如何独立思考/ How to Think Independently

想了很久，还是决定这个博客的第一篇用来写这个题目。

After serious considerations, I decided to use my first post on this blog talking about this topic.

我写这篇文章的初衷也只是希望可以让人们能静下来想一想。想一想是不是有过人云亦云，是不是有时候的道听途说被自己信以为真，并且还继续告诉了别人，后来才发现是虚惊一场？如果这种事情常发生的话，就证明独立思考的能力还欠缺。

The original intention of this post is hoping that more people can calm down and think about it. Think if parroting other's thoughts happens often? Think if often the false hearsay and gossip spread with the speed of light? If the answer is yes, the ability to think independently is lacking.

看上去是老生常谈的话题，从小老师家长都在教育孩子们要独立思考，但这世上真正做到了独立思考的人又有多少呢？那些教育孩子们的老师和家长们，他们真的明白独立思考的意义吗？虽然教育者对被教育者的影响是不可小觑的，但是生而为人的自主意念也不应该被刻意忽视掉。而这则是独立思考的第一步，认识自己的意志。

It may seem as a clichés to talk about, parents and teachers loved educating the young ones to think independently. But how many people really act as they said in the real world? Do the teachers and the parents who educate children fully understand the meaning of critical thinking? Although the huge influence of educators on the educated ones can not be ignored, the self consciousness of the little ones should not be neglected either. Well, that is the first step in thinking independently, knowing one's own will.

认清自己的内心所想的第一步就是质疑。质疑得到的消息。首先，要明白的是每个人得到的信息是不对等的，这也就出现了信息本身就是有片面性的这一问题。而解决这一问题的关键一步就是对信息的真实性打一个问号。先要考察信息来源，看看信息的来源是不是存在不真实的可能性，是否是官方信息，是否该来源有这些信息的认证机制。然后经过不同的途径寻找信息，看得到的结果是否一致。比如某个药厂赞助做了个实验，说他们的药品比其他药厂的产品疗效要好好几倍。也许他们投资的是有实验资质的实验员和实验室，但是他们的赞助有可能会成为影响实验结果的决定因素，如果没有别的独立实验室调查显示同样的结果，那么这个宣称就不应该被百分百相信。

The first step in realizing one's own will is to question and doubt in the information received. First of all, it is important to keep in mind that the information each individual receives is not equal (sometimes not even correct at all!) and that makes information having the natural so-called as "information asymmetry". The key to solving this problem is to put a question mark on the authenticity of the information. Examine the sources of information to see if the source of the information is trustful. Is the source official? Does the source has the right and authenticity to publish such information? Then, try using different sources to verify the given information, see if the results are consistent. For example, a pharmaceutical company sponsored an experiment, said that their drug products works way better than other pharmaceutical products. Maybe they invest in accredited labs and using pharmacists, but its sponsorship can be a suspicious factor in the result of the experiment, and if no other independent lab studies show the same result, the claim should not be taken serious on a full score.

在确定了信息的真实性过后，下一步便是将这些真实的信息整合起来。所谓的整合起来，就是将一个个的点串联成线，一条条线织在一起造成具有价值的整体。这里的整合听起来简单，好像把所有的信息都放在一起就可以了。实则不然，要针对明确的最终目标筛选真正有价值的信息。就每个个体来说有可能他们提供的信息从他们的角度出发都是真实的，但是信息不对成局限了他们可以提供的真实，这也就会出现有些信息相矛盾的状况。不要紧张，有相矛盾的信息是件好事情，因为这说明其中有值得深究值得讨论的地方，而这种信息点有时往往是解决问题的关键。

After determining the authenticity of the information, the next step is to integrate them together, Lining up the dots and drawing up the lines together into an article. It may sound simple, as if just adding up all the information. Actually, one have to dive in and filter out only the valuable information. For each individual (or information source), it is possible that the information they provide is true from their point of view, but the information asymmetry limits the truth they can provide and there may be situations in which some information is contradictory. Do not be nervous. Conflicting information sometimes is the key, because it shows where needs discussion, and sometimes such information is often the crux of the problem.

整合了真正有价值的信息后，怎么运用这些信息，便是独立思考的最终目的，将有用的信息变成智慧和财富。

After the integration of valuable information, how to use the information is the ultimate goal of independent thinking, transferring the useful information into wisdom and wealth.

希望我的文章有所帮助。也希望读者们可以带着独立思考的心情来看我之后的文章。谢谢。

Hope my article helps. Please using this independent thinking skill to read my future posts. Thank you.