Thinking critically does not come naturally to the human race, it is something we have to work at. This is because the way our brains tend to solve problems is using heuristic principles.
A simple way to understanding heuristic reasoning is to think of it as rule-of-thumb thinking, and it may look a little something like this.
That bush is shaking over there
There are little splodges of yellow behind the leaves.
Last time that bush shook and there was yellow there it was a lion.
Run!
Of course the above scenario would happen in a few tenths of a second, and that's the point with heuristic reasoning, it is easy RAM-light neural decision making software.
However we do have another system of reasoning, this is what we use if we are studying a new subject, and that is our critical reasoning system.
A Critical Experiment
I want to take you on a journey of critical thinking, for an example we are going to use a story that I myself used to believe, albeit briefly.
The story is centred around the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York 2001.
Note: I am making no comment on the prevailing conspiracy theories surrounding those attacks, and am not interested in debating the validity of various conspiracies.
More so, I'd like to show you how shortcuts in your thinking (heuristic reasoning), can lead to you getting the complete wrong end of the stick.
OK, shall we begin?
The Missile Theory
As almost anyone who was over the age of about 12 when it happened knows, there was a plane that was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon, killing everyone onboard.
One of the more popular conspiracies was that because there was no footage of that crash, it had been faked and in fact it was a missile that exploded into the Pentagon, and the proof of that was the small size of the hole in the wall pictured after the event.
So if we look at that heuristically it looks like this:
I saw a plane crash into the World Trade Centre
We live in a world whereby almost everything that happens is being filmed.
I didn't see the plane crash into the Pentagon
Planes are big
The hole in the wall is small
Governments lie
Therefore this is a lie
Critical Analysis
Now let us apply critical reasoning to this story, this can only be done if we think about the incident in stages and look for reasonable alternatives to our heuristically arrived at missile theory.
The Big Picture:
So our theory suggests a conspiratorial cover up, so let's fit that into the bigger picture.
We know for sure that at least two planes have been used as weapons. We know this because we saw the second one on TV, and via the dozens of on-the-spot, eye witness testimonies.
So rather than jump to conclusions, we have to ask ourselves why use two passenger jets, and then use a missile instead?
If a cover up is taking place, then this is an obvious hole in the plan.
Empathetic Reasoning
Let us imagine for one moment, that you are one of the conspirators, and you are sitting round the table with your fellow plotters.
You are all sitting there planning the 9/11 attacks, you have everything in place, and somebody tells you that you're going to use three planes and one missile.
You ask; 'But why are we using a missile on the Pentagon? Can't we just use a fourth plane?'
At this point, it's pretty difficult to come up with a credible answer for this, but lets run with it for a second.
The answer comes back; 'We're finding it difficult to get a fourth plane, and seeing as we command the military we can just use a missile and say it was a plane.'
To which you reply; 'Missiles are different from planes, the news people are surely going to come and film at the Pentagon, they will see that there is a lack of the kind of wreckage that is usually associated with a plane crash.'
'Aha!' replies your bright young co-conspirator; 'We will get real wreckage from a plane, and get people to walk around with it when the TV cameras arrive.'
'Hmmm, a couple of things bother me about that Andrew' (I've decided his name's Andrew).
*'You see if we get people to walk around with wreckage from a plane, that didn't actually crash at the site. Won't that mean we'll have to involve more people in our super secret conspiracy?
Firstly because we'll have to explain to them why we want them to wander around with wreckage. Secondly, we'll have to explain to everyone who works in the Pentagon, that we're going to shoot a missile into it and pretend it was a plane.'*
'OK' Replies Andrew.
'Yes, so if we want to keep this a secret, I think it would perhaps be better to use an actual plane. For instance, where are you going to get the wreckage of a crashed plane from? I mean, is there a warehouse somewhere, where we keep the wreckage from past crashes?'
'No'
'I didn't think so Andrew; so in order to get wreckage for our fake crash, we are going to have to actually crash a plane.'
'Ummm, yes.'
'Right, you see my problem here don't you?'
'Sir?'
'Well, if we are going to have to crash a plane, to get fake wreckage. Why don't we just delay that crashing, and crash it into the actual Pentagon? That way, nobody will find out it was a fake crash, and we won't have to tell the hundreds of people who work in the Pentagon our secret.'
Final Analysis
It would have been simpler to crash an actual plane into the Pentagon. Not doing so, would indicate either madness, or a willingness to be caught out. Therefore the missile theory is false.
I find that if there is time, this is the best way to think about everything, using rational, empathy and just plain common sense.
It has helped me shed some notions that at the time seemed perfectly plausible, but on closer inspection became ridiculous.
Long live critical thinking!
WHAT ABOUT YOU, HAVE YOU EVER BELIEVED IN SOMETHING ONLY TO HAVE THAT BELIEF SHATTERED ONCE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT CRITICALLY? AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW.
REMEMBER THIS IS NOT ABOUT 9/11 I AM NOT INTERESTED IN ANY 'PROOF' YOU MIGHT HAVE. MUCH MORE IN YOUR REASONING AND HOW YOU COME ABOUT A GIVEN DECISION.
It's funny, when I walk to work in the morning there's often a car parked on the way with a bumper sticker that reads: "Critical thinking: The OTHER National Deficit."
I wish critical thinking were taught in schools, but it's probably considered dangerous, as someone capable of using it would probably end up questioning the system that is trying to keep them in the dark.
Institutions have a tendency of trying to preserve themselves...
That's a great bumper sticker, I hope it becomes a viral meme!
Cg
LOl, LOVE that bumper sticker @denmarkguy!
Critical thinking is one of the most important things we can do. We all need to stop falling for clickbait headlines, start cross referencing sources and not trusting the media blindly.
There were so many variables in play for the 9/11 situation, and like you, not going to start a debate because that’s a dangerous rabbit hole. However, like you’ve suggested, people need to stop taking things at face value. It might be difficult to ever get to the bottom of what actually happened on that dreadful day, but that shouldn’t stop us from analyzing things and using our critical thinking skills
There's a fatal flaw in your argument - it uses a thought experiment and critical thinking. Sadly among the conspiracy theorists are not too strong on that whole thinking thing. But I thank you for your spirited effort - for the rest of us critical thinkers it makes perfect sense :-) This basically sounds like a simple application of Occam's Razor.
I haven't lost hope yet :-)
Like I said, I used to be a fully paid up member of the conspiracy club, yet I consider myself a critical thinker. However once I actually applied that critical thinking, that was the moment I realised I had been fooling myself and coming to heuristic conclusions.
There's hope for us all! (almost)
Cg
Good for you, thanks for attempting to share the power of critical thinking.
So was there a particular trigger that helped you get critical thinking powers? Any particular conversation, video, post, or thing (s) you learned that made it easier or obvious?
Yes there was, I remember it clear as day. I was watching what I thought to be a really good documentary on the 9/11 conspiracy.
It was probably around 2004/5, anyway, I called my (skeptical) flat mate into the room and said, OK, give me your honest opinion on this, I think this is pretty convincing.
He sat down and said OK, then this guy comes on screen that I wanted him to see, and my flatmate just suppressed a laugh, which was not the reaction I was expecting. Suddenly I wondered if I had been suffering from confirmation bias, only seeing what confirmed what I already believed to know.
That's when I started looking at the 'evidence' more critically, and realised that there were gaping holes that simply could not be accounted for. The more I looked the more I saw that I had been blinded by the excitement of uncovering a governmental conspiracy.
As my friend said that day; it is not wholly inconceivable that a bunch of pissed off Muslims, born in the most radical country on Earth, simply crashed planes into the Twin Towers et al.
He also said that at best, criminal negligence was involved, as in somebody knew it was going to happen, and simply didn't report/covered it up; which would be infinitely easier to hide than using jets, and explosives and missiles.
After that, I made sure I was more careful in examining things, I had always prided myself on being a logical thinker, so was quite shocked at just how far I had allowed myself to be duped.
All good though, we need these realisations in our lives, I just wish others would be more inclined to drop bizarre beliefs in the face of overwhelming evidence.
Cg
human consciousness "and
Instead of making critical consciousness, it is already unconscious
the transfer of knowledge was deemed sufficient. In recent times, it has been rapidly increasing,
paradigm "is the object of the" interpreter paradigm "is not objective, human
consciousness. For this reason,
the development of critical thinking skills, and therefore critical awareness,
to understand the facts of the world in which he lives, in many
open to the critical thinking action of contemporary man who is obliged to transform
Efforts to support the requirement have increased. as a result,
the number of experimental and descriptive studies on critical thinking
increased. However, the definition of critical thinking, what dimensions it has,
what approaches are involved and how this skill should be measured
It is very difficult to find clear and clear information about .
i liked your critical thinking scenario and your ideas.
thank you
Sorry for my bad english .. I hope i understand and can tell
No problems with the English, I completely understand your point, and I think your most important one is the fact that it is very hard to define and teach.
While writing this I was trying to break down the different components, so I felt that using a story like this is a good way of showing critical thinking processes.
Cg
According to Goleman, our heuristic thinking can be seen as "the low path" while our critical thinking can be regarded as "the high path". Both paths are useful, since sometimes there is simply not enough time to process "the high path" and we must act according to our "low path", which is still way better than making random mindless decisions.
Honestly, I don't know if the (((really, really dumb))) conspiracy theories such as the one you described are based on the lack of critical thinking, or on the need of some people to try to present themselves as smarter than other at all costs. Some people just don't like anything mainstream and always tend to speak something else, even if it's mindless. I just can't believe that some people have so low critical thinking ability that that is the reason for them to believe in the missile theory or the flat earth...
Cheers!
I think it's a mixture of both a lack of critical thinking and the amount of readily available news that's at our fingertips at any given moment. I am addressing this in the next article, which will kind of be like a twin for this one.
Oh thanks for making me aware of Daniel Goleman by the way, I've just Googled him and he seems interesting, I will check him out. :-)
Cg
You mean, news and "news"?
You're welcome, he's the author of "Emotional intelligence" and "Social Intelligence" (the first book is quite interesting, while the second is a bit too much neuro-technical).
Awesome! Have stuck that one on my Amazon wishlist!
Cg
You are omitting the fact that the USA and Israel are well into over 70 years (much more for USA) of genocidal and homicidal madness. The genocide of the Americas as one example...Palestine another. You also need to look at who benefits from crimes? 911 was a disaster for many many Islamic countries and ask yourself if you'd commit this crime knowing you were sentencing millions of your fellow believers to death. It was a disaster for N.A. citizens as it was used as a pretext for a police state.
Now, who benefitted? The MIC is probably number one, Silverstein, surveillance tech companies and many many more.
You're omitting the fact that the official story is nonsensical and then layering a faux process of ratiocination on top of it.
You're also dismissing that many of our so-called honorable leaders are really sociopaths and psychopaths who've no qualms about committing murder...The democide numbers are over 20,000 a day I believe over the past century.
In short, this post is an insult to critical thinking!
You are missing the point, I do not want to debate the 9/11 conspiracy, I was using ONE particular example and showing how lots of people can start to believe something that isn't true, simply because they haven't thought it through properly.
Using the Qui bono? argument is an example of heuristic thinking, instead apply critical cognitive processes to any theory proffered to you, this is much better and will more likely get you to the correct answer.
Cg
It would be better, IMO, if you used another subject to make your pedagogical points on critical thinking as using 911 in this context simply comes off looking like propaganda. I'm not saying that you're doing this or that's your intention but your points wouldn't be disputable if you choose another referent.
And I agree, I stopped discussing 911 online around 2008 as I saw that it was pointless.
Propaganda; are you suggesting that I'm coming across as one of them?
You are quite welcome to your opinion, however I don't shy away from any subject, it often doesn't make me popular, it has even lost me whale votes in the past; however I don't care. I will never ever be cowed from speaking the truth as I see it, and trying to spread my message of rationalism over superstition.
Think about that for a second . . .
My points are about using rational thinking to come to a conclusion.
This is indisputable , it is objectively true to think about something rather than jumping to heuristic conclusions.
Whether I'm talking about 9/11 or a story about fairies, my points are that you should think about them rationally. If you think about the missile theory rationally, there is no way on earth it was anything but a plane.
However it is difficult for us sometimes to let go of long held beliefs in the face of new evidence. This is the reason religion persists, even though there is overwhelming evidence for the non-existence of a religious god, there are over 3 billion people whom believe in one god or another.
Mostly this is because of childhood indoctrination, ergo it is cognitively easier to say; this new piece of information is wrong, and what I have 'known' for X years is correct.
Over to you :-)
Cg
I'm not saying that you are, but rather coming across as one in this context. Is it really that surprising given that the Steem template is modeled on nepotist circle-jerk algorithms which create inane echo chambers?
I argue in a link below that there isn't much about our present condition that is rational but rather our systems are an extension of blind chance lowly evolved reptilian limbic system thinking. https://steemit.com/philosophy/@andrewmarkmusic/dog-eat-dog-and-top-dog-and-his-bitches
If what I'm saying is true then most of your points would fall under the category of hubris.
In another video I'll link below I talk about spirituality and would argue briefly here that you've succumbed to a false dichotomy: modernity or myth; or science juxtaposed to mythical religion. https://steemit.com/philosophy/@andrewmarkmusic/disinguishing-between-states-and-dimensions
True, one would have to be sympathetic to a Whiteheadian fondness for metaphysical speculation as far as considering what I'm saying.
I really feel that I am in Reasoning class preparing for competitive exams It's look like "Syllogism" where statements are given and with that we have to find conclusions where statements are :
I didn't see the plane crash into the Pentagon
Planes are big
The hole in the wall is small
Governments lie
Therefore this is a lie
and we have to find conclusions what this statement want to say.
Reasoning makes our brain very strong and make us to take decision in critical situation but regarding this post I don't want to comment anything because everyone has different opinion and those people who have suffered loss cannot be recoverd and thank you @cryptogee for upvoting my post.upvoted and resteemed.
very nic post
Thanks for your valuable post .
It is an informative post.
I will wait for your next post.
Thanks .I appreatiate your conversation.
nice thiking
I agree with you @cryptogee critical thinking requires a great deal of work and effort to acquire.
Re: Consciousness Transfer
I've employed critical thinking to deduce that this will never be possible in the way that we want it to be. Right now there are multibillionaires wildly throwing their money at life’s biggest problem, death. Why are they doing this? They’re doing it because just like everyone else, they don’t want to die. The problem with this is, we haven’t even figured out how to transfer computer files, how in the world are we going to transfer our minds? READ ON...
I am 65 years old and I have to revise my thinking every day. I love it actually and feel that it contributes considerably to keeping my mental processes lubed. Thanks for the post, following!
I love that photo of "make America think again"!! Funny, Rob pointed out to me that in my bnwphotochallenge I posted a photo of the american flag a few days ago and I know it sounds nuts, but I really wasn't thinking about what that means, I was thinking - this is a truly great photo, so I posted it unconscious of what statement I could be perceived as making. I bring this up becuase I am embarrassed and mortified by our president and with the way the US meddles worldwide with such greed and most of all for the loss in value for critical thinking!! Critical thinking is the entire reason we need to be educated!! and is the essence of a thriving and forward thinking society and in my opinion the only hope that we won't all just destroy each other.
I so appreciate your post
Ok so reasoning can be classified into two groups. What I find interesting is the degree at which critical thinking can be learned. In other words can you teach someone to think critical?
For example you can teach mathematics, and it helps exercise the mind but does it really help people solve problems. I mean it will help the people with the ability to comprehend, but some people lack the ability to analyze technical subjects, thus bringing back the original question ....can critical thinking be taught?
I guess that may be the point in that heuristic reasoning is acquired, and critical reasoning ..well we all have it, but in different degrees in different subjects.
As always, enjoyed the read. --3D
you must be a criticial thinker unless you want to be hypnotize hh. many hypnotists use tactics to break you from critial thinking
Exactly just think of human nature. When we were kids (and now as adults as well) if you had a secret between a group of four boys, how long do you think that secret is held? Not even a week most likely. Now think about all the people that would be holding said secrets like 9-11 and the fake moon landing!?! No way that many people involved are going to hold that secret!