Final answer:
To use our brain efficiently, we must understand its capabilities and the limitations of its design, including cognitive biases. Exploring possibilities and engaging in critical thinking can help manage biases. Practising mental tasks without relying too much on technology fosters cognitive advancements.
Step-by-step explanation:
To use our brain most efficiently, we need to understand its capabilities, as well as its limitations, weaknesses, and preferences. Our brain is an inference machine that has evolved to ensure our survival and reproduction, employing thought, calculation, prediction, and inference. However, this evolution has led to cognitive biases, which are inherent limitations in our thinking processes. Recognizing and managing these biases is crucial for overcoming them and achieving our goals in philosophy, science, and in search of truth.
One approach is to explore possibilities by generating and evaluating potential designs, thereby understanding their characteristics, along with their advantages and disadvantages. This process can reveal the strengths of our cognitive abilities but also highlight the limits to this approach when influenced by cognitive biases. To counter these biases, we can engage in critical reflection, develop good habits of mind, gather information carefully, and evaluate sources critically.
Lastly, by becoming less reliant on technology for simple tasks and practising mental exercises like doing math in our heads, we can increase our mental capacity and mitigate dependency on external aids. This hands-on practice helps us internalize knowledge and become better thinkers.