It’s easy to go with your gut reaction and quick form a negative opinion about something. Sometimes that can even lead to a healthy argument. However, if you’re looking to think more critically about those opinions, blogger Dustin Curtis shares his technique of asking three questions before formulating a quick opinion.
Photo by Frederick Dennstedt.
The idea is pretty simple. Your gut lies sometimes, and you shouldn’t always trust it. Curtis’s solution is to check himself before he forms an opinion:
I’ve started forcing myself to ask the other person at least three questions about their opinion. Forming those questions helps me think. Often, my gut negative opinion changes. Sometimes, the questions change the other person’s opinion. There is no downside.
The idea comes from Signal vs Noise’s five-minute rule, but it has the added effect of getting you to actively participate and think critically. If you’re on a quest to become a model internet citizen, the three-questions rule is good to keep in mind.
The Three Questions Rule [Dustin Curtis via @ockhamsbeard]
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