chapter 2 - BPTNC

• Critical thinking is a mode of thinking about any subject, content, or problem in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them.
• The problem with thinking, left to itself, is that it is often biased, distorted, partial, uninformed, or downright prejudiced.
• Every human being has tremendous capacities to think critically.
• Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking on order to improve your thinking.
• Critical thinking is the art of taking charge of your mind.
• Human beings are not only homo sapiens but also homo criticus, species with the capacity to think critically.
• The quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depend precisely on the quality of our thought.
• Shoddy thinking is costly, both in money and in quality of life.
• Excellence in thought must be systematically cultivated.
• A well cultivated thinker raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely; gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively, comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards; thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as need be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences; and communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.
• Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking.
• Critical thinking presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use.
• Critical thinking in relation to everyday life involves discovering thinking and critical thinking in everyday life, identifying barriers to cultivating thinking skills, and applying critical thinking to old problems in analyzing the way one is taught to think.
• Critical thinking entails effective communication and problem-solving abilities and commitment to overcome our native egocentrism and socio-centrism.
• Critical theories are uncritical theories.
• The philosopher most associated with the critical spirit is Socrates.
• Feminist or Marxist teachers may demand a certain perspective be adopted, which could be done through tick box techniques.
• In the 1930s another Australian philosopher John Anderson put the Socratic view of education most clearly when he wrote: "The Socratic education begins…with the awakening of the mind to the need for criticism, to the uncertainty of the principles by which it supposed itself to be guided."
• They strive to diminish the power of their egocentric and socio-centric tendencies.
• According to Victorian cultural critic Matthew Arnold, criticism is a disinterested endeavor to learn and propagate the best that is known and thought in the world.
• These people are keenly aware of the inherently flawed nature of human thinking when left unchecked.
• Critical theory, critical race theory, critical race philosophy, critical realism, critical reflective practice all explicitly have political aims.
• Professional programmes in education, nursing, social work, and others often promote this sort of "criticism," which used to be called "indoctrination."
• The misuses of criticism include viewing critical thinking as a skill, reducing it to second-rate or elementary instruction in informal and some formal logic, and subjecting it to the conformism of an ideological yoke.
• People who think critically consistently attempt to live rationally and reasonably.
• These people use the intellectual tools that critical thinking offers - concepts and principles that enable them to analyze, assess, and improve thinking.
• Criticism is always about the world and not about you.
• Criticism, according to Arnold, is more like a character trait - like having "a critical spirit," or a willingness to engage in the "give and take of critical discussion."
• Having to support multiculturalism and diversity is the most common of the "correct ideas" that everyone has to adopt.
• There are barriers to cultivating critical thinking.
• People strive to improve the world in whatever ways they contribute to a more rational, civilized society.
• Assumptions can be true or false, verifiable or disputable, depending on what and where we anchor our reasoning.
• Critical thinking supplants sloppy thinking with a clearer one.
• People recognize the complexities often inherent in doing so.
• The 21st century world demands to revisit thinking to dismantle the barriers to critically and fair-mindedness.
• Baseless conclusions and judgment are potentially erroneous.
• Socio-cultural dimensions shape thinking.
• All of our thinking and experience are based on assumptions.
• People realize that no matter how skilled they are as thinkers, they can always improve their reasoning abilities and they will at times fall prey to mistakes in reasoning, human irrationality, prejudices, biases, distortions, uncritically accepted social rules and taboos, self-interest, and vested interest.
• Often, we make assumptions and end up concluding without verifying.