"CONFIDENCE CAN BE DANGEROUS AND OBSTACLE TO SEEKING" (Indian yogi)

What are the attributes for “relevant understanding” that we can use as checklist to asses our understanding about any concerned issue:

·      Consider all available data and information

• Collect relevant and reliable data and information (see Module 3)

o   Use already existing data and information (desk research)

o   Do a field research to collect primary data

• Analyze and interpret data using appropriate methods (see below)

• Consider reliability and validity of the available data (see Module 1)

• Do not exclude data that does not confirm your hypothesis

o   Be aware of own confirmation and other biases (see Module 2)

·      Consider all relevant aspects

• Evidence must be always considered in the context and be consistent with other evidence

• Examine the relevance of the evidence and understand the context of the issue

• Identify relevant problem – the real cause of what is perceived as “problematic”

• Understand the actors involved and their perspectives (see Module 2)

• If any relevant aspect of the phenomena has been already shown or proved it does cannot be further overlooked

·      Coherence, causation

• Evidence must be consistent with other evidence and must be weighted by its strength and relevance

• Consider relevant criteria to assess the validity of the arguments

• Coherence of the explanation and the arguments

o   logical coherence and coherence of the data/arguments/theories

o   be aware of manipulative techniques (logical fallacy, false dichotomies) (Module 2)

• Asses the criteria for confirming or eliminating a hypothesis (based on evidence)

o   Evidence should provide prove for causation – that something happened because of something ...intervention (action) leads to certain impact

·      Consistency in the principles

• Be consistent with the arguments and the principles you are using to asses evidence

o   be aware of your biases (do not judge differently based on what you are favor of)

·      Understand assumptions

• When formulating conclusion asses all the necessary assumptions that have to be met to consider the conclusion to be correct (see the Hoop test above)

·  Acknowledge what we know and what we do not know

• Examine and be aware of the limitations of data, interpretation and evidence (see below)

• Consider what are the unknowns

o   Be ready to say: “I do now know” as the worst think is false confidence