Chapter 11 good use of your brain

Thinking is solving math problems with facts in your head.Add this fact to that fact and you'll come to some conclusion.Take that fact out of the other and you have one result.Multiply this fact by another fact and you have an exact product.You can calculate a quotient by looking at how many times the same fact occurred within a given period of time. In the process of thinking, you can solve any algebra or geometry problem.That's why math is the best way to exercise your mind.But thinking is also work.Thinking takes energy.Thinking takes time, patience, broad knowledge, and a clear head.

However, no matter how devoid of ideas a person's mind may have been before, the situation will certainly improve as soon as he realizes his own lack of mental power.The first step is to stop thinking of thoughts as "magic of the mind" (to borrow Byron's words) and to see them as they really are—weighing ideas and arranging them in relation to each other.Play around with this definition and see if you learn to think effectively. Habitual thinking is just that—a habit.Doing something over and over becomes a habit.It is easy to form ordinary habits, but it takes more effort to maintain advanced habits.So we find that the habit of thinking only comes from the practice of strong will, and only hard work will produce richer returns.Keep practicing, and though you start out thinking about a subject only an inch deep, you'll soon find that you're a foot deep.

Perhaps this mundane metaphor can teach us how to practice sequential thinking, which we mean connecting a series of independent thinking links together.Take one link at a time and see if each one works in the chain of thought you have arranged, remembering that a missing link means no chain of thought. Thinking is the most fun and exciting of all mental activities.Once you realize that you are asked to express your opinion on something, it doesn't mean that you have to choose between what a doctor wrote and what a professor said, but you have to use your own brain. Come to a conclusion, and you will believe in your ability to speak on the subject, and nothing will shake your mind.Your mind will give you strength and reserve power.