A general assumption or bias about meditation is that it’s all about calming down, taming the mind, and getting more chill  •  but in fact meditation has two components: one is a sense of calming, settling, and being; and the other has to do with enhancing our clarity, our critical thinking, and our ability to question and investigate  •  critical thinking is especially helpful when we are faced with conspiracy theories of all kinds — both the ones we encounter out in the world, and the ones we ourselves cook up  •  meditation practice reveals the jungle of assumptions and thoughts and inner conspiracies that we all have; critical thinking is a way of cutting through that, cutting that underbrush down so that you get to a clearer, more straightforward, and more accurate state of mind  •  we learn to not to be caught in our thoughts, not to believe everything that pops into our mind  •  step-by-step, as we strengthen our mind, we become less gullible, less dull, less caught in negativities, and better able to relate to fresh moments as they arise.