Critical Thinking

A look at some of the principles of critical thinking.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• critical thinking
• reason
• evidence
• scepticism
• listening
• evaluating
• empowerment
• problem solving
• false dichotomy
• educational

[The3nlightened0ne]

Is critical thinking synomous with 'outside-the-box' thinking, sir?

[QualiaSoup]

@The3nlightened0ne "Is critical thinking synomous with 'outside-the-box' thinking"

I wouldn't say the two were synonymous, no, because there's too little agreement about what's /in/ the box. For some people, 'thinking outside the box' means disregarding evidence. New ways of thinking about a problem can have value, but many established methods have enduring value.

[TheGeneralCritic]

@thefreedomartist I definitely agree that the brain is incredibly adept at creating lifelike illusions; I've heard things that weren't there, seen things that weren't there, etc. Sometimes I'll completely zone out when playing Team Fortress 2, and for those hours, I am the Spy or the Engineer, etc. So it's not at all fantastic to believe that your brain can do the things you're talking about. :V

[thefreedomartist]

@TheGeneralCritic ...i get you and mostly agree...not to keep on with this but, what about when i am painting, it can very very complex, but i do not have to use "word-thoughts" to do it...in fact, even Raphael, and others, were noted to have said/felt that they think about something else whil they are painting...food for thought, (isn't that a funny expression, and not without irony concerning our topic : D)

[TheGeneralCritic]

@thefreedomartist These children can be taught various basic concepts and can even learn sign language, but I am not sure if they can ever understand higher-order thinking such as logic, critical thinking, etc. They might use it in the same intuitive way all humans use logic (if A, then B/ if I put my hand on fire, I get burned) or critical thinking, but I'm not sure if they'll be able to actively think about HOW they use it without some form of language.

[TheGeneralCritic]

@thefreedomartist True. Look up 'wild children'; there have been many children in the world who were brought up in the wild, or abused and never learned language. Language learning begins in the very early stages of life, when the brain has about 5 million more connections than it does in adulthood. These connections allow the learning of a language, and it is incredibly hard to learn it after the window of opportunity passes. This is why learning a 2nd Language is hard.

[thefreedomartist]

@TheGeneralCritic thanx, i'll check it out...yes i can see why the "strong form" was mostly abandoned, as i know for a fact through my own art experience, that the thought processes i have do not require words...

...let's imagine a child that was never taught language, or a child that had not yet learned words...that child still does what we call "reasoning and discrimination", even if those thought processes are not tied to language...there is thought without words...thanx

[TheGeneralCritic]

@thefreedomartist What you seem to be talking about is a concept known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. The hypothesis basically states that a person's 'mother' language shapes the way they perceive the world. It's strong form (i.e., language completely shapes thought) has been mostly abandoned because experimental support was lacking. For more info, go to Wikipedia and look it up.

[thefreedomartist]

@TheGeneralCritic ...appreciate you thoughtful response, what are you thoughts about thoughts being tied to words? and as i mentioned before, i see the existence of a kind of thought that does not require words...

[TheGeneralCritic]

@thefreedomartist Similarly, human beings who are adept at the process of critical thinking can make 'quick' decisions that are rational and logical because they have trained themselves to look at arguments and problems using a critical thinking process. This also takes years of practice.

So what I'm saying, in a roundabout way, is that even 'quick' thinking can and should be governed by critical thought.

[TheGeneralCritic]

@thefreedomartist Hitting a baseball correctly requires certain muscles to be exercised at certain times. This takes practice. In the same way, thinking in a critical manner takes practice.

If you ever watch professional baseball players, they can hit a baseball with incredible accuracy without much visible effort; all the effort has already been put in to make their batting swing automatic. They don't have to think about the movements anymore, they just DO them.

[thefreedomartist]

so, i think in some ways, "word-thoughts" are overated, but i am not limited to using them at times?...to put it another way, if i will scoff at words, how will i scoff, save in terms of language? i maintain that i could scoff in a non linguistic way, but using words has become so ingrained in me...

...consider too, the virtue of "quick" thinking, hasn't it saved us many times from a desperate situation? anyway...