Critical Thinking

Critical thinking or CT is such an important and apparently well studied area of interest. After being publicly shamed into reading Dr. Peckham's chapter on critical thinking, my understanding of critical thinking and its evolution was really broadened. First, the importance of critical thinking. The ability to think critically is necessary for the sustainable growth of humanity, one example being the emancipation of slaves in America. This is an example of social critical thinking when the early American people contested the accepted political and social norm of slavery by thinking critically and doing the right thing. What I found interesting is how many writers throughout history have contemplated and written on the idea of critical thinking and how the concept of this thought has evolved into a truly enlightened discipline of thought. From how I interpreted the chapter, the Idea of critical thinking has evolved into the idea that critical thinking is field-dependent such that a single method for universal CT would be ridiculous.

I also did not realize how much modern day teachers considered and worked to teach CT in their lesson plans. Not only is there a huge desire among teachers to teach CT, the desire also exists to teach class-specific CT so as to maximize the student's ability to think critically and thus further the advancement of humanity. I believe that the art of CT has never been as important as it is today with all the BS in media and on the internet constantly streaming into our young brains. I am going to try and figure out a way to attach Dr. Peckham's chapter on Critical thinking to this post for the interested and aggressive reader.