Coaching practices for Evidence Based Thinking
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Evidence Based Thinking, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I want to know whether the evidence actually changed my mind or just confirmed where I already landed
- I want to lay this recurring thought out and actually weigh it like a fair judge
- Someone stated something with total confidence and I just nodded and built on it
- My mind only ever collects the evidence that proves the worst version is true and quietly throws out everything that doesn’t fit
- I’m leaning hard on the evidence that lines up with what I want to be true and brushing off the rest
Practices that may help
- State your prior probability before seeing the evidence
Before looking at any data, commit to a numerical estimate of how likely something is.
Bayesian Thinking: How to Update Beliefs Rationally - Examine the evidence for and against the thought
Treat the thought as a hypothesis and find the actual evidence on both sides.
Cognitive Restructuring: The CBT Method for Changing Unhelpful Thoughts - Probe for evidence behind claims
Ask "what evidence supports that?" before accepting any factual or evaluative claim.
Socratic Questioning - Bayesian Thinking: How to Update Beliefs Rationally
Bayesian thinking is the practice of holding beliefs as probabilities and updating them systematically when new evidence arrives — rather than treating beliefs as simply true or false. The mathematical framework is well established; the challenge is building the habits of explicit probability estimation and honest belief updating that make it practical. - Examine the evidence for and against the hot thought
List what genuinely supports the thought and what genuinely contradicts it — as if building a case in court.
The Thought Record: CBT’s Core Self-Examination Tool - Evaluate evidence by its likelihood ratio, not by how it makes you feel
Ask how much more likely this evidence would be if you’re right versus if you’re wrong.
Bayesian Thinking: How to Update Beliefs Rationally - Update beliefs by degrees, not wholesale
Treat new information as evidence that shifts probabilities, not as proof that changes everything.
Base-Rate Neglect: Why We Ignore the Odds - Examine the evidence for and against
Test the thought like a hypothesis: what actually supports it, and what argues against it?
Cognitive Reframing, Made Practical - Apply the same evidence standard regardless of whether you like the conclusion
Grade the evidence before you know which conclusion it supports.
Motivated Reasoning - Actively seek evidence that would disconfirm your belief
Ask: "What would change my mind?" and then look for exactly that.
Bayesian Thinking: How to Update Beliefs Rationally
Related concerns
- How To Evaluate Evidence Fairly
Grade the evidence before you know which conclusion it supports.
Apply the same evidence standard regardless of whether you like the conclusion
- Bayesian Evidence Strength
Ask how much more likely this evidence would be if you’re right versus if you’re wrong.
Evaluate evidence by its likelihood ratio, not by how it makes you feel
- Probe Evidence Critical Thinking
Ask "what evidence supports that?" before accepting any factual or evaluative claim.
Probe for evidence behind claims
- What Counts As Evidence
Ask how much more likely this evidence would be if you’re right versus if you’re wrong.
- When Bayesian Thinking Prior Probability Estimation
Before looking at any data, commit to a numerical estimate of how likely something is.
State your prior probability before seeing the evidence
- Balanced Thinking
Write a more accurate thought that incorporates all the evidence — not a positive spin, but the actual picture.
Generate a balanced alternative thought
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.