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I bet you have never considered the question… Is critical thinking and Moral Values a bunch of crap? You might even be thinking if we didn't have these things there would be chaos. Where would be the order? The problem with both of these is they depend on value judgments or value judgements as my cousin spells it. Moral values are created by personal judgments and problem solving skills are done by creative thinking, not critical thinking.

Most often when someone claims to be using critical thinking they are simply criticizing, being critical instead of doing critical problem solving. One of the reasons problem solving skills and creative thinking are left out of the mix and critical problem solving winds up being criticism is because of something very, very basic. It starts when we make a judgement instead of calibrating.

So what is wrong with judging? It depends on if you have what you want to have and if you are being who you want to be or doing what you want to do. The problem with making a judgement is when you do you have formed an opinion or come to a conclusion. And the BIG issue with that is Life does not stop and it constantly changes. And as my Grampa Vetter said, "A judgment is where you have stopped thinking."

There is even famous books and most every spiritual tradition has something very similar, with a quote that most people seem to ignore or justify themselves around…

"Judge not, least ye be not judged." (Something called the "Holy Bible" isn't it?)

Another problem with judgement is it gives one the false sense that the decision they have come to in their mind is accurate for the outside world. To attempt to use critical thinking based on moral values which are based on personal judgment causes one to be way off the mark.

So what should one use instead?

How about… calibration!!!!!

Both judging and calibrating do the same things…
• Evaluate
• Decide
• Measure
• And that is where they stop being similar

The differences between the two are earth shattering. The biggest difference is that judging holds one in prison and calibrating sets one free. Let's compare the two, shall we?

Judgment
• stops thinking
• is about the past
• does not allow adjustments
• is permanent
• measures the future based on the past
• criticizes
• is out of alignment with the universe
• strictly internal

Calibration
• continues thinking
• is about the future
• encourages adjustments
• is temporary
• measures the future based on where you are
• reserves judgement
• is in line with the universe
• uses both the internal and external

The US stock market has even put out a warning about this. "Past performance is no guarantee of future performance."

Judgment energy is created by making a decision of defeat. It takes a specific calibration situation; personalizes it and generalizes that one calibration incident to other calibration situations that are not similar but are perceived as similar.

Judgments are useful for things that are repetitive like opening doors, sitting on chairs, putting gas in the car, etc. They are less than useful in situations with other variables such as the energy of other people and when situations are a part of the mix.

With these new understanding it is easy to…
• increase emotional intelligence,
• improve critical thinking,
• do more creative thinking,
• get better emotional control,
• get a handle on moral values
• control anger management
• increase self-confidence
• remove low self-esteem
• get back confidence
• have self-esteem

It might be useful to begin shifting or judgments to calibration because as long as we base critical thinking and moral values on judging we may have an answer to the opening question we don't like.

Dr. Houston Vetter

Learn about Critical Thinking and Moral Values in "Train Your Thinking" from Dr. Houston Vetter, Master Level proficiency in over 30 different modalities and able to help you succeed in ANY area of your life (mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, psychological, financial, health and relationships) click here http://www.TrainYourThinking.com