Blog 4

I think using critical thinking as the use of a set of dispositions can be very valuable to a good critical thinking debate. I think using skills such as being inquisitive and open-minded can really help make the argument valuable. First, it will help to eliminate the problem of biases in the discussion. Second, it will make the people who are a part of the discussion look at all of the possibilities before coming to the end solution which is important so we know we are making the right decisions about solutions to a certain topic. I thought during inquiry topics, these dispositions, although very important, were a little hard to activate during the discussions. I felt I already had opinions on a lot of these issues so it was hard for me to be open minded and see other views. This is probably one of my biggest faults as a critical thinker. I really need to develop being open-minded so that I can really work through all of the solutions to these major problems. I think the dispositions that came naturally to me were being analytic and systematic. I think that with my argument I always have organized reasons to back up my statements. I think I am good at keeping everything organized so I always know what I want to say. I think developing your weaknesses with these dispositions is very important because it will help you become a better critical thinker overall. Since my weakness is being open minded, I think I will try to really listen to everyone's opinions before forming my own. This way, I can eliminate my own bias and become a better critical thinker throughout all discussions.

Blog 3

I think evaluating critical thinking helped to explain the complex skills a person needs to become a great critical thinker. By evaluating how we think I realized that the skills you need, like interpretation, regulation, analysis, and inference, are very difficult to use. It was very difficult to get past my own bias and use these skills to have a good philosophical debate. I thought my strengths would be interpretation and evaluation. In Facione's article, it asked question like what does this mean? or is this a credible claim? I was able to answer these questions easily when reading my articles. The hard part for me was the self regulation and analysis. I had a hard time backing up some of my opinions. The Facione article asked questions about conflicting conclusions. I had a weakness here as well because I felt like I had different opinions on the different topics we discussed. I think I could overcome these weaknesses by evaluation my own options and organizing my ideas better. I could also use my strengths to evaluate multiple sources to see if they are valuable enough to use for an argument.  

Blog 2

The topic we discussed in class definitely affected my views on critical thinking. I never thought about how many mistakes I made in my own thinking. The two topics we discussed that affected my thinking the most were the Dunning-Kruger affect, and confirmation bias. The Dunning-Kruger affect really surprised me because it felt like there was no way to avoid it. If we try to be neutral are we just thinking we are neutral about a situation or do the Dunning-Kruger principles apply to our own ability towards neutrality in a situation? I found this to be something that I couldn't wrap my brain around. The second topic that we talked about that really fascinated me was confirmation bias. Looking for information that supports your own bias views is something we do all the time. I never thought of how it could really affect other people until we talked out scenarios in class. My group and I had "the boss." He/She could easily look for information from other employees to fire someone who maybe didn't deserve to be fired. Confirmation bias and Dunning-Kruger happened to all of us on a daily basis we just don't always realize we do it.

These lessons about the follies of human rationality definitely affect my view on my thinking hero. It changes that way I perceive him and what he contributed to society. Jonas Salk was a pioneer in medicine to fight polio that helps all people around the world, even today. He was a researcher and doctor in the 1950's. This week I have learned that even the most brilliant of minds are not immune to the follies of human rationality. As a researcher, Jonas Salk was constantly looking for information to support his theories. This is participating in confirmation bias. I think he would also be very susceptible to irrational decision making because he was working on this project for so long and he wanted the final outcome to be great after so many years of hard work. I think Jonas Salk is still a thinking hero. He was a hero in the sense that he did great things for human society, like finding a cure for polio and starting the conversation about vaccinations world wide. Although by human nature he would have participated in confirmation bias, argumentation, irrational decision making, and the Dunning-Kruger effect, he still was able to do something successful in the world that changed human society. His thinking has helped all of us today and that is a great quality for a distinguished critical thinker.

Blog 1

We are all thinkers in this world but it takes the great ones to keep the world moving ahead. One great thinker that comes to mind is Jonas Salk. Salk is credited with creating the first polio vaccine in the 1950's. He attended New York University and the University of Pittsburgh to study medicine. Instead of becoming a physician, he went into medical research, virology, and epidemiology at a time when the disease polio was leaving thousands dead and paralyzed, including the thirty second president, Franklin D. Roosevelt. After creating the vaccine, it was tested and deemed successful. People all over the world started taking the vaccine. After the vaccine was spread nation wide, Salk campaigned for mandatory public vaccination. Salk possessed something that is very rare. He had the intelligence to save the world from disease. He was like the superman of medicine. I think the fact that he was able to save people all around the world is one of the most incredible things to ever be done. That fact alone is noteworthy and praiseworthy. Saving millions of lives today and in the past, Salk, in my opinion is one of the greatest thinkers to ever exist.

In the last philosophy class, we discussed what a critical thinker actually is. It was defined as an active thinking that requires focus and particular processes. Salk exemplifies what a critical thinker should be. He had the discipline and goals to reach an incredible outcome in the world of medicine. He even stated, "I have had my dreams and I have had my nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams." Salk's dreams represent his goals and his determination to get there. His careful thinking got him to that incredible breakthrough. Salk showed the world what the great critical thinkers can achieve.





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