Subject: Critical Thinking
From: "jjh"
To: Vocalist
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

On Wed, 08 Dec 1999 , Timothy Kelly wrote:

>Critical thinking is one of the most useless and negative activities there is,
>and a complete and utter waste of time, talent, and ability. It may be a sad
>kind of fun to trash others, and stop them from doing things you would be
>afraid to do, thats ok. I am glad I did not allow critical thinking, and gloom
>and doom, to make my decisions in life...

Wow, the words "critical thinking" really touched a nerve...Timothy, it
sounds like you had a very powerful experience with alternative healing, and
I wouldn't take that away from you for the world! As someone who deals with
some pretty daunting medical problems (including severe asthma which I only
developed as an adult), I have tremendous empathy for what you went through.
But I also believe you may be mistaking critical thinking for Criticism, or
for negative thinking/skepticism in general.

I've only taken one course on Critical Thinking (given by Center for
Critical Thinking based at Sonoma State University), so I certainly don't
qualify as an expert! While critical thinking may not be everyone's cup of
tea, I found the concepts of critical thinking taught in this course to be
tremendously valuable. The goal of critical thinking is to get instructors
to help students think for themselves. And by the same token, to help
students improve the quality of their thinking, rather than to simply expect
and accept their entire education as the spoon-feeding and regurgitation of
facts and figures. The instructor, a wonderfully dynamic woman named Linda
Elder, compared critical thinking to a game of basketball. Teachers and
students are on the same team, she said, and to really get the game going,
you must frequently pass the ball to the students--get them into the
intellectual game!

The implications of critical thinking in private voice instruction really
appealed to me. I spend a lot of time with my students in helping them
learn to think for themselves. I began by asking them questions instead of
supplying quick and easy answers. Encouraging them to develop a method of
problem-solving for their singing. Asking them to think about How to
practice, so their practice time becomes more efficient and effective. I'm
interested in helping them find the tools so that they can take control of
their own singing, of their own education, of their own careers. Regular
self-reflection and self-assessment are important parts of critical
thinking.

Some other interesting things that I learned critical thinking:

1. A critical thinker considers the elements of reasoning, with reference
to intellectual standards (clarity, relevance, precision, accuracy, depth
and breadth). The elements of reasoning are:
(a) What is my purpose in thinking about this subject/issue/problem (what
are my goals or objectives)?
(b) Precisely what is the question at issue or the problem at hand?
(c) What information do I have available to me (information includes data
and facts, but also observations and experiences).
(d) How do I interpret this information, what inferences can I draw, what
conclusions or solutions can I come up with?
(e) What concepts might be helpful to me in interpreting the information
at hand (what theories, definitions, axioms, laws, principles, or models can
I draw on)?
(f) What assumptions am I working under (what have I presupposed about
this problem, have I taken anything for granted)? Assumptions are very
powerful things, and may take considerable effort to unravel.
(g) What are the implications and consequences of the problem, and of my
assumptions about it?
(h) What other points of view might be helpful to me, in trying to solve
this problem or understand this subject?

2. There are two levels of thinking.
(a) First-Order Thinking is: low quality, impulsive, uncontrolled,
unanalyzed, self-validating, lazy, reflexive, "knee-jerk," spontaneous,
interested mainly in instant gratification, confused, resistant to change,
egotistical.
(b) Second-Order Thinking is: higher-quality, reflective, disciplined,
self-assessing and self-correcting, probing, curious, open-minded,
truth-seeking, clear.

Timothy, with all of the reading and searching you did about alternative
healing, it sounds to me like you really did some powerful critical thinking
of your own!

3. Finally, at least in the course I took, it was made pretty clear that
emotion, feelings, hunches, faith, common sense, empathy, and intuition are
very important parts of critical thinking. These wonderful qualities all
have their place in critical thinking, and were not belittled or scorned
whatsoever. They have a place in the larger picture of quality thinking.
Here is a blurb on critical thinking from a pamphlet called "Keys to College
Success:"

Critical Thinking
(a) Don't believe everything you see, read, or hear. Decide for yourself
what you are going to believe.
(b) Critical thinking is important in order to:
--Enhance common sense.
--Filter emotion.
--Categorize experiences.
--Select reference.
--Understand the "experts."
--Sort facts from opinion.
--Learn to express yourself in a cogent manner.
(c) Critical thinkers are:
--Attractive socially.
--Able to resist manipulation.
--Able to overcome confusion.
--Able to perceive connections between subjects and events.
--Able to base judgments on evidence and facts.
--Able to realize that the "truth" is never simple. Grey or foggy areas
always exist.

I hope I've given some food for thought--if you want more information on
critical thinking, there are some helpful sites on the WWW. The Center for
Critical Thinking homepage can be found at:

http://www.criticalthinking.org/

Cheers!

Jana
--
Jana Holzmeier
Dept. of Music
Nebraska Wesleyan University
5000 Saint Paul Ave.
Lincoln, NE 68504
jjh-at-nebrwesleyan.edu
402-465-2284