It would hardly be a new thought to say "we need to work on our critical thinking skills" but I do think it might be worth clarifying that the *point* of critical thinking skills is to be able to create your own meaning out of the things going on in the world.
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Or in other words, to create your own meaning without misinterpreting.
Okay, look, I suppose I needed to be a little more clear in my intention here, but the point of this is that a lot of people (pundits) are crafting truths (meaning) *for others* and I'm saying you need to do that yourself.
My post isn't actually in opposition to what you're saying, but the technicality of it's wording seems to be tripping folks up.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking
Suddenly I'm right back to those older thoughts of mine re: "we gotta stop starting our conversations on step 8"
What does it mean is still philosophy imo. Critical thinking is a set of teachable skills to evaluate/decide on information.
FWIW, I'm trying to lobby for dedicated critical thinking curriculum in my state.
"what does it mean when he says words" is the level I'm speaking at.
A quibble of definitions of "meaning" doesn't add anything, does it?
There are millions that have "critically thought" themselves into vaccine denialism, for example
We can't expect John Doe to know about vaccines, and constitutional law, and etc & so finding a good pundit and following their lead is critical shorthand, but any other dumb shlub with a mic is a pundit now
It's easy for people to only take in from sources that make them feel good or give them a direction for their anger.
It is a common human experience to have different interpretations of the same data. What is why we end up with subjective "truths"
there are objective truths in the world, but the post-truth reality is that people care more about their interpretation of facts than the facts themselves. It's a sort of idiot solipsism.
Even something so "simple" as "the sky is blue* depends on altitude and time of day. It's a useful assumption, but not an objective truth
If the sky is not blue because of factors X, Y, and Z, then the truth AND the objective fact is that the sky is not blue because of factors X, Y, and Z.
Subjective truths are whether that human activity was necessary and how best to fix it
I guess to put it in a another way, I see personal truth as the heuristic we use to function in a complex world
Make your opinions your own instead of just regurgitating someone else's words.
You play an excellent role in that goal.
IF your own meaning seems unhealthy.
Glad you’re not feeling antisocial darkness, though. I wondered if your reply might have been a window into that.
i'm far from gregarious myself. read a lot. very analytical & skeptical when everyone's on the same page. have to "work at" social relationships, join social clubs, etc.
I don't *think* that's at all what you're trying to say here, but the first step to making things better is to allow space for that to happen
Even though you get the ballots ahead of time either way, if I'm sitting at my desk filling it out, I'm FAR more likely to start searching for info on the candidates and initiatives. Much better than "going by vibes" in the polling booth.
Meriam-Webster defines it this way …
Critical thinking: the act or practice of thinking critically (as by applying reason and questioning assumptions) in order to solve problems, evaluate information, discern biases, etc.
I had *so much* pressure from guidance counselors in high school to have "the true college experience" but decided community college was a better fit.
And let me tell you, I am certain it prepared me for life much better than the four-year school I transferred to ever did.
Former friend.
Be very careful about that.
1. Healthy Skepticism
(how we process received information)
2. Constructive Criticism
(how we express processed information).
It's good to have experts bring up context that you might not know about. It's bad for them to prescribe judgement themselves
At least among those who can afford to work only one job.
Ask yourself why you want something. If you don't find an answer, or you don't like the answer, then you don't want that thing.
Note: "thing" doesn't just mean material stuff, though it certainly can.
There will be no rational debate about govt. efficiency for decades.
Might I suggest adding in a point of having that meaning being rooted in reality?
Thinking? Sure...
Critical thinking? Not by any definition of mine.
Unfortunately, a lot of us don’t have the skills to properly process those facts, making them easy marks for the pundits.
If they're seeing the same things that you saw and then say stuff that doesn't align with the meaning your own critical thinking formulated, that's a giant red flag.
To critically thinking readers, punditry provides valuable context that lets them form their own map of the political landscape without having to puzzle millions of individuals pieces of information together themselves.
Source is this book: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400888818/html#contents
"Immigration is bad" or "men are evil" or "all cops are bastards" or "climate change is a hoax" are all very absolutist positions to have, when the reality on each requires more detail
That is the hard part and most people's time is limited in some way but that's reality.
No one is immune to propaganda.
Thus, we fall on punditry as a facsimile
Dunning Kruger is the biggest obstacle to critical thinking
I’m talking survive as in you probably won’t injure yourself working with machinery. Maybe.
It wouldn't shock me in the slightest.
I don't think it would shock any of us, really.
It would just be yet another insanely wrong, dumb, obvious thing to point at and continue screaming.
Some people are taking meaning in the philosophical sense rather than the much simpler one.
If you haven't yet encountered people who believe whatever pundits tell them, I guess good for you.
What else has to be True if this is True?
What could make this False?
False Statements don't fit into the world correctly. No matter how hard you sand the joints, there's always friction at the edges.
Nice to see someone actually say the REAL meaning behind it for once.
Well, info is just stats until you have the critical thinking to interpret that. By being the "no child left behind" you let others think for you, and now you dim.
Fact of the matter is, you should do your own research, and form your own opinion.