Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Unit One Reflection
Critical thinking (a partial definition) is the ability to evaluate and critique information. Why do you think this is this considered an important skill? Describe a circumstance you may have encountered, or may imagine encountering, in which good critical thinking helped... or the lack of critical thinking hurt.
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38 comments:
I think Critical thinking is important because it helps you make the right decisions. If you were in a social setting trying to respond to a question someone asked you, and a wrong answer could offend the person asking the question, you would want to think through your answer before you said it. By using critical thinking you could evaluate your answer and decide if it would answer the question without being offensive.
Sarah Y
Sarah, I love this idea. Imagine how nice it would be if everyone thought about what they were about to say (and the impact of their words on others) before they went ahead and spoke out. Thanks for pointing out that critical thinking is useful in social situations... teachers like me get stuck thinking about it only as it applies to school, and where's the fun in that?!
Great job.
Mrs. A
Critical thinking is to me the most important skill to posses. Not everyone is born with it which is why we have so many "bad" people who in the end became that way due to lack of critical thinking. I'am fortunately granted with this, but admit i over analyze things but for the most part it has saved me alot of trouble.
Mrs. A and I find ourselves discussing critical thinking and how it applies to academics more often than not. But as Sarah and Brittany have pointed out, there's more to it than that. I'm with Brittany as far as critical thinking and deductive reasoning being two of the most important "jobs" our brains do. Think about being a consumer, about shopping at the grocery store, about taking out a loan. What's critical, pardon the pun, to all of these?
In my opinion, critical thinking is an important tool to know how to use. Many people do not, however, use it. When people don't use critical thinking before responding to something, and they just say whatever first comes to mind, the answer might come across in an offensive way when you didn't mean it that way.
Leeanne M
Totally understand what you're saying, Leeanne, but maybe we should discern between "impulse control" and "critical thinking"? There are probably some very astute Critical Thinkers out there with poor impulse control. Does one influence the other? Do they play off each other?
I think Critical thinking is imprtant because it helps us think more deeply about what we're going to say before we say it. Critical thinking helps us decide whether or not we should say something that may sound offending or not.
Rheana R
It's important to have the ability to analyze facts, generate/organize ideas and defend opinions. I think in order to do those things you must use critical thinking.
Seank
You all have me thinking about this idea of "look before you leap" when it comes to critical thinking and communication, as Sarah points out. Then again, like Brittany, I tend to overanalyze things, too... and, as Mr. Mac says, there's that whole "impulse control" idea when it comes to applying critical thinking at the store... yikes! There's a lot going on here. Good work, everyone.
In terms of critical thinking, I recently found this wonderful youtube post. It is from the show, "Bulls***" by Penn and Teller. They were able to get people to sign a petition banning dihydrogen monoxide. Very disturbing and very funny at the same time--too few take the time to think through things.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yi3erdgVVTw
Cheers,
Mr. Schallhorn
i agree i think critiacal thinkning is very important, one time i heard somebody say "critical thinking is common sense" if only common sense was actually common.
Jill D.
Critical thinking is important because it helps you make good decisions in your life. Critical thinking could be used almost anytime during the day. For example, when your learning how to cook something. You have to think about how high of temperature you want to cook the food at. You also want to figure out how long you want to cook the food so it will turn out how you want it to turn out.
Nathan P.
Critical thinking is an important skill because it's what separates us from the animals and is crucial to the survival of the human race. A situation for me in which critical thinking was helpful was when i had to decide whether or not to move away from hollister. obviously i made the right decision thanks to my fantastical brain.
I Believe that critical thinking is one of the most important features of a person. Humans normally react with out thinking and it leads to trouble, just look at what President Bush has done, he didn't use critical thinking and look at where we are now... stuck in an endless war with so much loss of life.
Kevin P
I agree that critical thinking could be tied in with common sense. At the same time the world is filled with people like Brittany who over analyze things and people like me who at times dont analyze at all. In certain situations the basic human instinct kicks in and you cant control yourself and at other times i feel the situation doesnt need to be analyzed at all. Sometimes im right and sometimes im wrong
Without critical thinking everyone would just do whatever came into their head first, and not think things over fully. Make a plan, think of any flaws it has, then execute it.
-Patrick G
Critical thinking allows someone the ability to create different paths for themselves. Without this ability a majority of people might wind up in situations that could be dangerous to their well being and they may get hurt.
Martin R.
Critical thinking is about being both willing and able to think.Without being able to think in a progressive matter people limit themselves to what they can do in life.
SHELBI
Critical thinking is one of the most important things we, as humans, have to offer. You use critical thinking every single day(at least i hope you do ha) You should use your critical thinking brains on not only hard situations but in the simple things in life. You often decide whether or not to say whats really on your mind or to keep your mouth shut so you dont hurt someones feelings. You use VERY critical thinking while driving. You never know what may happen or what kind of idiots are out on the road. Critical thinking is something everyone should use on a daily basis whether you think you need to or not. Sometimes doing what comes first to mind rather than thinking about the situation doesn't always get you that far.
Brit S
This topic is complex. Not only is critical thinking necessary in everyday life but it is very much useful. You can use critical thinking for reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Which in any case, is always. Although bare in mind it cant always be done. As we are all human being's we sometimes get too forgetful or mindful of those around us and can be blunt and in sensitive. If we could use critical thinking maybe there would be a sum of justice. We wouldn's just be self absorbed, we could actually communicate with everyone. But remember, we all have a mind of our own so it all really is up to us to decide what we want to do or say, and so on and so forth. I myself can't deny I dont use critical thinkign as much I should or should want to. I all about honesty,it goes a long way. Being blunt though is a little un-necessary especially when feelings are at risk.
~destiny L
Critical thinking is important because sometimes people don't think about what they are saying when they say it. It helps us think more of how to say certain things and to sound like what we know we are talking about. I for one can sometimes catch myself not responding to someone when I'm talking to them because my responses or answers can be mean or not right when I really don't mean to say it like that.
Vanessa P
Critical thinking is a part of every day life. You not only use is for hard tasks but for the simple ones as well. You use it to think before you speak, to better understand material you are reading, when writing and observing while listening. I know I use it daily especially while driving. You must be highly aware of your surroundings so that there are no accients.
Critical thinking is what separates us from every other mammal. As humans we hold the capacity to process more information and look at it objectively/ critically. Critical thinking is important in our day to day interacts with people (socially) and through school and balancing our work load(educationally). Everyday we have to think critically to get everything done that we need to do and still stay sane!
Claire B
I usually connect everything to volleyball, and this is no exception. I think volleyball is all about anticipation and doing it very quickly. You have to be able to read every single person on the other side of the net; their movements and eyes and what they're saying. You have to be able to evaluate and make a quick decision about what your next move is going to be. The thinking in everyday volleyball situations is very critical.
I think critical thinking is considered an important skill because we all use it everyday when we are making decisions. Critical thinking helps to make wise decisions and answer right to questions. I think if we didn't use critical thinking to the best of our ability there would be a lot of wrong answers and a lot of bad choices being made.
Laura M
Critical thinking is important because it can help you get out of bad situations, prevent them, or help you into good situations. It's always better to over-think then under-think! A time where I should have used critical thinking was when the cops came for my brother and instead of telling the truth I lied to them and told them he wasn't at my house and lied about the color of the clothes he was wearing. They ended up finding him in the closet and I got arrested for embedding and harboring a fugative (because they thought I hid him), and accessorie to a felon (for lieing to the cops) =/. I didn't think before I took action. Critical thinking really could have came in handy there because they put me in juvenile hall and now I'm on probation. This situation could have been prevented if I would have used critical thinking.
Lol.
xOxO
- Adrianna M!
megsyThinking critcally is a huge part of my life because everyday in my life i do so. I play golf almost everyday and i must think my way into every aspect of my shot. i have to identify my situation, visualize my options and the excecute the shot. Same as when your answering a question; You must identify what the person is asking you, realize your options then deliver a solid answer.
Thinking critcally is a huge part of my life because everyday in my life i do so. I play golf almost everyday and i must think my way into every aspect of my shot. i have to identify my situation, visualize my options and the excecute the shot. Same as when your answering a question; You must identify what the person is asking you, realize your options then deliver a solid answer.
I think Critical Thinking is important because it helps us think more deeply about situations. It also helps us create different paths for ourselves and make the right decision about something.
Critical thinking plays a big role in everyday life. People are constantly making decisions and depending on you to make decisions to keep life going. Without the decision making process life would be boring.
BF
Critical thinking is one of the thousand decisions we make on a daily basis, and each decision affects us in many ways. Critical thinking is very important though, because we all find ourselves speaking without observing our thoughts first. Some more than others though for example, teenagers deal with it a lot when getting in arguments with friends. Teenagers focus more on who's right and wrong rather than how they can control the outcome. What ends up happening is they argue so much that they get to the point where they are tired of it and say things they don't mean. After, they ask "why did I say that", or they deny it.
I think this is a very important skill because it could help us in situations where we need to make a smart, informed decision. This can be anything like dealing with money or credit. I think it is a valuable skill to have these days. I can imagine it can help in figuring out just how much your going to have to pay each month for that credit card you have. How much interest is there? Can you REALLY pay that much each month?
Derek H.
Critical thinking is important because it helps you understand the logical connections between ideas and solve problems systematically. You use critical thinking in everyday decisions. Thinking clearly can improve the way we express our ideas.
Michelle G
I believe it's an important skill because it allows you to stop and think about the circumstance and consider the possible outcome. Critical thinking is a very important skill because of that.
Danielle P.
Critical thinking helps us make better choices and finds the best outcome of a situation. It helps you sort out the right and wrong things to say.
Courtney S
I agree with leeannem because when talking to someone for the first time you want to make a good impression for yourself. And to achieve that goal you use critical thinking to make a interesting conversation last.
Great responses! I really enjoy reading them all and find it fascinating that we all kind of agree that critical thinking is so important. So why do we all make so many mistakes? Why do we all experience so many lapses in judgment? Why can we sometimes be so quick to abandon our skills of thinking and evaluating choices crtically? Is it all because "To err is human"?
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