Session Eight Worksheet:
Unfriending Chicken Little

Objective:
Unlearn sky-is-falling indoctrination that breeds fear.

Pivot toward critical thinking.

Rethink It:
Move from Fear to Critical Thinking

When Chicken Little is constantly in our ear, telling us how scared we should be, it blocks our ability to think critically. We let fear, not quality reasoning, rule. Between the media, people in power, and our own tendencies to make errors, we need to find and use our mindful lens to ensure we are living out intellectual virtues that help keep us from thinking the sky is falling, and instead look for rainbows on the horizon.

Critical Thinking Check

• Are there any Chicken Littles in my life? Do their messages get to me? Are there any forms of sky-is-falling indoctrination stew baiting me in my life that need to be purged and eliminated from my diet?
• What resources do I have that help me stay off the yellow brick road, and instead steer clear of the dominator’s ideologies? Is there anyone with whom I can join forces?
• Of the reasons that Drs. Elder and Paul say we tend to believe things, which ones do I typically fall into (e.g., It’s true because I believe it, we believe it, I want to believe it)?
• What steps can I take to go beyond my first instincts to believe something?
• Which intellectual value(s) do I already demonstrate? Which one(s) do I need to work on the most?

Action Steps:
Lick Your Way to the Center

Critical thinking requires us to take time to rethink our impulses to believe what we are being baited with, or to go to one source alone. It helps us ensure that we are engaging in a process that fosters intellectual virtues and upholds standards in which we can have more confidence. To accomplish this, try the following:

1. Lay off the Chicken Little stew. There’s plenty of good to be found when we look for it. It doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of problems, but we can look for positive data sources and news to help balance the predominant negativity. Take time to review news stories from positive news sites or credible sources such as the BBC. Don’t limit yourself to local lead-and-bleed sources.

2. Get off the yellow brick road. Revisit your VIA and SWOT analysis to reflect on your character strengths and values. Remember that you don’t need to be ruled by an expert or leader. You can wield your mindful lens to tune in and see beyond their tactics and take control of your own thinking and behavior. When you link arms with fellow travelers in this way, it helps push back against systemic forces that get in the way of moving us closer to the good life.

3. Hold onto your pop. Don’t fall for the impulses of your mind. Mindfulness takes us further than mindlessness. We are inundated with constant fear-factor information, filling up our feeds and flooding our minds. Take time to look at varied sources and put information up to the test of intellectual standards. Don’t make quick assumptions or judgments or take information from one person, group, or place. Pick an intellectual value to work on for at least a week. Take notice of information you are presented, and take the time to think through it before making assumptions. Adopt a skeptimistic lens that asks questions, stays optimistic, and works together with varied sources to help you see and do better.