BOTTOM FEEDER
Without critical thinking, how can we really live a meaningful life? We need this skill to self-reflect and justify our ways of life and opinions. Critical thinking provides us with the tools to evaluate ourselves in the way that we need to. Over the years I have done well at taking apart my life to evaluate it in order to be a more insightful husband, father, leader, or person. But one of my greatest weaknesses is being a critical thinker when it comes to higher education. So far, I have been able to avoid it, even as I worked on my master’s degree.
After reading The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking, I now realize, my avoidance is actually a flaw in my character! Ouch! According to Linda Elder’s six stages of Critical Thinking Development, I am presently at the bottom. I would be considered an Unreflective Thinker (unaware of significant problems in my thinking) p. 6. In the past I would easily comment on posts that I agreed with just because it was easy and because I did not want any push back from the person I was replying to. By being an uncritical thinker, I am actually communicating to others, “I do not care about your development as a writer and/or person” It hurts to write this but it is true since I have been failing to honestly and critically engage with posts that I might disagree with or could at least challenge the writer to think in a different way. The bottom line in critical thinking is to help the writer to improve his or her thought process. Since this has been a glaring weakness in my life, I am committing to learning and growing in this area by raising vital questions through my new found intellectual courage.
Speaking of intellectual courage, for the past 35 years I have been reading 40 to 90 books a year, which means I do have much to say because of my reading. I love reading. It is an addiction. But all my life, I have read every single word in every book. I remember Jason Clark saying during orientation, “Do not read every word in a book.” There have been many times I read every word in a book just because I thought skimming and superficial reading are bad for understanding. Now, I need to learn the art of inspectional reading. Due to time constraints, I am sure I will really like inspectional reading.
Since I read much, I also take many notes, but I do not have a good note taking system. As I look at my files on my desktop, I see one folder that reads, “Trauma.” Unfortunately, everything about trauma is in that folder and it takes a while to find what I am really looking for. This is why I just started using Obsidian to store and organize notes and pictures for my blogs. I am already seeing a difference in my organization of my desktop files.
Obsidian will be very helpful as I write my essays, which is another weak area in my life. I tend to have lots of information, but my challenge is organizing it in an understandable and logical format for my readers.
I hope to develop better skills in every area. That should be easy since my skills are at the bottom. But, the perfectionist in me will work extremely hard to develop my critical thinking skills. Also, reading less in a book is actually more, so I will work hard at understanding a book after reading it for about 60 minutes. I will also read other posts to learn from my wise classmates. All of this is easier said than done, and I truly believe this challenge will be worth it!
About the Author
Todd E Henley
Todd is an avid cyclist who loves playing frisbee golf, watching NASCAR, making videos, photography, playing Madden football, and watching sport. He is addicted to reading, eating fruits and vegetables, and drinking H2O. His passion is talking about trauma, epigenetics, chromosomes, and the brain. He has been blessed with a sensationally sweet wife and four fun creative children (one of which resides in heaven). In his free time he teaches at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary and is the Founder/Executive Director of Restore Counseling Center.11 responses to “BOTTOM FEEDER”
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I remember hearing Dr. Clark make that comment about not reading every word. I was blown away because I grew up believing that reading every word was a necessary component of learning. I also remember feeling like something was off with me when I could not remember everything that I read. I appreciate you sharing your similar feelings.
I had a conversation with my wife this afternoon about the very thing you mentioned in your essay regarding having “lots of information, but (the) challenge is organizing it…” I told her that I have trouble synthesizing my thoughts in a way that makes sense for my readers. In my case, this has to be a critical thinking issue. In Paul and Elder’s little book, I drew a vertical arrow starting from the lowest level (“Lower Order Thinking”) to Level 3 (“Highest Order of Thinking”) on page 36. I wrote “need to continue to grow toward (level 3).” This has been a blindspot for me. Have you come across other resources, in addition to Obsidian, that perhaps you started to consider as options to capture your notes, before you began this program?
Hey Travis! Honestly, I thought I was the only one like this. No, I have not come across other resources simply because it was not on my radar. But now, I have no choice. I either steer this ship by becoming a better critical thinker or…I walk the plank.
On page 36 of Paul and Elder, I remember reading the words, “self-deceived” for lower order thinking. That’s a strong word, which means I have lots of work to do. I’m glad I have others to walk with!
Thank you for your thoughtful reflection. It seems we have similar goals moving forward. I was surprised when I opened my old copy of Adler that I had heavily marked and underlined the inspectional reading section. I recognized that I have been using that style to choose books to purchase for many years, but of course I would then proceed to read every page. And, if the book was for school take unorganized and copious notes. I am looking forward to properly utilizing inspectional reading and hoping I can overcome my compulsion to read every word. I am curious to know more about how you use Obsidian. How are you finding it helpful? Are there organizational tools built into the program that work for you?
Hello Jenny! I am having fun with Obsidian. there are organizational tools built into the program. For example, I have a file entitled, “How to Take smart Notes” Within that file, I have screen shots from my iPhone of the video we had to watch which included important quotes. I also have screen shots from the book that I feel are important. Now, whenever I look at that file, I have only what is important for me.
I just typed in “Blog 2” and will download whatever I need to organize my thoughts for my next blog. You can also just drag any notes on your computer into a file, which makes it easy to retrieve. I’m still learning because this is new to me and I’ve only had it for a few days. Try it, you might like it.
Todd, I can relate to your self analysis of critical thinking. I also find myself agreeing a whole lot with a whole lot of things because it requires less critical thinking and less chance of push back. Thank you for sharing this analysis.
Hi Todd,
Thanks for providing this thought: “By being an uncritical thinker, I am actually communicating to others, ‘I do not care about your development as a writer and/or person.'” It is compelling to me that our lack of critical thinking may be having an impact on those around us. I will be chewing on that this weekend.
Hey Jennifer! Yeah that hurt, to realize I am actually hindering people’s growth by not being honest was tough to come to grips with but the great thing is I am looking forward to growing in this area! And we have a great co-hort to help us! 😊
Hi Todd! Thank you for your self-assessment. I appreciate it. You wrote an inspiring reflection. I also remember what Dr. Clark said about the reading strategy.
Talking about critical thinking level, it seems many of us are at the lowest level of critical thinking. But, if there is any lower level than it, I probably will be at that level (haha).
By the way, would you share your trick or strategy to enhance your level of critical thinking as a reading-addicted person?
Hey Dinka! Trust me there is no way you are lower than me when it comes to critical thinking! 😊 As soon as I have a strategy to enhance my critical thinking, I will let you know! Blessings to ya, sir!
Thank you for sharing what’s happening in your head and heart at the moment. The beginning portion where you said, “In the past I would easily comment on posts that I agreed with just because it was easy and because I did not want any push back from the person I was replying to.” reminded me of what I’ve been thinking since starting these blogs. In a sense we are “peer reviewing” one another or at least getting used to the process of having others hear our ideas, agree, push back, expand, etc. I agree with you that this is so important for us all to grow and develop. None of us need to remain in an echo chamber.
As far as the note taking, I’m right there with you, learning and creating my own systems so I can dig into all this material and have some kind of order. Appreciate your honesty!