That’s ‘five’ in Latin. I tried to do it in Japanese, but the character wouldn’t show up in my heading when I tried to copy it over. It looks like this (五) and is apparently pronounced like ‘go,’ but maybe further back in your throat than the English pronunciation of ‘go.’ Anywho.
So, I made it through most of the course material before edX gave me the boot. Good news is that I took a LOT of notes (by hand!) to share with you all. Because sharing is caring. So, let’s go.
Notes:
edX course: Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Critical Thinking Basics
Critical Thinking: self-disciplined thinking that attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way; analyzing, assessing, and improving thinking
Effective critical thinkers check their own thinking for things such as:
| accuracy | relevance | significance |
| precision | depth | logic |
| clarity | breadth | fairness |
Five Ways to Improve Critical Thinking, or Ways to Identify Critical Thinkers
- raise vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely
- gather and assess relevant information using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively
- arrive at well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them to verify or reassure that the correct solution has been reached
- remain open-minded and explore alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing (as need be) their own assumptions, possible implications, and practical consequences
- communicate effectively with others to arrive at solutions to complex problems that will be acceptable to many if not all
Critical Thinkers have four core skills:
Curiosity and Creativity: the desire to learn more and seek evidence; being open to new ideas and having a sense of when those new ideas might be combined to create new thinking
Skepticism: having a healthy questioning attitude about new information you’re exposed to and not blindly believing everything you encounter
Humility: it allows the best critical thinker to admit that their opinions and ideas are wrong when facing new, convincing evidence that demonstrates it
Barriers to Critical Thinking
- Ego: self-centered/self-interested thinking and self-serving bias; when it can be hard to see beyond how a particular issue or problem affects you personally
- Groupthink: group-centered thinking; when we tend to want to conform to what others think and, as a result, suffer from a group bias
- Assumptions: our beliefs that we hold to be true without sufficient evidence or justification for holding these ideas; also includes stereotyping
- Wishful thinking: believing that something is true simply because deep down we wish it were true
- Relativism: how we can dismiss an idea because the truth is “just a matter of opinion”; can be because the truth is different from what we know to be true or because the new truth is outside of our own experience or culture–can also be expressed as a fear of change
- Confirmation bias: when we’re not inclined to accept a new idea or truth because it doesn’t conform to our own thinking; can be tied to a fear of embarrassment or a need to save face because the truth is in direct opposition to an idea we’ve publicly expressed (only paying attention to sources that support our stance, ignoring any that conflict with it)
- Poor communication: when we either are incapable of, or choose not to, communicate with all key stakeholders who will be affected by the decision; likely means we don’t have all the information we could have to critically think ahead of making a good decision
We are thinking critically when we recognize emotional impulses, selfish motives, nefarious purposes, or other modes of self-deception and recognize our own assumptions, prejudices, biases, and points of view. Paths to successful critical thinking include: honesty, wisdom, discernment, and the need to distinguish the truth from the lie.
Thoughts:
I kind of feel like I’m talking Critical Thinking to death, but there’s no denying how important it is. I think a lot of it can be distilled down into the concept of metacognition, which we know is just a fancy way of saying ‘thinking about your thinking.’ So, really, just being present in your thoughts as much as possible is what it’s really about, I think. That, and the willingness to call yourself out when you realize that you’re being biased on something. That’s where the humility kicks in.
Do you recall the last time you had to reevaluate your stance on something when new information came to light? How about the last stereotype you bought into, intentionally or not? Think it over and see if you can recognize areas for improvement in your own thought processes. I know I’ve found some areas for improvement in my own, and will almost certainly continue to discover more as time goes by.
I know I said that I’m talking Critical Thinking to death, but just to be clear: this is nowhere near the end of my notes on this class. So, keep an eye out for Parts Six, Seven, and maybe even Eight. I just didn’t want to drown you in ALL of them right now.
See you next time.
-hxrg
Decalcify Your Brain 