your thinking really is.

A large stock of definitions will help you to think rapidly. Standing
as they do for a large group of experiences, definitions are a means of
mental economy. For illustration of their service in reasoning, suppose
you were asked to compare the serf, the peon and the American slave. If
you have a clean-cut definition of each of these terms, you can readily
differentiate between them, but if you cannot define them, you will
hardly be able to reason concerning them.

The second means of clarifying ideas is classification. By this is
meant the process of grouping similar ideas or similar points of ideas.
For example, your ideas of serf, peon and slave have some points in
common. Group the ideas, then, with reference to these points. Then in
reasoning you can quickly place an idea in its proper group.

The third stage of the reasoning process is decision, based on belief,
and it comes inevitably, provided the other two processes have been
performed rightly. Accordingly, we need say little about its place in
study. One caution should be pointed out in making decisions. Do not
make them hastily on the basis of only one or two facts. Wait until you
have canvassed all the ideas that bear importantly upon the case. The
masses that listen top eagerly to the demagogue do not err merely from
lack of ideas, but partly because they do not utilize all the facts at
their disposal. This fault is frequently discernible in impulsive
people, who notoriously make snap-judgments, which means that they
decide before canvassing all the evidence. This trait marks the
fundamental difference between superficial and profound thinkers. The
former accept surface facts and decide immediately, while the latter
refuse to decide until after canvassing many facts.