What is Critical Thinking?

[O Latin]

What is "critical thinking"?

I read all the time about how the Duggars/other fundies/whoever don't have any critical thinking skills, which are so, so, soooooooo important, but I have no idea what it means. I've been hesitant to ask, because, as a senior in college, this is apparently a skill I should have acquired by now and I don't want to sound dumb, but I can't take it anymore. I'm dying to know what this all important life skill refers to.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure I first saw this on Redheaded Skeptic's blog, so hat tip to her. It looks a little silly, but I think the commentary is awesome.

6OLPL5p0fMg

[pebbles]

Critical Thinking was actually a compulsory subject for A-level in my college. Here's some test papers and answers to give you an idea.

http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/gce/hss/critical_thinking/documents/index.html

[cjsmom]

It's one of those things that's being over-used to the point that it's almost becoming meaningless. The best I can come up with as a public secondary school teacher is the ability to question information and not blindly accept it as truth.

It's looking at a website, and being able to tell if it has the information necessary to fulfill the requirements of the assignment. It's using your common sense. It's the opposite of 'because the Bible tells me so!'. It's about reading the inside of a book jacket by Glenn Beck and wanting to vomit instead of buy all his other books and watching/listening to his shows.

[fundiefan]

Critical thinking is questioning what you read or are told and not accepting it as fact just because someone said it or any other reason. Seeing that something may be true or false, or even somewhere in between. Looking at something from another perspective and through different points of view. What is the context in which it is stated and what could be the motives/values/beliefs behind it?

Well, it's basically that in a sort of nutshell.

[VodouDoll]

http://www.criticalreading.com/critical_thinking.htm

This sums it up pretty well.

[thoughtful]

I'm pretty sure I first saw this on Redheaded Skeptic's blog, so hat tip to her. It looks a little silly, but I think the commentary is awesome.

6OLPL5p0fMg

I like it!

[PBrooke]

A fundie (or a child, say) might read The Secret Garden and take every word at face value. Someone applying critical thinking might wonder if the descriptions of the people from India or the moors might be skewed because they're from Mary's spoiled point of view, or in fact by the time and place of the author.

[Guest Anonymous]

I like it!

I do, too! I think anyone who has an interest in critical thinking and five minutes should watch it.

[VodouDoll]

That's a great video! OLatin, as a senior in college, those are skills your professors should be actively cultivating and encouraging/requiring you to use in all of your research and coursework.

[Rosa]

It's the opposite of 'because the Bible tells me so!'. .

That! Critical thinking is evaluating evidence and coming to an answer that way, instead of parroting authorities.

[antifundie]

I'm guessing that you, O Latin, already do think critically even if you don't know that's what you're doing.

The funny thing about fundies is that they will say that they train their kids to think critically, but they don't. While I don't know that PS or college profs will say outright that they are trying to accomplish that, but they do. Fundie critical thinking goes like this: "President A Doesn't believe in the Bible, therefore, everything out of his mouth isn't true." At least, that's how I was taught.

I've had kids in college say things like "But it's printed in a book, so it must be true!" No. Not so.

[Rosa]

I've seen evidence O Latin practices critical thinking, in her writing, so I would guess her professors aren't talking about it specifically, they're just demonstrating/expecting it.

[O Latin]

Thanks for the replies. That video was helpful, although it came across as a bit stuck up to me. I guess I bristle a little bit whenever critical thinking comes up for a few reasons.

1) It sounds like one of those business-y phrases like "thinking outside the box" that are only used by people who don't have the first clue how to think for themselves. Not that anyone here is like that, that's just the image that comes to my mind when I hear the phrase.

2) I get the idea that a lot of people want it applied to religion, that they think if the fundies would just apply some critical thinking it would be perfectly obvious that God doesn't exist/the Bible is full of shit/creation is false/whatever. I understand where that's coming from, because obviously no one is going to be able to use logic and evidence to prove that God exists. But I have a problem with the implication that anyone who believes in God/goes to church/reads the Bible automatically accepts whatever they're told and never questions or thinks for themselves.

3) Even leaving religion out of it, I don't think that logic and reason are always the 100% best way to make decisions. I sometimes make decisions based on a "gut feeling" even if every reasonable part of me says it's wrong, and those usually turn out to be the best decisions I've ever made. Critical thinking doesn't seem to take into account the fact that we are driven by feelings and emotion and that isn't always a bad thing.

[forever ago]

I've seen evidence O Latin practices critical thinking, in her writing, so I would guess her professors aren't talking about it specifically, they're just demonstrating/expecting it.

Indeed. It's something that we public-school hoodlums are expected to do; it's never fully explained properly. You just do it. Usually on worksheets there's "critical thinking" exercises. None of them ever state what critical thinking is. It's become a near-meaningless buzzword in public education; in fundie education it's an absolutely meaningless word.

[xDreamerx]

A fundie (or a child, say) might read The Secret Garden and take every word at face value. Someone applying critical thinking might wonder if the descriptions of the people from India or the moors might be skewed because they're from Mary's spoiled point of view, or in fact by the time and place of the author.

Or influenced by the fact that the author was a believer in a Christian movement that believed in Spiritual healing. (It begins with a T but I can't remember how to spell it in order to google it. It was very popular in the late 19th century and was the forerunner to Christian Science).

Edit: I also had to take a critical thinking course. Are they not as common in other places?

[fundiefan]

Thanks for the replies. That video was helpful, although it came across as a bit stuck up to me. I guess I bristle a little bit whenever critical thinking comes up for a few reasons.

1) It sounds like one of those business-y phrases like "thinking outside the box" that are only used by people who don't have the first clue how to think for themselves. Not that anyone here is like that, that's just the image that comes to my mind when I hear the phrase.

2) I get the idea that a lot of people want it applied to religion, that they think if the fundies would just apply some critical thinking it would be perfectly obvious that God doesn't exist/the Bible is full of shit/creation is false/whatever. I understand where that's coming from, because obviously no one is going to be able to use logic and evidence to prove that God exists. But I have a problem with the implication that anyone who believes in God/goes to church/reads the Bible automatically accepts whatever they're told and never questions or thinks for themselves.

3) Even leaving religion out of it, I don't think that logic and reason are always the 100% best way to make decisions. I sometimes make decisions based on a "gut feeling" even if every reasonable part of me says it's wrong, and those usually turn out to be the best decisions I've ever made. Critical thinking doesn't seem to take into account the fact that we are driven by feelings and emotion and that isn't always a bad thing.

I don't think critical thinking would eliminate religion or biblical or religious belief. I know many, many people who apply it to their religious convictions and come out stronger in them having given them something to weigh them against. It's not a matter of "critical thinking removes religion/bible" at all.

I also believe it actually does take into account that we think and decide and act based on feelings and emotions. When you look at something and make a decision based on your gut, despite any other evidence, you are evaluating the reason/logic/whatever and weighing it against your gut and going with your gut. You are not just going with what is 'reasonable' because it is supposedly 'reasonable'.

It has, in some circles, become somewhat like a buzz-word. The concept, though, is mostly about taking nothing at face value and understanding why you think what you think, what you feel, etc.

[Deleted12]

2) I get the idea that a lot of people want it applied to religion, that they think if the fundies would just apply some critical thinking it would be perfectly obvious that God doesn't exist/the Bible is full of shit/creation is false/whatever. I understand where that's coming from, because obviously no one is going to be able to use logic and evidence to prove that God exists. But I have a problem with the implication that anyone who believes in God/goes to church/reads the Bible automatically accepts whatever they're told and never questions or thinks for themselves.

You can be a critical thinker and be religious.

I don't think you can be a critical thinker and practice the type of patriarchy that says that women should be ignorant, barefoot, pregnant, and submissive.

Which I why I hang out here. :D

[PBrooke]

Or influenced by the fact that the author was a believer in a Christian movement that believed in Spiritual healing. (It begins with a T but I can't remember how to spell it in order to google it. It was very popular in the late 19th century and was the forerunner to Christian Science).

Edit: I also had to take a critical thinking course. Are they not as common in other places?

I think you're thinking of transcendentalism but I can't find anything linking Frances Hodgson Burnett to it. Maybe you're thinking of Louisa May Alcott, who wrote Little Women? She grew up in the center of transcendentalist thinking.

[Lillian]

I didn't really know what critical thinking is either. Turns out its just what I think of as historiography, except I apply it to everything in life. It's impossible to read an article or watch a news program without thinking "Now, who made this? What is their bias? How are they trying to convince me?".

[xDreamerx]

Nope. Not transcendentalism. That was Emerson and other people. It was like Theosp...Christian Theosophy! That's it.

http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguid ... arden.html

[O Latin]

I didn't really know what critical thinking is either. Turns out its just what I think of as historiography, except I apply it to everything in life. It's impossible to read an article or watch a news program without thinking "Now, who made this? What is their bias? How are they trying to convince me?".

Okay, that makes sense. I'm pretty good at that, but sometimes they still convince me anyway. If I read an article on the Apple website about why iPad's are awesome, I know it's probably a pretty biased opinion, but it doesn't stop me from wanting an iPad.

[Rosa]

2) I get the idea that a lot of people want it applied to religion, that they think if the fundies would just apply some critical thinking it would be perfectly obvious that God doesn't exist/the Bible is full of shit/creation is false/whatever. I understand where that's coming from, because obviously no one is going to be able to use logic and evidence to prove that God exists. But I have a problem with the implication that anyone who believes in God/goes to church/reads the Bible automatically accepts whatever they're told and never questions or thinks for themselves.

I *do* want critical thinking applied to religion, and I see a lot of Christians doing that. I have actually read several personal stories from people who came out of fundamentalism, including 2 of the fundamentalist mormon LeBaron wives, who said their journey out started with thinking critically inside the confines of their faith - taking the base level assumptions, like "Mormonism is a form of Christianity" and "God gives us all special gifts" and critically applying them to the teachings/actions of their churches. They didn't end up as atheists, they ended up as other kinds of Christians.

And critical thinking can include and encompass that kind of gut-level decisionmaking, too - for instance, when you have a gut-level feeling not to do something, and you step back and think "What is my real feeling, here?" and examine your own biases - am I disliking these people because of a stereotypical assumption, or because of something real I noticed about them? Am I trusting too much because of assumptions? You can decide if your feeling is likely to be a valid predictor (because really, if what you're deciding is "will doing this make me happy/can I succeed in this situation, your gut feeling is totally valid evidence for or against) or if it's a byproduct of something else you don't want to base decisions on.

[bananacat]

My critical reasoning elective course in college really focused on the structure of arguments (not the fighting kind, the reasoning kind) and what all the different parts are: premises, conclusion, hidden assumptions, etc. Then we spent a lot of time on common logical fallacies. It was actually really insightful for me.

[pebbles]

My critical reasoning elective course in college really focused on the structure of arguments (not the fighting kind, the reasoning kind) and what all the different parts are: premises, conclusion, hidden assumptions, etc. Then we spent a lot of time on common logical fallacies. It was actually really insightful for me.

My course was similar. A lot of kids in my class (myself included!) turned up thinking it would be an easy A and then realised it was actually a pretty intense course that required a fair bit of study. I'm glad I took it, it's fun to apply what I learnt to biased articles etc, and it also helps a hell of a lot with some graduate entry medicine exams that have a verbal reasoning section.