Viewing critical thinking as a set
of dispositions can be both valuable and problematic. In the previous weeks of class, we focused on
critical thinking and how it related to ability. Looking through a different
lens, we can also link critical thinking to motivation and the dispositions
from Ritchhart. The dispositions include being open minded, curious,
meta-cognitive, truth-seeking, strategic and skeptical. What is valuable about
this approach is that biases are less likely to occur. When an individual is
open-minded, not only are they aware of their position, but aware and open to
other people’s opinions as well. This is essential for critical thinking
because in order to discuss an argument, their needs to be different opinions
to ultimately narrow them down to which is more logical. Logic, or a system of
reasoning, is important to critical thinking because when breaking down a
topic, the reasoning that comes along with it needs to make sense. Logic is
used in all aspects of life, and extremely valuable to critical thought. Logic
also connects to being curious. Being curious however, could be both valuable and
problematic. Curiosity sometimes guides thoughts off topic, and causes an
individual to stray from their main idea. Curiosity can also be resourceful
because it forces ideas to be questioned and further examined to not miss any
key details. Being skeptical is the same way, as it forces the individual to
question beliefs and reasons, but also has the ability set a negative tone in the mind of the individual.
It was quite challenging to
activate these dispositions for our second research topic. Planned Parenthood
and restricting moral and sexual behavior is difficult for people to talk about
because it can be classified as a “private” topic. People come from different
backgrounds, have strict morals, and religious beliefs that can hinder a
research topic from being successful. The majority of the class was not
open-minded, or skeptical due to the uncomfortable aspect of the topic.
Personally, I believe I am an open-minded thinker. To further help develop my
dispositions however, I need to openly question and challenge ideas. I am aware that I need to work on being
skeptical so I can question other people’s ideas more often to add to the
discussion.
