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General advice
In order to get people to think for themselves, question and entertain thoughts without rejecting/accepting them immediatly, people need
to experience how to do just that. That kind of stuff can't just be told it has to be experienced. So I'd like to point your attention to the principle
of "Discovery learning" or "problem-based learning".
There are four methods as described by Jérome Bruner that I'd like to share with you.
1. Induction
When we're presented with new information, we try to align what we learned to all the knowledge we already have. When trying to present someone
information that sounds so outlandish and out of the norm, it can help to reference and draw parallels to things that already are common knowlege.
Luckily, we live in an age with countless stories, movies, series, music and books that most people know about. Movies like "American Ultra" or
"Manchurian Candidate" for example can explain the concept of MKUltra quickly and easily and can give the person you're talking to a concrete
image they can connect the new information to.
I think that's also part of the reason why religions have been so succesful in human history. They give people a set of common ideas everyone can relate to
which makes explaining new ideas easier, because you can relate it to an older idea the person already has.
2. Problem solving
Learning to ask the right questions, formulating hypotheses and finding ways to find the answers you're looking for. Learning to learn.
I think that's what Q is teaching us as well. Asking us questions in order to inspire us to ask questions in a similar fashion. The socratic method if you will.
3. Intuitiv learning
Our intuition is capable of more than we can ever be aware of. 90% of the information we receive is just roughly processed in our subconscious
and never really checked. This allows us to come to conclusions without us knowing how we even got to them.
When we're familiar with something, we can skip thinking-steps and directly have an answer without knowing why.
You shouldn't just blindly trust your gut feeling, but it's important to learn how to fathom our intuition,put it into words and use it as a compass.
4. Intrinsic motivation
As I've already mentioned, people can't just be told to think for themselves, the motivation to do so has to come from within.
A way to evoke motivation is to only present parts of information and leaving the conclusion open. Again, that's something that Q is teaching us.
Saying "Person X did thing Y - why did he do that?" is more motivating than just stating "person X did thing Y for reason Z".
If you only lay the first pieces of the puzzle, the person will be motivated to find out how the finished picture looks like.
In the end, propably none of us really knows the full, complete picture, we just see horrible effects and things that don't
add up, so we try to find the cause.
Just pointing out the things that don't add up without your own opinion, lets the person draw their own conclusion.
It leads to a deeper understanding that really docks in your brain.
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