Critical thinking

Would teaching critical thinking skills and practices in schools be a good thing?

  • I'm religious, and I think yes, definitely.

    Votes: 5 20.8%

  • I'm religious, and I think no, definitely not.

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • I'm religious, and I'm not sure, or I think it depends on other things.

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • I'm not religious, and I think yes, definitely.

    Votes: 14 58.3%

  • I'm not religious, and I think no, definitely not.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I'm not religious, and I'm not sure, or I think it depends on other things.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • None of these options apply to me.

    Votes: 2 8.3%

  • Just show me the results.

    Votes: 1 4.2%
  • Total voters
    24
lol
I dont think thinking should be taught in schools! Thats what church is for </sarcasm>

"Dont pray in my school and I wont think in your church"
 
I dont see what critical thinking has to do with religion when half the stuff they teach children is creative thinking.

1. evolution
2. humans walked around the planet from Africa
Click to expand...
OK, maybe I was hasty.

Maybe a class in critical thinking would have some benefits, on average. At least, it might disabuse a few students of the illusion that they were already good at it.
 
Critical thinking has been taught for years in nursing and medical schools. It is a form of cascading logic that runs forward and backward to come to a conclusion that you form an avenue of action. It is also used in problem solving skills. And yes, morals are involved only as outside factor later configured in, again, to form an avenue of action. You have to have these skills in almost any field you work in. You use it daily just living but you don't realize that you are using criticl thinking skills. They may be simple or quite complex but decisions are still made on the end result.
 
S.A.M. said:
They are judgement values with no inherent moral right or wrong except of course, for hypocrisy

Don't confuse the skills with the traits. Just because you can solve a problem, does not mean you are doing the right thing.
Click to expand...


Consequentialism

i imagine the..."ends justify the means" coupled with "the greater good" and "weigh the pros and cons" scenarios are examples of critical thinking that could possibly be characterized in certain instances as immoral

as to the tt...the discipline is somewhat of a scam. perhaps for govt handouts. we go to school to think shit in a standardized manner. any brain farts of ones own are compared and reconciled with established standards.

i think
i critically think

nah
i fail to see the distinction
but thats just me

i am in close proximity to incoming freshman
i fear for our future (american)
the stupidity is really no laughing matter
 
so ahh
who wants to dole out a few examples of critical /creative thought?
the distinction is logic vs illogic, ja?
i think one would be hard pressed to assign illogic to either one
try anyway
 
"how to think" signifies constructing statements and arguments that are self consistent and non contradictory. there are curricular that deals with this

"what to think" signifies that there is a body of knowledge out there. exploit it rather than reinventing whatnot

they are complementary rather than competetive
a well rounded education methinks
a function of any accredited school
 
Pete said:
Why not?

We seem to have very different ideas of what "critical thinking" means. I don't understand why you think that critical thinking precludes creative thinking. :confused:
Surely one person can do both? Even at the same time?
Click to expand...

Critical thinking does preclude creative thinking. They are opposite ends of a spectrum. And yup, we can do both at the same time. But thats not your question. If everyone is being trained into doing step by step thinking, who's really thinking? Creative thinking means being daring, uninhibited, revolutionary, unpredictable; critical thinking is conservative, practical, feasible and predictable.

one_raven said:
Schools should teach children HOW to think, rather than WHAT to think.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. I do not believe that thinking in set predictable ways is a pattern we want to establish /gags
 
Last edited:
Gustav said:
"how to think" signifies constructing statements and arguments that are self consistent and non contradictory. there are curricular that deals with this

"what to think" signifies that there is a body of knowledge out there. exploit it rather than reinventing whatnot
Click to expand...

Not at all.
Proper critical thinking techniques should be applied to the current "body of knowledge" as well.
Most of what is "discovered" is done so by people challenging previously held beliefs and ideas.
The point of critical thinking is taking what is given to you and applying reason to examine the veracity and validity of those precepts.

What we should be teaching children is how to properly analyze available data (icluding scrutinizing the source of the data) and think for themselves.
 
S.A.M. said:
Yeah, like, are you willing to pay 20 bucks for a cup of coffee if it means that the farmers who grow it will get a fair return? Or would you rather continue to screw them so you can get it for a dollar?

Or, should the nations who lead the Security Council also be the lead arms dealers in the world, with between them 90% of the world nuclear weapons? etc.

Critical thinking may make for a smarter being, not necessarily a better one. You can still ignore what you consider irrlevant to your argument, still make assumptions about facts not in evidence, still make wrong inferences, still be far from the truth, still be a close minded SOB
Click to expand...

I think you have a misunderstanding of what critical thinking is.
It does not imply that one should follow the pure Vulcan logic.
It implies that you apply reason and consider outcomes.

By using critical thinking techniques, you can determine that the cheaper product may harm those who work hard to produce and come to the conclusion that saving the money is not necessarily the best option for society as a whole.
 
one_raven said:
Not at all.
Proper critical thinking techniques should be applied to the current "body of knowledge" as well.
Most of what is "discovered" is done so by people challenging previously held beliefs and ideas.
The point of critical thinking is taking what is given to you and applying reason to examine the veracity and validity of those precepts.

What we should be teaching children is how to properly analyze available data (icluding scrutinizing the source of the data) and think for themselves.
Click to expand...

that maybe so and can never really be a bad thing.

however
there is an emphasis on incremental knowledge as the main mode of accumulating knowledge. in practice, doing one's own thing or deviating from the norm can have serious consequence. go with ground control rather than major tom

a eureka moment or dream state.
shit falls into place on its own accord
90% gruntwork (rote, number crunching, trial and error)

thats the stuff of science
 
Who is saying to discard all previous knowledge and burn the library at Alexandria?

Teachin how to think as opposed to what to think is simply saying, "Here is the base of knowledge we currently have and here are the tools to discern some meaning from that knowledge."

In other words (as one example) teach them History, but not who was right or wrong. Their moral judgements should be instilled in them from their parents, not their government-run schools.
 
one_raven said:
I think you have a misunderstanding of what critical thinking is.
It does not imply that one should follow the pure Vulcan logic.
It implies that you apply reason and consider outcomes.

By using critical thinking techniques, you can determine that the cheaper product may harm those who work hard to produce and come to the conclusion that saving the money is not necessarily the best option for society as a whole.
Click to expand...

Which society? Critical thinkers are more concerned with conservative solutions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top