Set of Dispositions

Critical Thinking is a very hard task and requires a lot of outside sources to ensure you have made a wise and practical decision. Is using outside sources as valuable as it seems to be? Yes, for example using a set of dispositions, allows an individual to examine all sides of a position while using resources to make a decision. Thinking of critical thinking as a set of dispositions valued by learning experience. It enabled me to question myself, make sure I kept an open mind, and analyze all facts. Not only did it benefit me while critical thinking, using the set of dispositions as an observer was needed as well. While doing the research it is very difficult to use the set of dispositions. Keeping an open mind while doing research and not falling back to your original beliefs is the hardest problem. The disposition that come to me easily are being inquisitive and analytical. Most of the time I find myself questioning facts that I read. Questions I ask myself often when reading are “why is this important” or “how do we know”. I am always wondering if facts people state are true and not just made up. The disposition I struggle with the most is open mindedness, I always let doubt and bias get in the way. In order to fix my weakness I have to read all the facts before I stopping reading it because I disagree. I have to open up to new facts and new opinions.

Critical Thinking Skills

I found the use of set skills while critically thinking to be very valuable. It allows you to make a guideline of skills that would be useful when coming to a conclusion after critically thinking. The skills help you keep your focus while discussing or thinking. While using these skills can be valuable, applying them is very problematic. It is very hard for me to keep bias out when I was doing the research topic. Free education being the last topic it was very difficult to keep the bias out. Everyone wants college to be free and to find valid and reliable reasons supporting my thoughts was very complicated. One weakness I realized I had when discussing this topic is that I do not is clarify my position. A lot of the time I tend to switch my position throughout research or discussion. When I hear other people’s opinion I usually change my own. In order to overcome this weakness I plan to fully read my research and write down all the possible positions. By doing so this will allow me to rethink the possibilities before making a final decision. The skill of determining the pros and cons is a skill that I should begin to use. It would help my weakness of changing positions. If I could determine the benefits or disadvantages of an article it would be beneficial for my critical thinking. Another skill that is useful to my critical thinking is “do we have our facts straight?”. Everyone needs to understand the contexts of an article before stating facts and opinions. Sometimes I read something and put it into my own words when that is really not what the author is trying to get across. Critical Thinking is a hard process but by applying the set of skills the class came up with makes the process a little bit easier.

Critical Thinking

Argumentation is the process of creating and analyzing reasons to come to a position in an argument. The topic of argumentation made me rethink my thoughts of critical thinking. Before this week my definition of critical thinking was active thinking that requires focus, breaking ideas down and is goal oriented. The class read a story about a misunderstood friendship between to young girls, after reading we discussed everyone's opinion on the girls relationship. For each position we came up with, we needed to support with three reasons as to why. When being faced with the challenge of coming up with reasons for every position my definition of critical thinking has changed. I now believe critical thinking requires a lot more analysis of all positions presented on one topic. Another factor the class discussed that changed my definition was irrational decision making. It taught me that when I am making a decision I cannot jump to a conclusion; I have to lay out all my options, benefits and consequences. In today's society everyone is caught up in being the best and the one with the most luxurious items, but is it needed? Society needs to step back and question all their actions. Questions we can ask ourselves to know when we are making a rational decision are: What am I sacrificing?, Can I get through life without this?, What would my thinking hero do?. My thinking hero would still be Oprah Winfrey after learning new factors of critical thinking. Oprah is probably very likely to present the ideas of argumentation when trying to reach a decision. She most likely comes up with three or more reasons in order to become fixed upon on solid position. Before making any major decisions, Oprah probably asks herself all the questions that will make her decision beneficial to not only her but others.

Thinking Hero

Our developing definition of critical thinking is active thinking that is goal oriented, requires focus and involves a particular analytical process. I have decided to choose Oprah Winfrey as my thinking hero because she possesses all those qualities. She is a very goal oriented woman and works to develop the best outcome for every project she takes on. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for girls in South Africa was opened on behalf of Oprah to guarantee less fortunate girls of an education. Her fundamentals upon opening this academy were to encourage these girls to develop their own critical thinking and make the best life possible for themselves. In addition to Oprah’s school for girls, Oprah was also the creator of Angel’s Lane following the devastation of hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. While reporting on the devastation, Oprah was struck by how many were without homes, living in shelters and with family. She left determined to find a solution. Her critical thinking led to the creation of Angels Lane, which provided 65 single family homes to those displaced. Her thinking however did not result in the donation of the homes, she devised a way in which the families were specially selected based upon their employment, the ability to donate 300 hours of sweat equity toward building their own home and the ability to afford the estimated mortgage of $400 a month. Within 20 years, those families would own their homes. Both of these examples clearly amount to the analytical process, focus and determination on behalf of Oprah to develop such programs. Not only is Oprah a critical thinker she also demonstrates the ability to explore the facts, ideas, and opinions of others on her talk show. Overall Oprah Winfrey uses her multiple qualities of a critical thinker to influence and impact other lives.