Do you remember doing research papers in school? One of the first things they taught us was to check our sources. Just because you read it doesn’t make it true. My mother taught me a valuable lesson early on in my life. She would reward us with a dime every time we saw an ad on TV promising something if we purchased that product. For example, If I buy those shoes, I’ll run faster and have more friends, ect. You get the picture, just because something is said online or on TV doesn’t mean it the truth or more accurately, the whole truth. Why have we lost this common sense proverb in our current information overloaded society? We have endless information at our fingertips, constantly. News travels faster than is ever has before in the history of Mankind. But with this speed comes inaccuracy. Sources don’t take the time to fact check as was common practice in days gone by. It’s become, "report first, ask questions later." Many things are being misreported and misrepresented. If you only ever see the first reports that are wrong, you won’t know the whole truth. Never has the statement been more true than it is now. “Just because to read it, doesn’t make it true or the whole truth.”
I took a research class in my Master’s course work in college. Our professor taught us about the different between causation and correlation. He also taught us how to check the validity of any study or research. We all know that research can be skewed to prove whatever point the author is trying to make. We know this because there were scientific studies that “proved” smoking wasn’t bad for you, but was actually good for you. We know that anything can be spun to reflect the agenda of the author. So first and foremost, when you are reading anything, CHECK YOUR SOURCES! See who is publishing the information and if there is a chance that they may be skewing the data in their favor. Or making proving their points with half-truths.
Next, and perhaps most important, is the difference between correlation and causation. Correlation states that two things share a pattern. Causation says that one causes the other. For example, my college professor shared this with us, A study was published that said that kids who eat breakfast do better in school. That is a statement of causation. That just because the kids ate breakfast, they automatically did better in school. Logic, however, can help you to see that it may have less to do with the actual eating of breakfast. Perhaps it has more to do with the facts that in homes of those kids who eat breakfast regularly there is more parent involvement in that students life. That in those homes, kids feel safer, they get better sleep and so one. Is there really a direct link between eating breakfast and doing better in school or are they just correlated?
The brain is an amazing thing. It has different sections that cause us to have different reactions. Look at this illustration.
The Mid- Brain and Brainstem are the most primitive part of the brain. This section is completely reaction, not logic. It is our survival instinct and takes over when we feel threatened. It is our “fight or flight” brain and we usually can’t control what comes out of this part of the brain. The next is the Limbic part of the brain. This is where our emotions come into play. Have you ever experienced a situation where your emotions overcame your logic for good or bad? This is a result of your Limbic brain. The Cortex is your thinking brain. This is the part that is responsible for logic and reasoning, the part that learns and adapts and creates and invents.
The body is also amazing, it responds in different ways when we are in our different areas of the brain. When we are in our survival brain our heart beats faster, our sense of danger is heightened our breathing becomes shortened. For many of us there are similar things happening when we are in our emotional brain. Our heart beats faster, our breathing become shallow and faster, our hands start shaking. For many of us we start yelling and stop listening. This is dangerous if you are having an argument with someone. You very often can say things you don’t mean or that don’t make logical sense because you are upset. We all find ourselves victims to this. When emotions and passions are high we don’t think, we react, and most of the time its in a negative way. When we are in our logical brain, we are breathing normal, we are calm and our brains have room to think logically and also hear information from others objectively.