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.
Alexa, I agree with you that it was challenging to activate our dispositions in the second research topic because the majority of our class was not as open minded to the topic. I enjoy that you viewed critical thinking as a set of dispositions that are both valuable and problematic. I would have never viewed curiosity in critical thinking as problematic in a sense that it can lead the discussion off topic.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. The sets of dispositions from Ritchhart's are very useful in critical thinking. They help to keep errors out of the way that we think, especially biases. I also agree that having an open mind is an important part of critical thinking. I also discussed the fact that not being open minded can become problematic in Critical thinking.
ReplyDeleteAlexa, I agree with how you think that being open minded can help keep biases out and allow us to listen to other people's point of view. I also agree that it was more difficult to have a clear discussion on the topic of planned parenthood and restricting moral and sexual behavior because every person has their own beliefs and thoughts of what is right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteAlexa,
ReplyDeleteYou raise some great points. Our basic conservatism, for lack of better term, most likely did impeded our discussions of Planned Parenthood and sexual morality. I hadn't necessarily thought of some peoples' reluctance to speak in terms of their religious or moral upbringings, so thank you for adding a new dimension of understanding to my view of the discussions. You've highlighted for me a problem in my own thinking that I hadn't yet identified: a lack of empathy. Thank you. I think the entire class would benefit from your insights, and I look forward to hearing more your thoughts in class.
-Julianne