1. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is a path to intellectual adventure. Though there are dozens of possible approaches, the process can be boiled down to concrete steps. This article offers some starting points for your journey.
Be willing to say “I don’t know”
Some of the most profound thinkers of our time have practiced the art of critical thinking by using two magic phrases: I don’t know and I’m not sure yet.
Those are words many people do not like to hear. We live in times when people are criticized for changing their minds. Our society rewards quick answers and quotable “sound bites.” We’re under considerable pressure to utter the truth in 15 seconds or less.
In such a society, it is a courageous and unusual act to pause, to look, to examine, to be thoughtful, to consider many points of view—and to not know. When a society embraces half-truths in a blind rush for certainty, commitment to uncertainty can move us forward.
This willingness to give up certainty can be hardest to accept when it comes to notions that seem obvious. “Many things are certain,” some people say. “For example, it’s obvious that two plus two equals four.”
Think again. When we use the base-three number system, two plus two equals 11. A child learning to write numerals might insist that two and two makes 22. And a biologist might joke that two plus two adds up to a whole lot more than four when we’re talking about the reproductive life of rabbits.
Even scientific knowledge is not certain. At a moment’s notice, the world can deviate from what we call “laws” of nature. Those laws exist inside our heads—not in the world. What’s more, modern science tells us many things that contradict everyday certainties. For example, physics presents us with a world where solid objects are made of atoms spinning around in empty space, where matter and energy are two forms of the same thing. Even in mathematics and the “hard” sciences, the greatest advances take place when age-old beliefs are reexamined.
Define your terms
Imagining two people arguing about whether an employer should extend family health care benefits to people who live together but are unmarried. To one person, the word family means a mother, father, and children. The other person applies the word family to any long-term, supportive relationships between people who live together. Chances are, the debate will go nowhere until these people realize they’re defining the same word in different ways.
Much opinion conflict can be resolved—or at least clarified—when we define our key terms up front. This is especially true with abstract, emotion-laden terms such as freedom, peace, progress, or justices. Blood has been shed over the meaning of these words. It pays for us to define them with care.
Practice tolerance
Having opinions about issues is natural. When you stop having opinions, you’re probably not breathing anymore. The problem comes when we hold opinions in a way that leads to defensiveness put-down, or put-offs.
Going hand in hand with critical thinking is tolerance for attitudes that differ from yours. Consider that many of the ideas we currently accept—democracy, Christianity, voting rights for women, civil rights for people of color—were once considered the claims of “dangerous” and unpopular minorities. This historical perspective helps us accept a tenet of critical thinking: What seems outlandish today may become widely accepted a century, a decade, or even a year from now.
Understand before criticizing
When encountering any new viewpoint, we’re obligated to agree. Even so, critical thinking demands that we take the time to understand an idea before rejecting or modifying it. One mark of skilled debaters is that they can sum up the viewpoints they disagree with—often better than the people who hold those viewpoints can.
Strictly speaking, none of us lives in the same world. Our habits, preferences, outlooks, and values are as individual as our fingerprints. Each of them is shaped by our culture, our upbringing, our experiences, and our choices. Speeches, books, articles, works of art, television programs, views expressed in conversation—all come from people who inhabit a different world than yours. Until we’re lived in another person’s world for a while, it’s ineffective to dismiss her point of view.
This basic principle is central to many professions. Physicians diagnose before they prescribe. Lawyers brief themselves on the opponent’s case. Effective teachers find out what a student already knows before they guide her to ideas. Skilled salespeople find out what a customer’s needs are before they present a product.
Effective understanding calls for listening without judgment. To enter another person’s world, sum up her viewpoint in your own words. If you’re conversing with that person, keep revising your summary until she agrees you’ve stated her position accurately. If you’re reading an article, write a short summary of it. Then scan the article again, checking to see if your summary is on track.
Many of us find it difficult to fully permit others a point of view that is much different from ours. Instead we can actually celebrate other people’s opinions, knowing that diversity leads to valuable new ideas.
Watch for hot spots
Notice any anger or discomfort you feel when conversations shift to certain topics. During a presidential election, for instance, politics often becomes a “hot spot”—an area in which defenses rise, assumptions run rampant, and tempers quickly flare. All these things get in the way of thinking thoroughly.
Most of us have hot spots. For some people they include abortion or handgun control. Other people heat up when they talk about the death penalty or world government.
It pays for each of us to discover our special hot spots. We can also make a clear intention to practice critical thinking when we encounter these topics.
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