I’ve been thinking….
A miniature guide to critical thinking
This is what you might refer to as “short and sweet”, bringing with it the gift of succinctness to some busy demon students, which is more than welcome in my world.
Because of its brevity, it is a fairly dense little book, which will serve as a good point of reference for reading and writing.
The guide starts by emphasising the importance of systematically cultivating excellence of thought. Not all thoughts are born equal, some are more equal than others, and good thinking is something that we can get better at. The authors write about three different levels of thinking, from lower order to the highest order.
This short guide looks at the different elements of thought (purpose, questions, information, assumptions and so on), the standards of good thinking and certain intellectual traits that are required to be a good thinker.
A couple of things that stood out to me:
- Intellectual perseverance is “a sense of the need to struggle with confusion and unsettled questions over an extended period of time to achieve deeper understanding and insight.” (Kindle: Location 187) This is me at the moment, struggling with a level of confusion and not having settled wholly on a direction of travel.
- What question am I trying to answer? What problem am I trying to solve? I don’t think I have totally nailed that question yet for my research. Not at a deep visceral level.
- I think there are elements of my tradition that state: “It’s true because I believe it.” (Location 247) “Sociocentrism: I assume that the dominant beliefs of the group to which I belong are true even though I have never questioned the basis for those beliefs.” (Location 254). I think I am quite intrigued and even excited at taking the time to question certain areas of believe and praxis in my tradition and not to accept simply that “we have always believed this.” My research will certainly involve digging and questioning around certain areas where I feel there is a degree of cognitive dissonance in my own life or my tradition.
- I think, reading this book, that I have been overly accepting, and not sufficiently “critical” of points of view, assumptions, conclusions and so on, that I want to get better at dissecting. Jeremy Paxman, who is a British journalist and interviewer, says that, when he is interviewing politicians, he always asks himself: “Why is this lying b@%**!£ lying to me?” I might not go that extreme, but I do need to become much more incisive in my thinking and analysis of what I read and write.
- This will be a good little number to keep coming back to.
About the Author
Geoff Lee
10 responses to “I’ve been thinking….”
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Geoff, I loved and resonated with the first point that you highlighted….that we have to struggle with these issues over an extended period of time. When I am sharing something new or possibly difficult with the congregation in a sermon, I often ask them to ‘wrestle with it with me.’ I like to think this is what we are doing there.
Also, you said that you haven’t fully ‘settled on a direction of travel’….. this was, maybe, just a turn of phrase – but it highlights an important aspect of what we are doing in critical thinking: engaging in a process, with as one of the given aspects of the process that there will be movement of thought/opinion/belief from beginning to end.
How different that idea is from the uncritical, ego or sociocentric thought that asserts truth often devoid of facts and based instead on a ‘gut-feeling’ or a social norm.
Thanks
“Not all thoughts are born equal, some are more equal than others, and good thinking is something that we can get better at.”
Geoff, this caught my eye. We are taught in America that “everyone is equal” and “everyone is due their own opinion.” “Do not judge others” is the mantra of my generation.
Yet, our world IS FLOODED with bad ideas and faulty logic. Just because we have a faulty or undeveloped idea does not mean that we are a bad person. We are products of culture, education, reflection, and we parrot the opinions of those we admire (especially our parents and friends).
We need to be people who freely give grace to those who have different opinions. They may not be bad people, but their ideas have not yet been tested.
I concur with all your points, Geoff. And here in the States we have a saying, “You know a politician is lying when his lips are moving!” I suspect it’s a global truth.
I am glad that we are all dealing with these issues. We are all communicators in our various ministries and like you, I want to be sure I am questioning my beliefs and finding true answers before I try to spread them to others. It was a little book but packed with much depth.
Shoot, Mary, and I just nominated you as Vice-President to run with Jennifer! Now I’ll need to watch your lips. 😉
Geoff your takeaways are spot on. I can honestly say that within my American context Egocentrism is the number one culprit (next to Sociocentrism) that drives the way we think and behave. It is also what is destroying us because much of what people profess to believe has no fundamental basis. Therefore, they believe because they want to. Despite whether or not it is actually true. Critical thinking is not about being a critic but about discovering the meaning and expanding our level of understanding. Without critical thinking I feel as though people who know a lot about nothing are just “knowledgeable idiots”…LOL
Hi Geoff,
Your comment on our thoughts not being equal is a statement of truth. God created each of us in His image but with our own uniqueness. For us to progress as a group and country, we need to have input in decision making. Thinking alike would reduce disagreements but also progress.
But if we could experience one moment of unity, wouldn’t it be great?
Geoff, you make an excellent point that we can get better at thinking. These are encouraging words on many levels. You said:
“I think, reading this book, that I have been overly accepting, and not sufficiently “critical” of points of view, assumptions, conclusions and so on, that I want to get better at dissecting.”
I often feel the same. One of my challenges is I feel that so much information is coming at me from so many avenues, that it takes a lot of energy to sift through the constant roar to find the information needed for a good decision. It’s the classic “future shot” about which Alvin Toffler wrote in 1970. I pray that God gives me the wisdom to do that and that I can continually get better at thinking. Enjoyed your post Geoff!
Way to go in working at identifying the cognitive dissonance in yourself. You know it’s good research when it creates clarity and understanding for you. Then you can only hope it will do this for others. I was relieved to hear you didn’t have your question nailed down either. I also got to rethinking my subject and what question I am truly attempting to answer. I know the problem I want to address but the question to answer to address the problem is another problem I’ll have to answer. (Sounds like a riddle because it is :). We have to use our critical thinking skills to step outside of our socio-centric thinking but be fair in how we answer our question. For sure it requires intellectual perseverance to solve this “riddle”. I can tell you’re gaining your strategy in doing this. Thanks for sharing as it is helpful for me in my own strategic planning. Keep it coming!
Thanks Geoff. I actually borrowed this book from my library (because I’m cheap). After reading it, I spent the $4 to buy it, realizing how useful it will be as we move forward with our demon studies.
cognitive dissonance: I’m excited for you; that you, as a student, are now in a good place that allows you to question your tradition. I hope that as you move down that path, you recognize aspects, theologies, praxis, that may need to be modified and re-contextualized for your current place/time. But even more than that, I hope you explore and find great joy at discovering good, holy foundations within your movement, and perhaps even a reinvigorating of your own faith and ministry. That is all possible when we give ourselves space to think critically about our current situation, rather than just blindly accept the sociocentric position. And I’m hoping that for my own studies as well.
Wrestling, as you know, may involve a dislocated hip and a new name, though. Be careful; it may change everything.
“Intellectual perseverance is ‘a sense of the need to struggle with confusion and unsettled questions over an extended period of time to achieve deeper understanding and insight.'” This may be my favorite insight of this book, Geoff. Learning to develop a sense of comfort in wrestling and struggling is the hardest thing I have ever done and continue to work on. Living in the gray is so much harder than sticking to the black and white.