, the fourth principle is particularly important. Without a comprehensive and thoughtful review, the whole thing may fall short. It can be said that the fourth principle is the most important part of rational thinking.