CRITICAL THINKING ...Why we have it, and they don't

(this was actually posted in GD, and I am copying it verbatim for the Lounge, because I think it would be an interesting discussion here as well, and it appears to have died in GD)


CRITICAL THINKING encompasses the entire process of obtaining, comprehending, analyzing, evaluating, internalizing, and acting upon knowledge and values.

Critical Thinking means correct thinking in the pursuit of relevant and reliable knowledge and values about the world. Critical Thinking is reasonable, reflective, responsible, and skillful thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do.

A person who thinks critically can ask appropriate questions, gather relevant information, efficiently and creatively sort through this information, reason logically from this information, and come to reliable and trustworthy conclusions about the world that enable one to live and act successfully in it.

end quote...


http://www.freeinquiry.com/critical-notes.html

have little value in this equation? :shrug:

(The term "correct thinking" makes me nervous.)

a conclusion is reached. If one reaches a conclusion based on faulty assumptions or correct assumptions with faulty reasoning, the result one can expect is hardly a result of correct thinking although accidents can happen. But, relying on healthy accidents is a "numbers game" so to speak. Sooner or later an unhealthy accident will result.

edited for really bad typing

Do you agree that some people reach "right" conclusions simply by navigating by vibe (or intuition)?

When are you and/or Forrest coming to Switzerland? :hug:

"feelings" Intuition according to my hard copy dictionary is "the direct perception of truth." Vibe can be that. On the other hand, one can get creepy vibes from a person and later find out they had a stroke or brain injury which made their behavior seem "creepy." Was that the direct perception of truth?

What I do know is that questioning all of this makes for more thought than answering it.

Oh..and to your last question....in summer would be nice :D

The title was something to the effect of, 'Don't think twice, it's alright.' The argument of the article was that if you analyze things too much, you move further away from how you really feel about the subject. The author called it naval gazing. I call it analysis paralysis and have been quilty of getting so lathered up slicing the emotions of how I feel about something that I get a stewed in psychological baggage.

Later i was reading the chapter on Beckett in Theater of the Absurd (you have to love those temping receptionist jobs) and the term naval gazing came up again but in the sense that an artist must look inward as opposed to outward because the artist tendency is not 'expansive as much as it is a contraction.'

In the course of one day I was confronted how at times I think too much, and others not enough.

In regards to "correct critical thinking' as worded by this post, I'm with Heidi, that language makes me nervous. 'appropriate questions' and living a successful life also seem a little formulaic and dogmatic.

These are completely subjective descriptions. Sorry, but any attempt to describe critical thinking using terms like this, well, it isn't critical thinking.

Critical thinking is what jesuits teach, and what they think in law school. This quote is an example of the opposite, fuzzy, emotional thinking, more wishful thinking than critical thinking.

because it was the author's editorial ABOUT critical thinking. However, a perusal of his site demonstrates that he really DOES mean critical thinking is logical reasoning. The ability to reason deductively never really harmed anyone to my knowledge.

But I do agree. The author was a bit fuzzy, emotional and full of himself when editorializing. One can reasonably deduce that he must be great fun at a party :sarcasm:

1. Sensorimotor stage (Infancy). In this period (which has 6 stages), intelligence is demonstrated through motor activity without the use of symbols. Knowledge of the world is limited (but developing) because its based on physical interactions / experiences. Children acquire object permanence at about 7 months of age (memory). Physical development (mobility) allows the child to begin developing new intellectual abilities. Some symbollic (language) abilities are developed at the end of this stage.
2. Pre-operational stage (Toddler and Early Childhood). In this period (which has two substages), intelligence is demonstrated through the use of symbols, language use matures, and memory and imagination are developed, but thinking is done in a nonlogical, nonreversable manner. Egocentric thinking predominates
3. Concrete operational stage (Elementary and early adolescence). In this stage (characterized by 7 types of conservation: number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area, volume), intelligence is demonstarted through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects. Operational thinking develops (mental actions that are reversible). Egocentric thought diminishes.
4. Formal operational stage (Adolescence and adulthood). In this stage, intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. Early in the period there is a return to egocentric thought. Only 35% of high school graduates in industrialized countries obtain formal operations; many people do not think formally during adulthood.


The bolded piece shows the difference - many of "them" cannot go past the concrete stage - much as our pResident, there is only black and white to them.

Of course, some will say he is stuck int he pre-operational phase. :7