I had a professor say something to the effect that College is suppose to teach one how to think. I know that some classes discuss logic or fallacies of logic. One also learns other information about persuasion and propoganda. I also think that the more you know and able to synthesize, the more likely you are able to see insights or patterns. I also think logical thinking is a gift as well that can be honed and advanced but needs to have some natual ability for someone to really excel. I would be interested to know your thoughts about thinking. I would like to learn a lot more about critical thinking myself. My friend on another forum was kind enough to share information about logic. I am tired of thinking at the moment so I will draw this to a close lol.
Thinking and reasoning are very subjective. They are based off of your IQ (mostly genetic), upbringing, culture, education, experiences, peers, jobs, friends, enthusiasm, drugs, and what you let influence your life (talk radio, cable news, internet forums, church, books, and other media). You cannot rid yourself of those, nor should you try.
Recognizing them and their influence on your life is a big step to understanding your own thoughts. Recognizing them in others lives lets you empathize and understand much better.
Thanks Jason. I do agree that it is important to recognize what influences our thinking. I think when I was younger, I was more apart of living and took things more for granted. Now I analyze and take things apart more. I don't know if it is maturation or much more time for introspection and thinking. It is probably a combination.
I feel that I am gifted at seeing on both sides of an issue. Someone that I am related to scores in the genius range on IQ tests and yet is one of the most biased people that I know. But just because someone is very verbal and has an incredible member for history and names does not mean that a person does not have blind spots. In fact we all have blind spots.
I think that the fact that people can identify so much with a party or canidate can influence their thinking.
I found law school very helpful for analysis and critical thinking. It also helped me to learn to think outside of the box, to break things down, separate out issues, and objectivity as well.
It has been interesting in some conversations with people in which the other was unable to understand an issue because they were not able to separate issues or ideas to be able analyze each properly.
I have found that it has given me the ability to remove myself from the equation and look at myself as if I were a third party and then give a critical analysis.
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Lo, there I see my mother, my sisters, my brothers Lo, there I see the line of my people back to the beginning Lo, they call to me, they bid me take my place among them In the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live...forever
I think that one of the most important aspects of critical thinking is the readiness to challenge common assumptions. For instance, in Columbus' day, many believed that the world was flat, even though before the dark ages many had proved that the world was round, and even made a pretty good guess at the circumference of the planet. One Greek guy measured the shadow of a rod in several different geographic locations to get a fairly accurate circumference. But anyway, Columbus was willing to challenge the basic assumptions behind the "earth is flat" common wisdom. He took actions in accordance that have resulted, in many roundabout ways, in great benefit to the people of the world.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
Valhalla, I do think being able to view myself as a third person does help at times with my objectivity. I do think law school would help one really develop critical thinking skills. Ironically, the person that I speak of who is very biased went to law school for two years. They were very good at Mock Court. He can make some very good arguments in a lot of areas.
Arbi, I do think it is good to be able to challenge assumptions. One of my professors stressed how people outside of a specialized field may see insights that someone in a given field would not see.
Thinking and reasoning are very subjective. They are based off of your IQ (mostly genetic), upbringing, culture, education, experiences, peers, jobs, friends, enthusiasm, drugs, and what you let influence your life (talk radio, cable news, internet forums, church, books, and other media). You cannot rid yourself of those, nor should you try.
I disagree. IQ as determined by measurement, usually by the Stanford-Binet (now on its fifth iteration, the SB-5), is a useful tool for predicting academic success and for identifying students who may need intervention. As a rating system for giving a numerical value to a person's "intelligence", it is severely limited in that it only measures working memory, visual-spatial reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and accumulated knowledge. When we say "IQ", we are talking about a very narrow view of intelligence. As far as the other environmental factors mentioned, they certainly influence intelligence but do not form the basis of intelligence. Any intelligence we have is capable of being enlarged, refined, and eventually perfected--beyond the challenges of genetics and environment and beyond the limited and limiting application of IQ measurements.
I've supplemented my education with several courses in philosophy, specifically logic, and with research based primarily in critical theory. However, the best practical guide I have found to improving one's analytical skills is a little paperback book entitled "How to Think Straight: An Introduction to Critical Reasoning" by Antony Flew. My favorite chapter is chapter seven: A Chapter of Errors. It examines the common errors in reasoning employed by most people who argue for a specific position. After studying tht chapter, I found myself smiling at the almost universally idiotic political campaigns.
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The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. - Julie Beck
By far, the most valueable classes I took in college were statistics and logic. Learning about and growing able to identify the differences between facts, belief, truth, knowledge, rhetoric, evidence, persuasion, and proof. Good juju! It has blessed my life incalculably. I think of these classes as the vehicles through which I gained the gift of discernment mentioned in my partriarchical blessing.
LM (none of this, however, has made me less gullible for practical jokes.)
-- Edited by LoudmouthMormon at 08:24, 2007-11-27
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And I'd discuss the holy books with the learned men, seven hours every day. That would be the sweetest thing of all.
Roper, I want to check out that book that you mentioned. I actually get a rise from reading really logical discourse such as Locke or philosophy. However, I have trouble concentrating on their long sentences so it makes for very slow reading with a small chunk at a time. It is such a good feeling to me to read logical thought though.
LM, I never took statistics or logic in school. I have studied about the scientific method though and I think that is beneficial. I may try to learn statistics but there are probably too many symbols to deal with . I think I took a Speech class in the class where a Statistic class was held before and it looked super scary.
