Critical Thinking Module 1 PDF

MODULE I : CRITICAL THINKING, THE PARTS OF AND STANDARDS FOR THINKING, AND FAIR- MINDED THINKING  Everyone thinks. It is our nature to do so. But much of our thinking left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed, or downright prejudiced. Yet the quality of our life and that of wha...

MODULE I : CRITICAL THINKING, THE PARTS OF AND STANDARDS FOR THINKING, AND FAIR- MINDED THINKING  Everyone thinks. It is our nature to do so. But much of our thinking left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed, or downright prejudiced. Yet the quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought. Shoddy thinking is costly, both in money and in quality of life. (Paul and elder, 2006:4) Critical thinking is the art of thinking about thinking while thinking to make thinking better. It involves three interwoven phases: it analyzes thinking, it evaluates thinking, and it improves thinking. (Paul and elder, 2014: 1) More often than not, we do not routinely check on our thinking, thinking about how we thought and why we thought so. What does it mean to say that “much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or down-right prejudiced”? How previous thinking on similar things had been successful enslaves thinking to its past. Thinking left to itself usually finds refuge in what is familiar and customary, the comfort zones of being this particular individual with certain priorities and ambitions, of being a member of social groups, and education received. We do not give up our comfort zones easily, given the convenience we normally receive in living through them. This leads us to the root obstacles to critical thinking, what Paul and Elder (2014: 237-8) label as egocentric thinking and sociocentric thinking. “Egocentric thinking emerges from our innate human tendency to see the world in a narrow, self-serving perspective” (ibid, 240). We do not naturally consider the rights, needs, and points of view of others. We do so, however, with respect to ourselves. It is the drive of the individual to maintain and forward itself, even to the extent of stepping on other stakeholders rightfully involved in the issue, practice, or concern I am dealing with. This operates subconsciously. I get to become aware of this innate tendency by learning or being taught to do so, by becoming aware of the mind’s processes by which alternative options were possible, though I thought there were none, or I thought there was only the self-serving course of action to accomplish. Sociocentric thinking is an enlarged form of egocentric thinking. It is the innate human tendency to view the world in relation to the interest of one’s group (ibid, 238). In upholding my schooling or religion as better than other schools or religions, it is still the self-serving agenda that is operating, but doing so together with others. Sociocentric thinking can only be diminished when replaced by cross-cultural, fair- minded thinking. (We will see more on fair-minded thinking in the 3rd section of this module.) Critical thinking is not exclusive to types of thinking and the accompanying action that results from it. It is not exclusive to types of disciplines but has a role in servicing any (whether this be nursing, teaching, running for public office, sports, parenting, studying, etc.). Its scope is as wide as the scope of thinking. As Socrates had already shared with us: the unexamined life is not worth living (Plato, the apology).