I gratefully thank and credit a particular teacher and his Critical Thinking course for opening up the idea & subject of critical thinking to me when I was a young man, he was super passionate and very tough on making sure you really understood the concepts.
Of all the classes I have ever taken this one is the one that did the most overall good and helped launch me into a lifetime infatuation with the concepts, ideas, and performance of critical thinking.
IMO ones ability or inability to be an excellent critical thinker will cause sweeping effects across all aspects and relations throughout a persons lifetime, having an enormous effect on the enjoyment and final result of ones time spent.
This is one area that is a major thrust of many of the courses required in an engineering curriculum. Why? Why not? What if? Could it be? Is the contrary possible? What is the likelihood?
Science and engineering courses are full of magic formulae that have been created to quantify a desired result. Most have been derived from decades or centuries of empirical evidence. Perhaps you input data into the six "unknowns or variables" in the magic equation. How does the answer vary based on little changes in the value entered for each "unknown or variable"? How does variation in possible answers impact your final solution? What are the tradeoffs and what are they worth or going to cost you?
A simple example involves runoff of precipitation down a field or combination of areas into a concentrated natural or artificial conduit delivering the runoff to more remote locations. One magic equation was something like IKLSCP. "I" was a function of rainfall intensity and dependent on historical records for specified periods of frequency. "P" had to do with the type of surface conditions from smooth concrete to a solid bed of six-foot tall plants. Other items involved the length of the slope from the remote end of the drainage area to the point being evaluated, the average slope, the type of soil and similar issues that could have an impact on the result. In our early engineering classes we focused on learning the magic formulae and what the answers for specified conditions would be. Our later engineering classes focused on the critical thinking side of using these magic formulae.
Industrial engineers have a specialty known as RAM analysis for industrial type settings. Imagine a production line. Each machine and its ancillary support equipment must function to then move the production item to the next machine and its ancillary support equipment. What is the statistical Reliability (R), Availability (A) and Maintainability (M) of each machine down the line to get a final product coming out of the final machine? What alters the RAM of each machine and what can be done to achieve the best (by some type of measure) result?
We do this when we prepare estimates for large projects, we just don't label it as critical thinking. It's what we do when we compare conflicting information on every job we perform. It's what we do to decide when a plat or other end-product is ready to give to the client. Practice, practice, practice to get optimal results.
Could Critical Thinking be called common sense along with concisely thinking about cause and effect?
jud
> Could Critical Thinking be called common sense along with concisely thinking about cause and effect?
> jud
I'd say, yeah, probably so. But, I don't think there's many left, or maybe has ever been, in the world of academia for quite a long while that would even understand what the hell you're talking about. If they did understand it they'd make sure as best they could not to let you know they understood.
I very much agree that critical thinking is vital to enhancing one's life in almost every way. I stumbled across the subject in college and it led to me minoring in philosophy. Sad that it isn't more prevalent in our society.
Stephen
PS, an old favorite:
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.~ Bertrand Russell
Great quote :good:
(er....I think).
Don't think it is a quote from a wise man. Unless it was stated as entertainment, it sounds like a statement made by one who is insecure in his intelligence. Intelligence is shown by the knowledge of truths, not doubt.
jud
according to Wikipedia on Bertrand Russell:
"He co-authored, with A. N. Whitehead, Principia Mathematica, an attempt to ground mathematics on logic. His philosophical essay "On Denoting" has been considered a 'paradigm of philosophy.' His work has had a considerable influence on logic, mathematics, set theory, linguistics, computer science (see type theory and type system), and philosophy, especially philosophy of language, epistemology, and metaphysics."
I kind of disagree with you on the black-and-white position of what an intellectual. What many people who are so set in their knowledge do from what I have seen, is develop and opinion or philosophy (on religion or politics or other things), and find facts that only support their opinion. Usually when I hear two sides of an argument, I see that both might have some good, valid points.
But what do I know? 😉
Consider this Jud:
If someone were incompetent in what they did... would they know that they were incompetent?
Stephen
> Don't think it is a quote from a wise man.
> jud
Interesting...
Stephen
Cartesian doubt...that's using your head.
Rick
