Could Teaching Critical Thinking Abilities, End Cult Mind-Conrol Forever?

by lifelong humanist 66 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  sabastious

  Could it be because critical thinking poses more questions than it answers?

  And that the answers that critical thinking poses cripple past belief structures... an extremely painful experience.

  -Sab
• 

  SweetBabyCheezits

  Could it be the after thinking critically about soemthing ( anythign really) that you see that critical thinking only gets you so far?

  EDIT: Exactly. It only gets you so far. But then you have to measure that against the alternative: How far do we go without it?

  Psac, when I hear questions like this, I cringe, usually because the one asking isn't aware of all that critical thinking entails, and he or she has already formed an attitude of indifference or prejudice against the subject.... which is acutely ironic.

  Critical thinking is not simply adopting a critical point of view of something. It is more about introspection - thinking about one's own thinking. It is the application of a number of developed skills. And it isn't defined in a single sentence.

  Could it be because critical thinking poses more questions than it answers?

  This is reminiscent of my parents asking me where my questioning had led me.
• 

  Dogpatch

  VII says,

  Even with critical thinking etc., people would still get caught up in cults and other groups like that. As PSac noted, critical thinking only gets you so far. There are emotions, psychology, past experiences, and on and on that influence human behavior.

  Why are there educated JWs and Scientologists?

  Actually it's a great idea, but people crave fantasies like sweets, so it would only affect a certain percentage of the populace. I'm all for it, but the results would be more limited than you think. I could tell you a story about that. :-))

  We are all still very primal beings, not heads hooked up to a computer.

  Randy
• 

  SweetBabyCheezits

  That is how critical thinking works. It goes out the window when emotions and other things happen.

  VIII, that is precisely NOT how critical thinking works and your comments betray your lack of knowledge or understanding of the subject.

  Critical thinking, if applied properly, works to counteract prejudice and bias. If "emotions and other things happen" and cloud a persons judgement, leading them ot make a bad decision, that simply means they've stopped applying critical thinking, not that critical thinking is a useless practice.

  That said, I also agree that we're only human and even the strongest advocate for critical thinking will fail to apply. But that certainly doesn't mean it should be shelved.
• 

  cyberjesus

  Actually i think we come already with those skills, but the ignorance of our parents due to socialization, religion, mythology and our trust on the people who feed us kills it.

  We all are born inquisitive. We want to learn and explore the world. Taste it, feel it. We want to know why. It is when we tell the children to stop questioning. When we label "a proble" the kid who breaks things to learn how they are made we numb the desire to learn.

  We have to capability to use our brains in a critical and intellectual manner, religion prevents it.
• 

  cyberjesus

  That is how critical thinking works. It goes out the window when emotions and other things happen

  Actually it is exactly the opposite. Critical thinking superseeds emotions. Perhaps is time to re analyze what critical thinking is. Also being an atheist doesnt say that you are a critical thinking. it only says you dont have a belief in a deity. Critical thinking is not a requirement of Disbelief
• 

  PSacramento

  EDIT: Exactly. It only gets you so far. But then you have to measure that against the alternative: How far do we go without it?

  What alternative?

  How far does one go without critical thinking? Well, as far as they choose to go I would guess.

  Psac, when I hear questions like this, I cringe, usually because the one asking isn't aware of all that critical thinking entails, and he or she has already formed an attitude of indifference or prejudice against the subject.... which is acutely ironic.

  Do I strike as someone that doens't "think in a critical way" ?

  Critical thinking is not simply adopting a critical point of view of something. It is more about introspection - thinking about one's own thinking. It is the application of a number of developed skills. And it isn't defined in a single sentence.

  Critical thinking is critical except to it's own POV it seems and in that regard it has met the limitation of ALL types of thinking: Man and Man's innante limitations in regards to the "intellectual mind".
• 

  thetrueone

  Meaning

  Critical thinking clarifies goals, examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, accomplishes actions, and assesses conclusions.

  "Critical" as used in the expression "critical thinking" connotes the importance or centrality of the thinking to an issue, question or problem of concern. "Critical" in this context does not mean "disapproval" or "negative." There are many positive and useful uses of critical thinking, for example formulating a workable solution to a complex personal problem, deliberating as a group about what course of action to take, or analyzing the assumptions and the quality of the methods used in scientifically arriving at a reasonable level of confidence about a given hypothesis. Using strong critical thinking we might evaluate an argument, for example, as worthy of acceptance because it is valid and based on true premises. Upon reflection, a speaker may be evaluated as a credible source of knowledge on a given topic.

  Critical thinking can occur whenever one judges, decides, or solves a problem; in general, whenever one must figure out what to believe or what to do, and do so in a reasonable and reflective way. Reading, writing, speaking, and listening can all be done critically or uncritically. Critical thinking is crucial to becoming a close reader and a substantive writer. Expressed most generally, critical thinking is "a way of taking up the problems of life." [2]

  "Fluid Intelligence" directly correlates with critical thinking skills. You are able to determine patterns, make connections and solve new problems. When you improve your critical thinking skills you also improve your fluid intelligence which also helps increase your problem solving skills and deep thinking elements. All of these skills relate to one part of the brain, and the more you use them the easier it will be to put your skill to the test.

  Skills

  The list of core critical thinking skills includes observation, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation and meta-cognition.

  There is a reasonable level of consensus among experts that an individual or group engaged in strong critical thinking gives due consideration to:

  • Evidence through observation
  • Context of judgment
  • Relevant criteria for making the judgment well
  • Applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment
  • Applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand

  In addition to possessing strong critical thinking skills, one must be disposed to engage problems and decisions using those skills. Critical thinking employs not only logic but broad intellectual criteria such as clarity, credibility , accuracy , precision, relevance , depth, breadth , significance and fairness. [3]

  Critical Thinking and creativity

  In many curriculum documents, a distinction is made between 'critical' and 'creative' thinking. Thus teachers are encouraged/required to develop their students' 'critical and creative thinking' as if these are two separate outcomes. However, this distinction fails to acknowledge the central skill of critical thinking which is to consider the significance of claims (historical claims, statistical claims, evidential claims, predictions, recommendations, principles, and so on). In doing this, we need to consider questions such as 'what explanations are there for this?', 'what else do we need to know?' and 'what assumptions do we need to make in order to draw inferences?'. Such questions involve significant creative thinking.

  Procedure

  Critical thinking calls for the ability to:

  • Recognize problems, to find workable means for meeting those problems
  • Understand the importance of prioritization and order of precedence in problem solving
  • Gather and marshal pertinent (relevant) information
  • Recognize unstated assumptions and values
  • Comprehend and use language with accuracy, clarity, and discernment
  • Interpret data , to appraise evidence and evaluate arguments
  • Recognize the existence (or non-existence) of logical relationships between propositions
  • Draw warranted conclusions and generalizations
  • Put to test the conclusions and generalizations at which one arrives
  • Reconstruct one's patterns of beliefs on the basis of wider experience
  • Render accurate judgments about specific things and qualities in everyday life

  In sum:

  "A persistent effort to examine any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the evidence that supports it and the further conclusions to which it tends." [4]
• 

  SweetBabyCheezits

  CJ, I share your view on a large number of subjects but I do not believe we're born with critical thinking skills. Curiosity is natural, perhaps, but does not encompass the whole subject, especially the introspective aspect.

  Regardless, I believe if these skills could be taught and developed early in childhood, it would lead to the eventual breakdown of so many prejudices propagated by parents, religion, and environment.
• 

  PSacramento

  How many of you know who Mike Mentzer is?

  He was a pro bodybuilder in the 80's and 90's and he championed the "HIT" method of BB under his trademark of Heavy duty.

  He was a huge fan of critical thinking and Ayn Rand.

  It was this critical thinking that made him advocate HIT BB - One set to failure for strength and body building.

  Mike used Critical thinking to coem to the conclusion that doing 1 set to failure was not only the best way to train but the only viable way and that all others would not work as well and in th case of some people, at all.

  And his thinking was spot ON !

  Yet the many other methods of BB do work as well, if not better than HIT.

  Was Mike NOT a critical thinker? 100% he was

  The problem was that his critical thinking only saw the "splinter" in the other systems eyes and didn't see the "beam" in his systems eyes.

  No fault of his or the critical thinking approach, he ( like the CT approach) just forgot one thing:

  There are many ways to skin a cut for one and for the other:

  When people are involved, thinking is just PART of the equation.