critical thinking blog #1

Critical thinking is when a problem, situation or scenario that is thoroughly studied, analyzed, dissected and rationalized in order to objectively ascertain the pros and cons. Critical thinking is used to determine a possible course of action or perhaps no action which may affect a solution or to be able to predict a possible outcome, good or bad. To think critically about something is having to think about it from another or many other points of view.

About six weeks ago I answered an ad on craigslist for free construction materials from a man who was tearing down an old barn that had been converted to a cabin. As I was speaking with the man about what kind of materials would be available and how difficult they would be to obtain, some questions went through my mind. My time is valuable, as is everyone’s, so I asked myself was this guy telling me the truth, straight up? Was he embellishing what’s there and the difficulty to remove it from the structure? After all he just wants to cabin torn down and the material hauled away. Was the drive from my home to the cabin, about an hour away, worth any material I might obtain? If I was able to obtain any materials would my truck be large enough to haul it all back? The man had said that the building was built during a time when asbestos was used in the manufacture of many construction materials so I should probably bring a respirator. Was it worth it to have to deal with asbestos? I decided that it might be worth it and found myself walking through Home Depot to replace the respirator that I couldn’t find at home. As I searched through the store for a respirator, I saw that the prices of the same materials I was after at the cabin had come down so much in contrast to the last time I checked, that I knew this endeavor was a lost cause.

Some years ago soon after I met my wife, when we were both much freer from the constraints of careers, homes and children, we spontaneously decided that we were going to drive to Mexico and do some kayaking. The next day we loaded up everything that we thought we might need for our trip. We loaded clothes, swimsuits, snorkels, cash, camping gear and a Spanish/English dictionary into my truck and we were off. It took us two long and tiring days of driving to reach the border in Texas, but when we tried to cross they stopped us cold. We neglected to do any research and were unaware that we needed to have the original title to the vehicle, special insurance for driving in Mexico, and extra cash to pay some sort of tax on the kayaks strapped to the top of the truck because they thought we would try to sell them which, of course, was part of the plan to finance the trip. In the end we found that after a more carefully analysis while sitting in the extreme heat on the Mexican border that we didn’t have the documentation or the funds to continue.

When I think of intellectualism the first thing that comes to mind is of some older guy or gentleman with his hair cut short and a full beard trimmed perfectly relaxing in a plush leather chair surrounded by books in a expansive library wearing a turtle neck sweater and a smoking jacket next to a slow burning fire sipping cognac. Wait, that’s not intellectualism that’s a form of a stereotypical intellectual. Intellectualism is reasoning, thought. Intellectualism is being able to think about something and analyze it, examine it, look at it from different angles. I think that intellectualism, for me, has both positive and negative connotations. On one hand I believe that I possess, most of the time, the ability to make well thought out decisions and that I think through problems or potential problem and situations. Most of the time I realize when I need to gather more information about something and when I need to stop because I’m over my head. I say most of the time because if I become emotional about something sometimes my reasoning can go right out the door. On the other hand, the negative connotation for me is that I choose sometimes not to pursue the skills needed to better improve my intellect, usually due to fear, distraction or just plain laziness.

When I think of logic and reason I think that it’s all part of intellectualism and critical thinking. It is logical to assume that if something has happened a certain way before and all the conditions are the same that it would happen the same way again. For example, when the wind starts to blow and the sky fills with dark clouds it’s logical to think that it’s going to rain because that’s what happens most of the time when those conditions are present. To reason is to think logically and be able to form opinions and judgments. I believe that logic and reason have both positive and negative connotations for me. A positive is that I do think in a logical way most of the time. In most things if one does not think logically it makes life much harder. It’s logical to think that if I stay up writing this blog much longer that I will feel tired in the morning when I have to get up for work. If I throw that logic out and stay up, in the morning life will most certainly be much harder. It’s also logical to think that if I just go to bed and don’t finish this blog, I won’t receive a good grade in this class and worse yet may not obtain the skills needed to further my intellect. Therefore, I reason that a happy medium must be reached, a compromise. The negative connotation is that sometimes even when I know something is logical and all my reasoning tell me to go in a certain direction I do the opposite.

I’m so tired…. Good night all

Pre-Reading Blog #1

Here you are in college. How’s that working out for you? Consider your educational experience to this point. What are your impressions of education? What do you seek to gain from education? Have you enjoyed your educational experience through high school? Why or why not? Please end your blog with at least one good critical question (refer to "How to Develop a Critical Question").Define the following: Rationalism, Anti-Rationalism, Fundamentalism

I don't really feel as if I'm in college as I'm only taking one class and it's online, although as I sit down to write this blog it's starting to hit me. It's really to early to tell how it's working out except that I've had to rearrange my schedule and priorities a bit. Time will tell.

As I grow older and more responsibilities are placed upon me by raising a family, being a husband and working in a sometimes very stressful job my impression of education is that it is increasing valuable. However, I didn't always think that was the case. Wait.... I did know that education was important and valuable because my parents drilled it into me ever since I can remember. But, being the stubborn person that I am, I didn't listen. Maybe they drilled it in too much and I rebelled against it. Whatever the reason I knew in the back of my mind that education was important and should be sought after, but I've never really held it in very high priority. I always thought that I would get an education through life experience, which I believe to be indispensable, although as I grew up it became clear that a combination of life experience and more formal education would be the key to having a full, complete and rewarding life.

Education gives one the ability to think for themselves and not have to rely solely on what another tells them. It gives one the ability to intelligently question the views and actions of others. It gives one freedom by allowing one to make his or hers own informed choices. Also, on a more practical note education gives one the ability to more easily provide for ones self as far as food, shelter and security. At least in our society the more education you have the higher your earning potential. Further, I believe education adds a sort of richness to life and I'm not talking richness in a monetary way, but in the way that one can interact in more social circles or enjoy an intelligent conversation about more topics beyond simply asking questions about something that one may have never heard about.

What I hope to gain from education is all that I have just mentioned: the ability to more aptly think for myself, to more intelligently question others, to be able to more fully enjoy the intellect of others, and to be able to better provide for myself and my family.

During my high school years I wasn't very present, present in class or present in mind. I wasn't interested in learning. At least not the things I was supposed to be learning in high school. I was more interested in having fun than being in class. And I realize now that I could have had tons of fun in class during high school while getting that all important education that my parents told me about. I believe I had, or still have to some degree, a form of social anxiety that kept me from going to or staying in class during high school. I was a bit shy in that part of my life and maybe I just didn't give it a chance.

How can a parent best ascertain a social disorder in their child and what would be the best way to help that child cope with that disorder? Explain your answer.

According to Webster's New World College Dictionary Fourth Edition the word rationalism is defined as "1 the pricinple or practice of accepting reason as the only authority in deteermining one's opinons or course of action 2 the doctrine that knowledge comes from the intellect in itself without aid from the senses; intellectualism"

Anti-rationalism would be defined as the opposite of rationalism. The opposition of rationalism or against rationalism.

According to Webster's New world College Dictionary Fourth Edition the word fundalmentalism is defines as "1 religious beliefs based on a literal interpretation of the bible, regarded as fundalmental to Christian faith and morals 2 the 20th-cent. movement among some American protestants, based on these beliefs 3 a strict adherance to or interpretation of a doctrine, set of principles, etc., as of a social, legal, political, or religious group or system"