Evolving My Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to examine, analyze, and critique theories, opinions, and bodies or works or art, and to be able to do this effectively without prejudice or bias. In order to be able to consider yourself to be an effective scholar, teacher, parent, or leader, the application of effective critical thinking is a must. A superior level of critical thinking also involves “reading between the lines”, to be able to hear and understand what has not been stated. These skills are required to analyze situations, make important decisions, and come to accurate conclusions about specific events and individuals, and their qualities and/or deficiencies. All leaders throughout the world, from local figures such as police, judges, teachers, and parents, as well as international figures like presidents, prime ministers, and generals, are expected to be superior critical thinkers.

I make diligent attempts to apply critical thinking to all that I do in my everyday life. Unfortunately, my ability to effectively use critical thinking can be somewhat hamstringed by personal preferences to specific topics. In other words, I can think, speak, and write much easier about topics that I have an interest in, such as history, politics, or genealogy, than I can about topics that I have no real personal attachment to, such as American literature, or poetry. For example, I have recently debated the logic and social values associated with a recent controversial topic, where it was proposed to remove the word nigger from “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, and replace it with the word slave. As a student pursuing a degree in Pan-African Studies, as well as an African American individual, this is a topic that interests me personally, and as a result, is fairly easy for me analyze, discuss, or write about.  However, using the same critical thinking to otherwise discuss the writings of Mark Twain, which I have no real personal interest in, is definitely more of a challenge, because I would probably not choose to amuse myself with reading that specific type of literature to begin with. This troubles me to some extent, because I feel that not having more varied personal interests may be limiting my ability to evolve intellectually and think beyond my immediate concerns. My level of critical thinking would drastically increase if I was able to broaden my attention span to include topics that would not usually interest me.

With that said, I expect for this course (English 103: Critical Thinking and Research) to enhance my critical thinking ability by challenging me to expand my horizons to be able to acquire more varied interests, and deal with different types of subject matter that would not usually be on my personal radar. This will enable me to become a more successful parent, student, and teacher, and will be an asset to me in everyday life. My general perception of the world today, including my belief patterns and problem solving strategies, will possibly be changed as well. Actually, the challenge of this blog assignment has already helped to enhance my critical thinking abilities. The journey is far from over, and there is still some distance between Mark Twain and I. But I can feel myself getting closer, and it feels good!