My official blog and website is now at
http://www.thinkingtowardsurvival.com/
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
"Critical thinking is..."
From my travels online it is evident that people have very different ideas of what critical thinking is.
Some think CT is the same as scientific thinking. Others believe it is most important for citizens who are constantly bombarded by advertising, spin, and propaganda.
Some find it in debunking popular beliefs or pseudoscience.
Some define it in terms of formal logic, truth tables, and Venn diagrams--others in terms of informal logic and avoiding popular fallacies.
Some use the alleged lack of CT to bludgeon people they disagree with, even though their own argument is on shaky ground.
One concise definition of CT is this, by Richard Paul and Linda Elder in The Miniature Guide to Crtical Thinking Concepts and Tools:
"Critical thinking is that mode of thinking--about any subject, content, or problem--in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them."
(See more definitions at www.criticalthinking.org/aboutct/define_critical_thinking.cfm)
This puts the responsibility back on the thinker rather than the person the thinker is debating or making fun of. It emphasizes a conscious and perhaps continuous self-improvement. Is that too hard? Not enough fun? Does it give a full picture of CT?
Some think CT is the same as scientific thinking. Others believe it is most important for citizens who are constantly bombarded by advertising, spin, and propaganda.
Some find it in debunking popular beliefs or pseudoscience.
Some define it in terms of formal logic, truth tables, and Venn diagrams--others in terms of informal logic and avoiding popular fallacies.
Some use the alleged lack of CT to bludgeon people they disagree with, even though their own argument is on shaky ground.
One concise definition of CT is this, by Richard Paul and Linda Elder in The Miniature Guide to Crtical Thinking Concepts and Tools:
"Critical thinking is that mode of thinking--about any subject, content, or problem--in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them."
(See more definitions at www.criticalthinking.org/aboutct/define_critical_thinking.cfm)
This puts the responsibility back on the thinker rather than the person the thinker is debating or making fun of. It emphasizes a conscious and perhaps continuous self-improvement. Is that too hard? Not enough fun? Does it give a full picture of CT?
Thursday, July 3, 2008
In Memoriam
Ron Rockwell, who wrote the guest post on June 15, left us on June 30.
Ron was a deep, reflective and divergent thinker able to draw on his experiences of several vocations--scientist, Navy commander, journalist, and more.
He will be missed.
Ron was a deep, reflective and divergent thinker able to draw on his experiences of several vocations--scientist, Navy commander, journalist, and more.
He will be missed.
Critical Thinking Definitions
We need a good working definition of critical thinking. I used these in Models, Myths and Muddles:
"Thinking about your thinking while you're thinking in order to make your thinking better."
(Richard Paul, Think, http://www.criticalthinking.org/)
I like this one because it is a reminder to be aware similar to what we do in many other areas of our life. For instance, years ago a friend told me that I tended to lug the motor while driving--I think that's what you call it when you shift to the next higher gear too soon. So I made myself aware every time I started up the car that I'd wait until going 20 mph to shift to second gear. In the same way, you could make yourself aware that you tend to divide many issues into either/or and try to break the habit.
"A systematic process for separating truth from fiction. It bears many resemblances to the scientific method, but is more applicable to the vague and incomplete information one faces in daily life." (Adam Wiggins, http://dusk.org/adam/criticalthinking/whatis.php) I like the way this definition separates CT from the scientific method and gives it its own domain. Some blogs such as http://skeptoid.com/ apparently assume that everything is either science or it's pseudo-science, which is to say, complete nonsense. There are a lot of in-between areas of life that science doesn't touch and you can't exactly experiment with.
Another website about CT is: www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/06/define-critical-thinking-skills.html So far on this site posters are emphasizing logic courses as taught in college, including informal logic which is a lot more important for everyday and the average citizen than syllogisms or Truth Tables.
But Wikipedia's entry notes there's more to it yet: "Part of critical thinking comprises informal logic. However, a large part of critical thinking goes beyond informal logic and includes assessment of beliefs and identification of prejudice, bias, propaganda, self-deception, distortion, misinformation, etc."
This broader use of the CT term is what I have been writing about in my books. However, once you start to get into the areas of ideologies and politics, it is very easy to get off-track and think you are talking about logic and critical thinking when you are simply espousing your opinions. In another post I'd like to analyze a very long thread about critical thinking on http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/critical-times-for-critical-thinking/ which contains some good insights but also many examples of people getting off-track and ideological. It seems to be more fun to ride your favorite hobbyhorse and call it critical thinking than to actually think critically.
"Thinking about your thinking while you're thinking in order to make your thinking better."
(Richard Paul, Think, http://www.criticalthinking.org/)
I like this one because it is a reminder to be aware similar to what we do in many other areas of our life. For instance, years ago a friend told me that I tended to lug the motor while driving--I think that's what you call it when you shift to the next higher gear too soon. So I made myself aware every time I started up the car that I'd wait until going 20 mph to shift to second gear. In the same way, you could make yourself aware that you tend to divide many issues into either/or and try to break the habit.
"A systematic process for separating truth from fiction. It bears many resemblances to the scientific method, but is more applicable to the vague and incomplete information one faces in daily life." (Adam Wiggins, http://dusk.org/adam/criticalthinking/whatis.php) I like the way this definition separates CT from the scientific method and gives it its own domain. Some blogs such as http://skeptoid.com/ apparently assume that everything is either science or it's pseudo-science, which is to say, complete nonsense. There are a lot of in-between areas of life that science doesn't touch and you can't exactly experiment with.
Another website about CT is: www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/06/define-critical-thinking-skills.html So far on this site posters are emphasizing logic courses as taught in college, including informal logic which is a lot more important for everyday and the average citizen than syllogisms or Truth Tables.
But Wikipedia's entry notes there's more to it yet: "Part of critical thinking comprises informal logic. However, a large part of critical thinking goes beyond informal logic and includes assessment of beliefs and identification of prejudice, bias, propaganda, self-deception, distortion, misinformation, etc."
This broader use of the CT term is what I have been writing about in my books. However, once you start to get into the areas of ideologies and politics, it is very easy to get off-track and think you are talking about logic and critical thinking when you are simply espousing your opinions. In another post I'd like to analyze a very long thread about critical thinking on http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/critical-times-for-critical-thinking/ which contains some good insights but also many examples of people getting off-track and ideological. It seems to be more fun to ride your favorite hobbyhorse and call it critical thinking than to actually think critically.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
CT Blogs
I've been journeying around the Web to see some sites billed as "critical thinking blogs." So far, most fall into these classes:
Skeptic/debunkers
Skeptic/debunkers
People promoting college logic courses, Truth Tables and Venn diagrams
New Atheists
Ideologies defending themselves. Naturally they assume critical thinking is on their side and it is the other guy who doesn't use it.
Those actually talking about CT as it is most generally understood
People know that we need more critical thinking but part of the problem is that many of us are not sure what it IS.
So probably the first item on the agenda is to attempt to define critical thinking. (Anyone like to do a guest post on that?)
New Atheists
Ideologies defending themselves. Naturally they assume critical thinking is on their side and it is the other guy who doesn't use it.
Those actually talking about CT as it is most generally understood
People know that we need more critical thinking but part of the problem is that many of us are not sure what it IS.
So probably the first item on the agenda is to attempt to define critical thinking. (Anyone like to do a guest post on that?)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
