Discussion Post #1F Instructions

[Admin]

Post any additional thoughts regarding critical thinking in light of what you have read above.

[Marie Sabatino]

After viewing the "Critical Thinking" YouTube video, I became intrigued by this idea of "embracing skepticism." In ordinary life, or maybe the better term is the unexamined life, we don't tend to view skepticism as a positive quality. We may even feel annoyed by the skeptic and ask ourselves, "Why is this person always questioning everything?" One way to address this less favorable notion of the "skeptic" is to consider how critical one's approach to questioning ideas or norms is. As one of the writers in the "Bosses Seek Critical Thinking..." articles notes: "Critical thinkers...tend to challenge the status quo, which isn't always what a boss is after." Thus, this final point helped me to realize that HOW we approach the ways in which we question things is just as important as WHAT we choose to question.

[Lindsay Rachow]

I found the Wall Street Journal article interesting. The paragraph (bottom of page 2); "For their part, students seem to think they are ready for office. But their future bosses tend to disagree." It goes on to state that students believed they were prepared for problem-solving, while "few than half of the employers agreed". I wonder where's the disconnect? Is it education? A culture shift? Then I wonder, what were the statistics 10-20 years ago? Has college ever focused on critical thinking as a general course?
Also - the paragraph (like Marie referred to) that critical thinkers "tend to challenge the status quo, which isn't always what a boss is after" - I wonder, why? If an employee is truly a critical thinker, they are challenging for the good of the company, not to be difficult or unruly.

[Drew Holness]

The article overall article was interesting as-well-as short and sweet. The thing that stuck out to me most was one of the definitions. “Thinking about your thinking, while you’re thinking, in order to improve your thinking.” -Linda Elder. Mainly because it centers my focus on self-reflection to avoid jumping in and problem solve only.