Thinking about Thinking
I have never really been one to think about what I'm actually thinking, if this makes any sense? Being a type "A" personality I have always been somewhat impatient, and very time-conscience which speeds up my thought process and allows me to move on to my next task swiftly, so it was no surprise that when I began reading the text Critical Thinking by Alec Fisher for my Humanities class I was terrified because I knew nothing on the subject.
This week's reading in particular was very enlightening to me for the fact that in order to understand the reasoning and thought process of evaluating arguments I must recognize and distinguish the differences between claims. Whether they be factual or not. A huge task for someone who is used to taking people and what they claim at face value. This meant that I had to actually look beyond what people claim and consider the source, looking beyond the biases, beyond opinion and beyond beliefs. For example, take our first question...
"Those who know how, work for those who know why" What does this phrase mean and how is it related to critical thinking? This is a good question and one that provokes a bit of thought and is a nugget of wisdom. In my opinion I think this phrase makes the statement that separates the "doers" from the "thinkers" or the bigger question is knowing the why behind the big picture, take for example a director who makes films, he engages in making the film happen, possibly as a creative outlet, however it is the industry executives that know the why behind the making of the film, the so-called bigger picture, which in this case is that if the film is successful it will bring in money as well as notoriety and much more and in way the executives are the critical thinkers that need to know the why behind the how. I found this video on youtube and thought it summed up some things about critical thinking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuC3Vd7YBDk
Why are so many people uncomfortable with the idea that many problems don't have a single solution? I can only answer this question from my own perspective, but I think that many people including myself want to solve things and when there is more than one solution it complicates things in a sense. There can be many approaches to problem solving, depending on the actual nature of the problem itself. Clarifying, analyzing and identifying are key elements to understanding and solving a problem.
The current issue of immigration is a great example of the difference in opinions and wide spectrum of solutions people have toward the issue. For example Tony Kondaks a writer for Americanthinker.com Say's "The solution is easy and immediate...and it lies in the hands of the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and the Democratic President: Repeal Section" which basically reads that every alien eighteen years and older must possess at all times their alien registration certificate and any alien that does not carry this certificate be guilty of a misdemeanor and could face penalty and possibly jail. My question would be, does this law help bring a solution to illegal immigration? Absolutely not! Although Tony makes a good argument and although a repeal may stop racial profiling for a time it does not solve the problem at hand which is an overflow of illegal immigrants in the United States.
Nathan Thornburgh the senior editor of Time magazine believes that "Amnesty: is the solution to immigration debate, he argues that "what are the alternatives to letting illegals stay? Deporting millions? Devising other punishments? Doing nothing at all? Amnesty is a good thing for Arizona, and many agree with Nathan, such as Senator John Kerry and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Whether or not amnesty is the true solution to the immigration problem is left to be seen, one thing is for certain...The issue has caused a lot of controversy for both sides.
Should reasoning skills be taught in primary school?
Yes, I believe that children should be taught from a young age for many reasons, first it enables them to transfer information to and from long term memory. Secondly, it helps them with the problem solving process and thirdly, it helps them with their composing skills, both written and oral. Overall it enables a child to hone in on their critical thinking skills from an early age. In an article in the New York Times
Dr. Gareth Matthews says "Young children very often engage in reasoning that professional philosophers can recognize as philosophical, but typically their parents or teachers don't react in a way that encourages them." Dr. Matthews makes a good point, and some would say "that's cute" but don't go any further than that, thus not putting much more into the idea that children can learn and benefit from the critical thinking process from a young age.
In conclusion I have to say that critical thinking and reasoning skills play a huge role in the decision-making process and combining information that helps one to decide the most appealing choice and ultimately making the best choice in any given situation and helping the process of problem solving.
Works Cited
Kondaks, Tony. "American Thinker Blog: The Solution to Arizona's Immigration Law Lies in Democrats' Hands."
American Thinker. 03 May 2010. Web. 20 Oct. 2010.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/05/the_solution_to_arizonas_immig.html.
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