Thoughts are not equal to facts!

“The thinker” sculpture ; Artist: Auguste Rodin

Image source: Wikipedia

This statement means that just because you think something, doesn't automatically make it true; your thoughts are simply your mental interpretations of situations, and may not always reflect objective reality, therefore they are not the same as facts which are verifiable truths.

A fact is something that is known to have happened or to exist, especially something for which evidence exists, or about which there is full-proof information. (2)

Everyone thinks; it is human nature to do so. But much of our thinking, left to itself,
is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed, or down-right prejudiced. Yet the
quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depend precisely
on the quality of our thought. Shoddy thinking is detrimental to science. It also affects the standard of our living. (1)

Your thoughts can be influenced by the religious, political, cultural, traditional and emotional conditioning of your mind. Our thoughts are influenced by our personal experiences, emotions, and biases, making them subjective interpretations rather than absolute truths.

Illusionary? Yes. Even though they are not facts, you think your thought based opinion is correct. You personally think it is a fact but others need not feel the same way.

Most of the time people mention others’ ( great scientists, philosophers, writers, politicians, actors, artists etc.) quotes to authenticate what they say. But as a critical thinker, I find several faults in these quotes too sometimes because these things originated from a sort of thinking that is not critical and are based on these peoples’ faulty thinking processes. Moreover, they may not be relevant to present times. I cannot agree with such old fashioned distorted thinking based opinions or quotes. You might think that is arrogance - not agreeing with great quotes - but only a critical thinker can understand my way of thinking and disagreement based on it.

While meditation can be considered a way to cultivate a more focused and present mindset, it's not necessarily ‘accurate’ to call it the "right thinking way" because it's not about suppressing thoughts but rather observing them without judgment and bringing your attention back to the present moment when your mind wanders; essentially, it's about developing a healthy relationship with your thoughts, not necessarily achieving a state of pure, uninterrupted factual thinking.

To avoid being misled by our own thoughts, it's important to critically evaluate them and consider alternative perspectives.

Therefore, critical thinking is highly recommended in science training. If you don't get this training properly, your education, especially, science education is incomplete and useless.

Recognizing that thoughts are not facts is a key aspect of right thinking, which helps us detach from thought patterns that are going the wrong way and manage our mental make up the correct way.

Thoughts are not equal to ‘refinement’ and ‘just thinking’ doesn’t make you a great person! Therefore, ordinary books/shows based on authors’ points of view are not very good reformers because they need not be true! A thinker need not be an intellectual to follow unless s/he follows the critical and scientific path.

Footnotes:

1. Critical thinking
2. fact