Critical thinking

I got interested in this topic a couple days ago when I read in the newspaper that large numbers of college students aren't really learning critical thinking. The ramifications of a society comprised of individuals incapable of critical thinking is painfully obvious, that being said, I decided to do a little digging on the subject.
Here's the newspaper article that I read:
seattletimes.nwsource.com...
Here's a quote from the above mentioned article:

NEW YORK — An unprecedented study that followed several thousand undergraduates through four years of college found that large numbers didn't learn the critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication skills that are widely assumed to be at the core of a college education. Many of the students graduated without knowing how to sift fact from opinion, make a clear written argument or objectively review conflicting reports of a situation or event, according to New York University sociologist Richard Arum, lead author of the study. The students, for example, couldn't determine the cause of an increase in neighborhood crime or how best to respond without being swayed by emotional testimony and political spin.

The thing I take away most from that is how they didn't know how to respond without being swayed by emotional testimony or political spin. How much of what we see in the media is emotional testimony or political spin? To what end is it used?
Here's another good quote that I found that I liked:

Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way. People who think critically consistently attempt to live rationally, reasonably, empathically. They are keenly aware of the inherently flawed nature of human thinking when left unchecked. They strive to diminish the power of their egocentric and sociocentric tendencies. They use the intellectual tools that critical thinking offers – concepts and principles that enable them to analyze, assess, and improve thinking. They work diligently to develop the intellectual virtues of intellectual integrity, intellectual humility, intellectual civility, intellectual empathy, intellectual sense of justice and confidence in reason. They realize that no matter how skilled they are as thinkers, they can always improve their reasoning abilities and they will at times fall prey to mistakes in reasoning, human irrationality, prejudices, biases, distortions, uncritically accepted social rules and taboos, self-interest, and vested interest. They strive to improve the world in whatever ways they can and contribute to a more rational, civilized society. At the same time, they recognize the complexities often inherent in doing so. They avoid thinking simplistically about complicated issues and strive to appropriately consider the rights and needs of relevant others. They recognize the complexities in developing as thinkers, and commit themselves to life-long practice toward self-improvement. They embody the Socratic principle: The unexamined life is not worth living, because they realize that many unexamined lives together result in an uncritical, unjust, dangerous world.

I know that I will probably never be able to be all things at all times in the above mentioned quote, but at least I can be aware of these things, oh well, progress not perfection.
Here's a link to the site where I got that quote:
www.criticalthinking.org...
Here's a link to another site, that has a cool exercise in it:
www.studygs.net...
Here's a link to another cool site, it doesn't look like much but it's very neat once you get in it, as you click your way down the outline it will give you a quiz as you go. The site also has visual models for deductive arguments. Here's the link:
www.sjsu.edu...
The last thing I have is a video, just a short one, but a pretty good one.

Excellent article and a relevant, most useful post as well!
A star and a flag for you!

yes I starred you for the OP good articles and statement...

then I got around to watching the video, where emotion or feeling is cast aside, I believe this is also a tool that should be used, I like to call it intuition... which serves it's purpose well.

another thing I really did not like about the video was "the God debate" had to be thrown in... I can't say how many of these supposedly educational videos I have seen by this speaker floating around on ats.

starred for your words, but I am out with no flag...

reply to post by jlv70


So much of school is to make people take info, and just give it back in exams. Where is the critical thinking process in that?

If you start to analyse your a problem to schools.

Originally posted by andy1033

If you start to analyse your a problem to schools.

makes me wonder if they are teaching this stuff or showing these videos in schools across the pond from me ?

see God is not allowed in schools in America, except the reference to a God making the nation indivisible that is spoken in the pledge of allegiance every morning.

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact
see God is not allowed in schools in America

That is a huge myth. Children can bring their religious texts to read at lunch time. Children can pray at any given time. What is not allowed is school-sponsored prayers such as teachers leading a class in prayer.

Critical thinking, folks. Let's use it...

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact
the reference to a God making the nation indivisible that is spoken in the pledge of allegiance every morning.

Also, The Pledge Of Allegiance does not state in any way that God made the nation indivisible. It claims that the nation is both "under God" and indivisible.

Critical thinking, folks. Let's use it....

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact
see God is not allowed in schools in America

That is a huge myth. Children can bring their religious texts to read at lunch time. Children can pray at any given time.

yes that is called freedom of religion and freedom of thought in general.

What is not allowed is school-sponsored prayers such as teachers leading a class in prayer.

Critical thinking, folks. Let's use it...

yes let's do...

my question seems to have been, "I wonder if they show these type of videos in UK (across the pond) in their schools ?

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact
the reference to a God making the nation indivisible that is spoken in the pledge of allegiance every morning.

Also, The Pledge Of Allegiance does not state in any way that God made the nation indivisible. It claims that the nation is both "under God" and indivisible.

Critical thinking, folks. Let's use it....

one nation...

I pledge allegiance
To the flag
Of the united states of america
And to the republic
For which it stands
One nation
Under God
Indivisible
With liberty and Justice for all

reply to post by Cosmic.Artifact


Hi Cosmic, I agree

So before it had God and indivisible,

Now no God and divided

Next we will need to drop the "one nation".

Ironic IMO.

Nah, I'm sure this will be rationalized to hell and back, then excused away, lol..

Thanks
SL

reply to post by traditionaldrummer


despite what some would have you believe or even state on the news medias, this country was indeed founded on Christian ideals, the philosophies and ideas of the Protestants are directly worded and stated in the Constitution.

you have the freedom to take your religion to school or even the work place with you, but it is better for people to discover their own truths for themselves... hence we do not teach, or better yet "preach" in our schools which religion to follow.

All theist have a God btw... It doesn't matter which theism you follow... Allah, YHWH, all translate to (God) in the English language, even Shiva the most high translates the same.

let us deny ignorance whilst we use this critical thought...

Social structures run on social values - power, status, tradition ,conformity, group-think etc - critical thinking is an intellectual value and is dangerous to the functioning of any social order.

And that is why despite what they say - $ billions are being spent to make kids dumber and dumber - it is what the NWO wants and it is not an accident!

Same goes for the wars on drugs, terrorism, illegal immigration, inner city crime - they set all of this up
to achieve the results that they want and then feign incompetence when they achieve the opposite of what they say.

The beauty of it is that all they needed to do was set the CIA up to be incompetent - and the KGB did most of the rest via decades of cultural sabotage.

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact
my question seems to have been, "I wonder if they show these type of videos in UK (across the pond) in their schools ?

Hmm.

I winder why you added the god in schools myth directly afterwards then. Such an error had to be addressed

If one needs to look into the power which Martin Luther and William Tyndale gave to the commoner (that's me and you TD) which is the power to "choose" and freedom form the British Church State based on Catholicism which ruled over lives before this nation was established.

the internet it at your disposal... though I recommend we all have a grain of salt and read between lines.

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact
reply to post by traditionaldrummer

 

despite what some would have you believe or even state on the news medias, this country was indeed founded on Christian ideals, the philosophies and ideas of the Protestants are directly worded and stated in the Constitution.

Cite the Christianity in the Constitution, please.
The only time religion is mentioned in the Constitution is when it discussed what the government can't do with it.

The old "this country was founded as a christian nation" claim is yet another myth. Feel free to visit my thread on the topic

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact
my question seems to have been, "I wonder if they show these type of videos in UK (across the pond) in their schools ?

Hmm.

I winder why you added the god in schools myth directly afterwards then. Such an error had to be addressed

well the Brits seem to be adamant of teaching it here on ats, it was therefore a logical question.

if we want to send children to Christian or even Muslim schools, we have that freedom in America.

I doubt your are a skeptic, you just have not looked deep enough into our history and establishment yet...

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact
I doubt your are a skeptic, you just have not looked deep enough into our history and establishment yet...

No, I certainly have, which is I don't repeat incorrect myths and lore. I doubt you're a critical thinker, else you wouldn't employ so much confirmation bias in attempting to validate such myths.

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer
Cite the Christianity in the Constitution, please.

nowhere in any of my statements did I say what was cited in the Constitution, I merely mentioned the ideals which established it, if one just looked into a little more history you would have the answer you seek to your skepticism.

I did however quote the pledge of allegiance, which contains the words (One Nation, Under God, Indivisible) notice the commas when you read it at Wiki.

reply to post by traditionaldrummer


you are beginning to sound just like one of the slain yet again TD...

is it so hard to remain composed when one discovers the shortcomings in their own critical thought ?

the Master of Puppets has been pulling your strings...

pull back !

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer
Cite the Christianity in the Constitution, please.

nowhere in any of my statements did I say what was cited in the Constitution, I merely mentioned the ideals which established it, if one just looked into a little more history you would have the answer you seek to your skepticism.

You said "the philosophies and ideas of the Protestants are directly worded and stated in the Constitution". The Protestants are Christians. Please cite the christianity and/or its philosophies in the Constitution.

I did however quote the pledge of allegiance, which contains the words (One Nation, Under God, Indivisible) notice the commas when you read it at Wiki.

Firstly, the "under god" was added in the 1950s as an overreaction to the atheism inherent in communism. Therefore it has nothing whatsoever to do with principles the nation was founded upon.

Secondly, the comma between "under god" and "indivisible" render both as distinct descriptors of "one nation". It does not indicate in any way "God making the nation indivisible" as you previously claimed. You see, it was "one nation, indivisible" before they added "under god" in the 1950s.