Critical Thinking – What do you think of that?
In 1906, William Graham Sumner said, “The critical habit of thought, if usual in society, will pervade all its mores, because it is a way of taking up the problems of life.”
What is meant by this?
You may want to have a dictionary on hand. . .
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Defining Critical Thinking
(A statement by Michael Scriven & Richard Paul for the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking Instruction)
Summary
Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness
It entails the examination of those structures or elements of thought implicit in all reasoning: purpose, problem, or question-at-issue; assumptions; concepts; empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions; implications and consequences; objections from alternative viewpoints; and frame of reference. Critical thinking – in being responsive to variable subject matter, issues, and purposes – is incorporated in a family of interwoven modes of thinking, among them: scientific thinking, mathematical thinking, historical thinking, anthropological thinking, economic thinking, moral thinking, and philosophical thinking.
Critical thinking can be seen as having two components: 1) a set of information and belief generating and processing skills, and 2) the habit, based on intellectual commitment, of using those skills to guide behavior.
It is thus to be contrasted with: 1) the mere acquisition and retention of information alone, because it involves a particular way in which information is sought and treated; 2) the mere possession of a set of skills, because it involves the continual use of them; and 3) the mere use of those skills (“as an exercise”) without acceptance of their results.
Critical thinking varies according to the motivation underlying it. When grounded in selfish motives, it is often manifested in the skillful manipulation of ideas in service of one’s own, or one’s groups’, vested interest. As such it is typically intellectually flawed, however pragmatically successful it might be. When grounded in fairmindedness and intellectual integrity, it is typically of a higher order intellectually, though subject to the charge of “idealism” by those habituated to its selfish use.
Critical thinking of any kind is never universal in any individual; everyone is subject to episodes of undisciplined or irrational thought. Its quality is therefore typically a matter of degree and dependent on , among other things, the quality and depth of experience in a given domain of thinking or with respect to a particular class of questions. No one is a critical thinker through-and-through, but only to such-and-such a degree, with such-and-such insights and blind spots, subject to such-and-such tendencies towards self-delusion. For this reason, the development of critical thinking skills and dispositions is a life-long endeavor.
Why Critical Thinking?
The Problem:
Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. But much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or down-right 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. Excellence in thought, however, must be systematically cultivated.
A Definition:
Critical thinking is that mode of thinking – about any subject, content, or
problem – in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking
by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and
imposing intellectual standards upon them.
The Result:
A well cultivated critical thinker:
· raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely;
· gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards;
· thinks openmindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as need be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences; and
· communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.
Critical thinking is, in short, self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem solving abilities and a commitment to overcome our native egocentrism and sociocentrism.
This information is taken from:
http://www.criticalthinking.org/
&
http://www.criticalthinking.org/aboutCT/definingCT.shtml
Ithink ihave an idea what critical thinking is about.It’s like think outside of the box, reading in between the lines,askiing questions adn predicting stuff.
this aticle diddnt really make alot of sense to me.I think the words were really big for 8th graders.But I did understand what Critcal thinking was about.Its not just about “THINKING”.its about reading and learning each and everyday.I thought at first this class would be boring and before I came I diddnt really read alot either but now we’re working on “Freak the Mighty” wihich is an amazing book.:-)
Conceptualizing- to form a concept or concepts of an especially to interpret in a conceptual ways.
Synthesizing- to combine so as to form a new complex product (2)
to form or produce by chemical synthesis
Before I read this blog, I thought that Critical Thinking was just an advanced reading class. I learned that it’s thinking of anything and thinking of in in different ways. I learnred new words like, rigorous, and pragmatically. It showed me the difference between reading and critical thinking
Mr.Moshe i understand how a critical thinker is supposed to think and do, but there were some things that were not understandable for me.
critical thinking is actuly a relly good class and u dont just write notes and read to do prodjects and some fun stuff
When I saw critical thinking on my schedule I thought this class would be really boring but I learned that it would be a little bit more exciting than I thought. I mean i always thought this class would be somewhat boring but it turned out to be a little bit better. If only we could do more interesting books or watch a movie anddo a report without taking NOTES. But those are the only ideas i can tell you.
I’am not sure what he means by this.what I think he means is,everyone in our life ,everyone in our community , in the world thinks about whats going on around them and when they do that they create problems and dalemas because they wonder ,oh what i’am I going to do about this . am I going to do this or that . I’am not sure if I’am right but I’am preety sure about this answer.
Lancelot dishonored King Arthur by having a love affair with his wife Guenivere. Even after King Arthur let Lancelot live after defeating him he still did this. From this passage i learned that even after u think everything you have is gone you can still become something if you really want it. Just like King Arthur.
I have not really been in any situation to betray selfcenterness ect. The reason why is I dont really remember any of my friends being really mad at me. They might have and not told me but its just my point of view. But I have shown loyalty twards my friends and also being trustworthy. If I did not show this twards my friends I might not have them today and my friends are really important to me.
This section had many confusing words, but i was able to understand them by lookin them up in the dictionary. I find that critical thinking is looking and thinking about things that you usually dont pay attention to or that you just pass over and to also think of them in a new way and to try to find new meanings for them.
Lancelot dishonored King Arthur by having an affair with his wife. King arthurs most trusted man that was left in charge showed betrayal. Selfcenteredness was showen by Lancelot not carring about Arthurs fealings.
There was a lack of loaylty between Arthur and Guenivere she didnt love him she loved Lancelot. Much honor between Arthur and Lancelot the way Lancelot let Arthur live after he defeated him. Not alot of selflessness eccept the guy that king Arthur left in charge when he left for battle, he tried tomarry his wife and stabed him and stranded him on an island. Genivere devoted herself to God and became a nun.
Yes it takes time to soak all this in yet it seems like it will slowly become easyer and i mean SLOWLY.
A lesson if learned from what I have learned is you can be anything you want to and you are capible of doing it. King Arthur came from nothing and became an Mighty King.
this page was very confusing but after a few visits to the dictionary i figured out what most of the words meant. this really helped me figure out what critical thinking really is. ( mr.moshe, can u make these blogs a little less confusing ) 🙂
Critically thinking is thinking into thought about anything. It could be a movie,show,or even an object. Critical thinking does take thought but when you think critically you can accomplish or figure out anything. This passage used a lot of big words but once I used a dictionary I understood it much easily. I still got extremley cofused though. I think that is what critical thinking is really about though. Not understanding something and then applying brainpower to understand it. It’s not the easiest thing to do but once in a while it can be fun.
The parts of Freak the mighty we got to see seemed intresting though it did leave me wondering how he got crippled, why the other kid cant read, what happened to his parents etc etc and i’m not exactly sure but when in the movie freak and max stop the man from hurting that women…was he suposed to be a pimp or something? Anyone have any ideas
—– You do not get credit when you post to the wrong blog. Repost please.
Yeah the blog actually caught my attention because it told about each words meaning & its history, the word i was assigned was the word” cooperation” this means to have understanding among each other or to work together to accomplish something.Anyways thats what I think about this blog.
my word was responsibility and i think if people didnt have resposibilities then nothing would ever get done and also that everyone would be lazy just sitting at home on the couch watching tv while eating chips and drinking soda and that would be good because people have to work n do their job or else we wouldn’t have food or electricity and if teachers sat at home all day then we would never be able to learn and we wouldn’t be able to have a future
A trait some people lack is honesty and trust. Some times its so hard to trust or tell the truth but its also hard to keep things bottled up.Sometimes we try real hard to be truthful.You get scared that you’ll get in trouble or people might look down on you .
“Kind words can be short and easy to say, but their echos are truly endless” that’s my qoute. I picked it,first, because it was better than the other one. Also, I liked the quote because it’s true how kind words last to the person to whom it they are spoken to. I think it means that even though kind words are quick and easy to say, they can help a person’s self esteem alot and that those words last to the person. It applies to me because if I never said kind words, people could get sad or maybe even angry at me. So I should tell people nice things so they feel better (hopefully). Kindness maybe helped to make the law of religous freedom (if it is a law). I don’t really know how kindness affects people’s rights.
If there wasn’t any kindness for me I would be alot different than how i’m now. Also I would always be either mad or sad. Freedom for all without kindness would be more strict or there wouldn’t be any, it’s that simple. If kindness would be taken from me obviously I would be mean. Since kindness has tolerance, I wouldn’t be tolerant of other people who were different from me too. An open minded person can be kind so kindness lets students have other better pespectives than the ones they had before. Without kindness the world would be more dangerous and unfair.
when i read the blog i didnt really understand a lot of the words so i couldnt get what it meant .but then i looked up the words in the dictionary and i under stood it more.I think critical thinking is not just a reading class but a class where you can express your opinion.
My word was…Self-Control.Self-Control means having disipline over one’s behaivor or actions.Self-Control is the quality that distinguishes the fittest to survive.Quote…”What is right is right, even if no one is doing it.What is wrong is wrong even if every one is doing it.”This quote means something to me because usually people just follow what thier friends are doing, so you should just do the right thing and maybe some other person will see that its right and people will start doing the right thing.Self-Control is controlling yourself not others controlling you.Do the right thing.
Cooperation-working with others to accomplish a common task
“A single arrow is easily broken but not ten in a bundle”
You cannot do anything but with others you can. In life you have to depend on friends or family to succeed, otherwise it’s called death- lonely, isolated, painful, hopeless. So I should not do anything by myself, and take teamwork a bit more seriously.
My word was Citizenship. I couldn’t find a synonym for citizenship,but I found some for Citizen, and they are resident and inhabitant.The meaning of citizenship is knowing,understanding,and displaying a high regard for rules,laws,
government,heritage,and for those who have served and sacrificed for community and country.
The quote that most appeal to me is ”Be the change you want to see in the world”
I picked this quote because it tells people the try and change what they want to change in the world.To me the quote means if you want to change the world,then try changing it instead of wanting it to change,be that change. Also this quote tells me to take action to change the world into the kind of world I want it to be.But this quote still isn’t good enough to beat ”A woman is like a sleeping lion,once they’re
awake they won’t go back to sleeping” or ”A rose that doesn’t know it’s own beauty is the most beautiful of them all”. See if any of you guys can figure what they mean.
This is basically the same blog as last time….just using some different words.
The new blog was more of a review than actualy learnig because I know the words the blog just add a few more words to the word.
Creative-The use of imagination and or having a good idea
I think this word means thinking outside of the box using your brain and see more than just is whats in front of you.
People say that creativity is probably why our technology is so great.
Mr. Moshe you told me inclass there was going to be homework maybe you didn’t get around to it. Let me know
my word was respect. as a synonym i chose the word considerate. as a antonym i chose disrespect. the definition of RESPECT is showing consideration, understanding, and regard for people places and things. before i read the real definition i tried to think of what it mean by myself and i thought that it meant showing regards to someone. we had to pick a quote and i chose this quote ” We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right” to me this quote means that you should use your time wisely because there is never enough time. it could be important to me because it tells me to use my time wisely and to have fun and dont hold back because i can never get those moments back.
i guess i’m same as everyone else when i say whats are homework so i guess i’ll just watch ernesto tomorrow well- jeff OUT!
Hi Mr.Moshe its rick you said there would be a blog today.Im guessing maybe you didn’t because the hurricane and we may not be in school for a couple days.So I was just wondering what are homework was. Ok bye!
well i read more of the book today and so far i like it alot! theres nothing really to report because ive only got to the part when its july 4
Hey Amanda S. hey Amanda S. what’s up call me!!!
What’s up Mr. Moshe! what’s are homework?
Your perspective of the world is your own if your in a bad mood the world seems bad to you. Later on your perspective changes as you grow.
I never read the book,but the movie was very interesting.IT got me hooked on to it and got me to think alot.
Mr moshe as you know ive already read the book .but the movie is very interesting .The book actually as detailed as the movie .It showed more of where they lived .Unlike the book .
after reading the whole thing i still couldn’t make anything out of it.it has to many big words for me and there are many words i couldn’t understand like:
itellectually
conceptualizing and so many more.it all confused me and i could only find the definition of 1word which was conceptualizing which means to form a concept or idea of something.