A500.5.1.RB_HescottJ

A500.5.1.RB – Critical Thinking About Critical Thinking

 

September 9, 2016

 

I believe my critical thinking has gotten better since enrolling in the Critical Thinking Course offered by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  I found myself looking at the various tools and traits that embodied critical thinking and began comparing myself against the checklists.  I was happy to see that I already utilized most of the tools.  However, in a challenge to be intellectually honest, I had to accept that there were various tools that I did not utilize.

 

As an example of this, I was always taught that effective writing was:

1. Telling the audience what you were going to tell them
2. Tell the audience what you are telling them
3. Tell the audience what you just told them.

This is too easy!  Right?  Well, maybe.  I found the SEE-I program for effective writing to be a much better and fully developed tool for effective written communication.  The SEE-I program is as follows:

1. S = State it
2. E = Elaborate (explain it better in your own words)
3. E = Exemplify (give a good example)
4. I = Illustrate (give an illustration: maybe a metaphor, a simile, and analogy, a diagram, a concept map, and so forth)

SEE-I is a powerful tool and I have been actively integrating that too into my arsenal.  That is one example of improvement from learning about critical thinking. 

 

Another tool that has helped sharpen my critical thinking is the process of analysis known as going around the circle.  Going around the circle requires analyzing an issue by incorporating the following 10 steps:

1. What is the main purpose?
2. What is the key question?
3. What is the most important piece of information the person is using to reason through this issue?
4. What are the person’s major conclusions?
5. What are the main concepts the reasoning depends on?
6. What are the main assumptions the person is making in this piece of reasoning?
7. What are the main implications and consequences of the persons reasoning?
8. From what point of view is the person addressing this question?
9. What is the context of the issue the person is addressing?
10. What alternatives are there?

I have to admit that I did not utilize at least half of these insightful questions when conducting analysis.  I hate to admit that because I have been part of military planning teams that extensively used the military decision making process (MDMP).  MDMP is a very thorough, analytical, logical, decision-making system.  It involves a lot of the elements of critical thought.

 

I knew many of the elements of critical thought instinctively.  I had never been formally trained in the discipline.  The standards of critical thinking and the personal traits exhibited by higher level critical thinking were also useful to me.  I began to ask questions of myself.  Do I do that?  Why do I do that?  What possible things in my background could cause me to act or think like that?  Everyone has a subjective point of view, but higher level thinkers, and those that strive to attain that status, need to be able to separate themselves from that natural tendency and actively strive towards objectivity.

 

For the purposes of clarity and brevity, and I am not going to discuss all of the standards in depth.  I believe the list speaks for itself.  I also believe that the personal traits speak for themselves.  However, I think that I would be remiss if I didn’t at least list them out for someone to read and learn from.  From my perspective, it was helpful to see the list and refer back to it periodically as a reference guide as to how well the concepts have been internalized and utilized in the long run.

 

The critical thinking standards are: Clearness, Accuracy, Importance/Relevance, Sufficiency, Depth and Breadth.  The critical-thinking character traits are: Confidence in Reason, Intellectual Humility, Intellectually Courageous, Intellectually Empathetic, Intellectual Integrity, Fair-minded, Intellectually Engaged, Intellectual Perseverance, and Intellectually Autonomous.  As I stated previously, I already possessed or practiced these standards and character traits.  Some of them were presented to me a way that I had not thought of before.  Therefore, I have made an effort to assimilate them into my critical thinking arsenal.  For more information on this topic, refer to:

 

Nosich, Gerald M. (2012). Learning to Think Things Through 4^th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

 

John D. Hescott