New Week, New Topic. This week, we’re talking about Critical Thinking. Watch this video, as it offers a pretty clear explanation of what Critical Thinking is, what is not, and what critical thinking aims to accomplish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
After watching the video, do you have a deeper understanding of critical thinking? Do you agree with the video’s assertions, or disagree? Is there a link that can be drawn between critical thinking and interdisciplinarity?
Complete the activity below.
1. Click the link below which will take you to an interactive exercise called Virtual Philosopher developed by Dr. Wade Maki from the Philosophy department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Virtual Philosopher Link (must have updated FLASH to play correctly): http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/
2. Comment on your critical thinking reasoning that led to your decisions for all three scenarios: the friend's problem, the lifeboat problem, the liver problem.
3. Explain where your critical thinking gave way to your values, ethics, and beliefs. Comment on the differences you perceive between "ethical" and "critical" reasoning and what kinds of problems it caused in doing or reflecting on this exercise and even in your academic experiences.
4. Comment on how the Virtual Philosopher scored your response. From the comments you received about your responses, what insight have you gained about your own critical thinking and reasoning?
- Comment on how the Virtual Philosopher scored your response. From the comments you received about your responses, what insight have you gained about your own critical thinking and reasoning?
- How does the outline of your critical thinking disposition match with the application of it in doing the Virtual Philosopher?
- Is it appropriate for our values and beliefs to influence our critical thinking? Do these influences prove to be useful or harmful in making decisions?
after this assignment all i could say is wow but overall the way i think is pretty crazy. my morals can be mixed up at time but i always choose what hits my heart. for the friend problem i just would tell my friend to truth because no girl is worth crying over and there RE MANY MORE WOMEN OUT THERE. The boat problem i could save 10 lives just for one sacrifice sounds bad but its neccesary. last the liver problem is whatever touches my heart. no 8 year old kid should deserve to die, he hasnt lived his life yet unlike everyone else. and six kids without a mother i couldnt deny her. i think the virtual player did a good job but feel that i could never be right. the player will always find something wrong with my decisions.
ReplyDeleteKemal, I agree that, I too, could never be correct. These were tough situations. How would you approach that overweight man and tell him your feelings? I couldn't imagine verbally having to say something like that to anybody.
DeleteWhat did you think of the youtube video on critical thinking?
When I did it as a cornerstone student, I had an issue with the "philosopher" as well. For instance, I said lying is sometimes justifiable, but then I choose not to lie to my friend. The program attacks that as being inconsisten, but just because I can justify lying under some circumstances doesn't mean a lie is in the best interest of my friend. Asking me if its ok to lie and then taking me to task if I tell the truth is is bit ridiculous. I never said that I always had to lie, or even what justifies a lie when one is just.
DeleteI agree Kemal, that was tough. I felt confident in all my answers only for the philosopher to tell me how wrong I was. I believe every situation is different and regardless of how you think you feel about certain situations each one has its own circumstances that could change how you normally handle similar situations.
DeleteThe activity suggested that my answers were inconsistent in the friend scenario, but consistent in the other two scenarios. If my friend was "odd" and asked me if she was "odd" I would find a medium between the two answers and say something like, "You may be a little odd, but we all are honey. It is much better to be different than be like everyone else. You are unique and will find a guy who loves you for that....etc." Allen, I agree with your response because there is never one distinct way to respond to a situation and I refuse to let a computer try and tell me if my values are ethically consistent. Everyone has different perspectives and biases regarding situations. What is ethical to someone may be completely unethical to another person.
Delete-Morgan Ferrell
I agree with the video about critical thinking. I like the beginning where it states giving a person a fish feeds them for today, but teaching them to fish feeds them for a lifetime. Developing solutions and skills that can follow one through life will definitely be more life altering. It is so important to analyze a situation from different angles in order to process it as a whole, and to be willing to be flexible in our decision during the process, and this leads to thinking critically. As far as a link to critical and interdisciplinarity, I do believe there is a connection. When trying to answer a question by combining the disciplines, one must be able to look in different directions.
ReplyDeleteThat was a very interesting exercise. I thought for the first scenario that it’s okay if someone knows that they are different, whatever that means. Isn’t our uniqueness what makes us special? I thought it was important to put the focus back on her in order to cheer her up by telling her she will find another companion rather than focusing on him by saying it was his loss.
As far as the situation with the lifeboat, that was a little harder for me. I wished there would have been a third option. I selected to hope for a miracle and do nothing when in reality, I really wished that the 400 pound man would have realized the same thing I did and offered to jump rather than needing to be pushed. Realistically, I could never force someone to leave, but in a situation like that, someone else might. I just couldn’t.
The liver situation was really the hardest for me. I immediately eliminated Bob because of his drinking problem, regardless of any other history, his body wouldn’t accept the transplant and he might not survive anyway, thus wasting the liver. Thinking of all that money that could be donated and who it would help was tempting, but if he is willing to donate, why wouldn’t he still do so, otherwise he is trying to simply buy his preferential treatment, and I didn’t like that idea. Hopefully, the AIDS research will still be able to continue. And in thinking that a child’s life is so important, than if the mother of six died, six children’s lives would be affected. Tough situation.
By Stacey Feldman
Stacey,
DeleteTeaching and learning life skills are very important in today's world. More so than ever, life is about survival, being able to take care of yourself. "Learning to fish" is an integral part of making it in today's world. I'm glad you liked the exercise! And keep up the good work with the blog :)
Amber
Stacey,
DeleteIn the life boat issue, I had to put myself in the situation and also consider the greater good. I think that most anybody would make decisions that they normally would never think of making, given they were put into a life or death situation, no matter how unpleasant a decision that might be.
Micah O'Steen
It's always hard when choosing who to save in the lifeboat situation. It is better to consider the greater good. In those desperate situations, one sometimes has to sacrifice one to save the many. But, I wouldn't normally do this.
DeleteCamilo Echeverri Bernal
I agree Camillo, It would be such a difficult decision to push the man out of the boat, but it would mean saving everyone else in the boat. As tough as it would be I would have to do that as well.
DeleteAllen Haley
Stacey, I agree with you on the liver problem. It is actually a difficult decision to have to chose who should get the transplant. Just because Bob has a drinking problem, does that mean his life is not worth saving? I think having to make a decision in that situation would break my heart. I actually decided the top two candidates should be the mother with six children or the little boy.
DeleteHow can you stand by your values if the situation in front of you is forcing you to go against them?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCritically thinking, I really thought that the donation would go so much further and could help so many others, but ethically, he lived a little, and I needed to think about someone else. Ethically, you shouldn’t be able bribe your way into a transplant, which is how I interpreted his donation (to be given only after completion). I do value life; I think it is a miracle in and of itself. I thought that the 60 year old being so close to a breakthrough with her research could save more lives, but what if it still didn’t buy her enough time. I also thought that all she had done in terms of helping humanity wasn’t done because she expected something in return; it was done because that’s who she was. I do believe that given a different set of circumstances, my answers might have been different.
ReplyDeleteGreat exercise! Really makes me think!
Stacey H. Feldman
Ethically speaking, one should give everyone an equal chance; Even though I chose the child to receive the transplant, instead of the mother of six. In this real-life situation, nobody should have to give up the chance of living, but sometimes one has to decide which individual has the higher chance to live. My answer may have been different as well.
Delete-Camilo Echeverri Bernal.
Stacey and Kemal,
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to always be right, what your gut feeling tells you, and what is in your heart, will always seem right at the time. You have to learn how to survive on your own, otherwise you will constantly expect everything to be handed to you. So go teach someone how to fish. :)I wouldnt be able to tell the man to leave, but I would have tried to think of another situation for him. When we are not in the situations we dont really think to much into other peoples. Have you guys ever been in that type of situation, where you tried to make the right choice, but realized it might be wrong?
Jess F
Jess, Unfortunately, yes, I have found myself in a situation where I thought I was making the right choice and it was wrong. My daughter of, at the time, 18 wanted more freedom and even though she had a history of lying and it was so hard for me to loosen the leash I did. It backfired: She lied about where she was, who she was with, and what she was doing, until she ended up in an accident totaling the car. Luckily, nobody was hurt physically. But as far as me feeling like she was finally earning my trust, I can tell you it was a long time before that happened again. So much for thinking I made the right choice at that time to loosen the leash and give her more freedom!
DeleteI am constantly trying to teach my kids to fish, I just think I need a stronger line.
In terms of the transplant scenario, what would you have done?
Stacey Feldman
Stacy,
DeleteI feel like my mother tried to do the same thing with me-- teach me how to fish. But I think I've grown stubborn and wanting my own way to fish, I felt like I needed to critically think for myself. Of course, when I was younger she taught me how things should done. I just always thought that there are other ways to live. It was like trial and error, sometimes I do find my way and sometimes I get caught in my own bait. I think now that I'm a little older and more responsible for myself I realize that my mother was trying to show my the right way to fish. She has been there and done that, a wise woman that knew the outcome of a lot of my situations. I appreciate all her efforts now, but it wasn't until I got caught in my own bait and she had to get me out.
Catherine Aboyme
After watching this first video I do have a deeper understanding of critical thinking. I never knew how many different pieces there are, analyzing, conceptualizing, defining, examining, inferring, listening, questioning, reasoning, and synthesizing. There is just so much to critical thinking that I never knew. I think there is a link that can be drawn between critical thinking and interdisciplinary because towards the end it talks about critical thinking moving us towards intellectual discipline and a clear expression of ideas. I feel like I should watch it again because there is just so much information.
ReplyDeleteKayla Lee
Kayla,
DeleteThere really are a lot of aspects to critical thinking. But truly it is not that complicated. I would like to think that most people think critically about something every day. I know for me, my mind stays busy one-hundred percent of the day. I have to tell myself to take a break sometimes. I am constantly analyzing situations and trying to make counter arguments, never accepting the status quo. I think this is why I would make a great lawyer. There is a lot of information in the video, but try to focus on the main message and you'll be fine :)
Thanks.
Amber
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAmber,
DeleteBeing a Emergency Room Unit Secretary I had to tell myself the same thing, "take a break." Working in a fast pace and high stress environment there is no time to be "the new secretary." There are doctor's orders coming from left to right, along with nurses orders, medics, the other doctors on the other line, the doctors that are rounding, listening and sympathizing with patients on the phone, listening and sympathizing with patients in the room, informing the whole hospital of a code and I can go on and on and on with the work I do. Learning to critically think quickly saved me. It's prioritizing and executing one task at a time, for me. The work I do comes with critical thinking with each task, it makes the unit flow smoother and faster.
Catherine Aboyme
My critical thinking reasoning just came from what I thought was right. For these scenarios it was easy for the first two because I knew what I would have done but the last one was extremely difficult like I did not want to pick who should live and who should die. I guess my reasoning’s are more from values, ethics and beliefs rather than being critical. I feel like at times this can be a good thing but at other times when you need to think critically it can be bad. But I cannot figure out how to see my score for the responses. Last, I do think our values and beliefs do influence our critical thinking a lot more than they should and at times it can definitely be harmful to decision making.
ReplyDeleteKayla Lee
I think it is impossible to not realize that our values and beliefs will influence our critical thinking. We are taught acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, honesty, trust, patience, tolerance, and equality, just to name a few traits I believed were important to instill in my kids. Then we go out into school, work, and society, and have influences from all different directions affecting us. What we have been taught to value and our beliefs will affect our decisions. Hopefully, if we are raised with positive attributes, then these influences will be useful. Although, as I write this and think of the situation with that boat, the positive values and beliefs could result in everyone dying. In that situation, it could be harmful. I guess it really matters on the individual situation.
DeleteAnd I agree, the critical thinking video was loaded with information. I actually jotted down a few notes.
Stacey Feldman
Stacey and Kayla,
DeleteI think that the important thing to note here is that regardless of our best intentions, our beliefs and values will invariably effect our choices. For some, the belief may be that the value of human life is greater than the ability to choose who is more worthy of life or death, and for others, critically thinking about which life has the most value and basing decisions on the outcome of that critical analysis is the belief that influences their actions. It is always different to ask a general question like "All human life has inherent value: true or false?" than to place someone in a real situation where they have to make the answer to the general question match their actions.
Critical thinking, while important and definitely a major aspect of interdisciplinarity, is not something that stands alone. We are a species that live within the context of story, and therefore, general questions often garner different responses than specific questions tied to real events. That being said, in the transplant scenario, we can take a page from UNOS, the system in place that actually decides who gets what organs and when. They have set in place, under the belief that all human life is of value, a system that insists on giving the organs to whomever is entered into the program first. Regardless of personal story or hope of survival. Under that system, the homeless man would receive the organ merely by being the first in line for it, valuing as unbiasedly as possible, all of the people who find themselves in need of a viable organ for life.
What do you think of this system? Does it line up with what you believe about human life?
Alyssa
Kayla,
DeleteI beileve that involving our own values and beliefs can be harmful at times, when we are forced to make decisions but I also think that we need to rely on them when in the position to make some decisions, as well. I think that it could be looked at on a case by case basis.
Micah O'Steen
This system, although sometimes beneficial, is flawed, like most systems, as none is perfect.
DeleteI think that perhaps a better way to deal with the donation of organs so that no one person has to go without it. But when there aren't many available, sometimes one has to be arbitrary, and give the first person the chance to live.
It's just cruel, having to decide who dies.
-Camilo Echeverri Bernal
Alyssa,
DeleteI know we have a system in place for a reason of checks and balances, but in the really world, would a person who drank so much qualify for a transplant? Would they be considered a risk and therefore, ultimately be removed from the list? Just a thought.
Stacey
Stacey,
DeleteI like your question regarding Bob, the homeless alcoholic, because it is important that people think about the risk factors involved with each patient. Usually transplants are based on a first come, first serve process. I don't think it is the ethical choice, however. As a female, it is my innate instinct to sympathize with the young boy, so I thought he deserved the implant. When a person is placed in an emergency situation, ethical thinking is placed on the back burner and people tend to put their well-being ahead of others. I don't know how I would respond to the situation if it was my grandmother, uncle, mom or dad, but since I have not personally dealt with something like this, I think the child should have a chance to experience a longer life like the other patients.
-Morgan Ferrell
Alyssa, I do believe this system is good just because its not being biased to all there personal stories. With my beliefs I think everyones life is worth saving. With the homeless man I believe just because he is an alcoholic doesnt mean he should not get the organ. This is just my personal feelings about that system.
ReplyDeleteKayla Lee
I agree with the points that the critical thinking video makes. I think that critical thinking and interdisciplinarity share many similarities in that neither is one dimentional.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the problems from the video I feel that my answers reflected the kind of person that I am, for the most part.
For the "friend's problem" I chose to tell them that they were perfectly normal and that it would be their significant other's loss, which is exactly what I would do in a real scenario. I would not want to inflict further pain upon a friend who was already going through a rough patch, rather I would like to try to pick them up some, hence, lying is sometimes acceptable.
With the issue of the life boat, I chose the outcome of the greater good. Though I don't agree with the killing of innocent people, extreme situations call for extreme actions. And, though it may be a stretch, a 400lb man stands a better chance of survival in frigid waters than any other on the boat.
The organ transplant problem required a little bit more thought than the other two issues. I had to evaluate each applicant independantly and come up with the best worst decision, which still gave 4 out of 5 an almost certain death sentence.
The Virtual Philosopher scored the "friend's problem" and the "Transplant" problem as consistant and the "life boat" as inconsistent. Again, with the "lifeboat" issue I don't condone the killing of innocent people, but my answer to push the large man out of the boat was based on being forced to make an extreme desision under an extreme circumstance.
In consideration of using one's own beliefs and values when thinking critically, I think that it can affect the decisions that are made both positively and negatively. It would just depend on the particular situation that was hand in regards to whether one's own beliefs would either hinder or aid in good decisions formed by critical thought.
Micah, I agree with what you decided for the life boat issue. I don't think killing an innocent person is okay, but in this specific situation I feel like that decision you made is the right one. Would it be better to save his life and everyone dies? I think when we use our own beliefs to make a decision it can be negative. I also agree with what you said about critical thinking not being one dimentional. It is very hard to say your believe in one thing, but once you're in a situation you realize that you have to go against your beliefs.
DeleteConcerning the critical thinking video, I thought it addressed an important point/issue. Sometimes we spend a lot of time thinking that a certain position is correct, and we waste energy on it, not seeing that the certain position/idea, or the question we are asking may be flawed. Considering that our idea/perception may be wrong is an important part of critical thinking. And sometimes, altering those firmly-held notions may just be the way to go in order to better understand our world and people in general. And stop seeing things in black/white, when there may be more viewpoints/alternatives.
ReplyDeleteIf we only value certain lives because of what we've been taught, then we should ask whether this position is in any way influenced by cultural or social bias, and if it is wrong, we should change it.
It may be hard to leave emotions behind a little, as we are emotional creatures, but we should appeal to logic and reason when making important decisions. Even life-altering ones. I am a victim of my emotions at times and allow them to cloud my judgment. It's a life-long process.
-Camilo Echeverri Bernal
Camilo and Micah,
DeleteI think that you both bring up a very good point, and I agree that emotions and deep-rooted beliefs can get in the way of a good decision. I think that one of the best examples we have right now in our country is the gridlock that our Congress often finds themselves in. Due to differing and strongly held beliefs, neither Democrat nor Republican has been able to successfully come up with solutions that would aid the greater good for our country. These beliefs have gotten in the way of progress, and any possibility of change for the better in our country, often halting any attempt made at improvement. This would be a very poor example of critical thinking in my opinion, and an excellent example of a time when personal beliefs should require reexamination.
Alyssa
Camilo,
DeleteRegarding being a victim of our emotions, I would have to say, I am guilty of this myself. Being an emotional creature, it becomes very difficult to turn to logic and reason when perception is clouded-- critical thinking goes out the window. Coming from a collectivist culture-- Asia, not to mention my gender (according to research, women are more emotionally susceptible compared to men) my educational pursuit was driven by my culture. Back then, I wanted to please my parents first before I put myself in the picture. I felt like I was missing something.
It took at a year break away from college to critically think what is good for me. I had to think outside the box and get pass seeing the my world in black and white-- what my parents want and what they don't want. I feel more independent now, stronger and wiser. Being able to critically think what is good for me and my future gives me a better sense of responsibility.
-Catherine Aboyme
The virtual philosopher said that two of the three scenarios consistently matched my ethics responses, but I found it difficult to decide which answers to choose. I wanted to create a medium between the two responses to create a more ethical answer. I have always thought of myself as a critical thinker because there is no such thing as a black and white answer, but rather a gray one. As far as the transplant scenario, I agreed with the virtual philosopher's questions regarding each of my responses because it is crucial to think about each patient's circumstances in order to decide who deserves the transplant. However, if I was a doctor I would focus of medical ethics over personal ethics. There is a code which doctors must follow that is consistent from culture to culture. What I find ethical may not agree with another person's values. It is pertinent that a doctor decide who is most deserving of a transplant because my personal ethics are influenced by my environment, which may not be consistent with other cultures ethics.
Delete-Morgan Ferrell
When making the decisions on the virtual philosopher I thought they would be easy to answer, boy was I wrong. I realized after the exercise that my ethics and morals are different on a case by case basis. I am against murder in all cases, but when faced with the decision to save the others in the boat at the expense of the 400lb man it changed my thinking. I would much rather save the rest of the people on the boat. When it came down to telling my friend the truth that they are a little odd or lie and say its their significant others loss, I would tell them the truth even if it is hard. I am a believer that even if the truth hurts it usually is best to tell it as it will make the person stronger. The hardest of the 3 scenarios for me was the liver transplant recipient. Normally I would have said first on the list gets it. Being presented the stories behind each eligible patient changed my decision. I ultimately chose the 8 year old. I felt relief that this was just a virtual scenario and not a real life one. I was only consistent on the liver transplant scenario.
ReplyDeleteI realized with this exercise that my critical thinking and decision making is not concrete. My choice can be different based on each problem.
Allen Haley
I agree that the hardest of the decisions was the liver transplant one. I'm also glad I am not the only one who was thankful that this was only a virtual scenario because even the simulation was sort of stressing me out!
Delete-Kyle
I think the part about the black and white false dichotomy and how it harms critical thinking was one very strong point the video made. I think I have a better understanding of critical thinking from watching the well made video.
ReplyDeleteI think its really important that we try as best as we can to separate our values and beliefs from critical thinking. Many people will not agree with this I am sure but I think its important to consider all values and beliefs even if they are not are own and coming up with the "best" answer.
The philosopher scored my first as inconsistent and the second and third as consistent. I'm not sure exactly how the last two were scored as there were more to those exercises but the first one was kinda simple. I do not agree with it though because I put sometimes lying is ok, but then it presents a situation where I think telling the truth is the right situation. Just because I think lying is ok in extreme circumstances doesn't mean I think a friends (or my own) "feelings" are worth lying for, and I do not really agree that my answers were inconsistent for the first exercise but that the confines of having such limited choices skewed the results, and honestly I prefer having friends that would tell me the truth and provide a critical answer if needed.
The liver transplant exercise was really fascinating and extremely difficult. I was able to narrow it down to the young mother, the researcher, and the child but then it became extremely difficult for me to choose. I took the exercise seriously and strongly weighed the different reasons I might be biased against certain choices and my emotions might influence the decisions so I was never swayed by the confirmation part of the choice as I had considered them.
One important thing I have realized from doing this exercise is that I often times might let my emotions influence my decisions and my ability to think critically.
-Kyle Greaves
The Virtual Philosopher scored my choices as Consistent for one and Inconsistent for the other two scenarios. For the friend's dilemma, I received a score of consistent. For the lifeboat problem I received a score of inconsistent and for the liver problem I also received a score of inconsistent.
ReplyDeleteI agree with how the virtual philosopher scored my critical thinking. I realized that through the video and exercise that when you make decisions they have to be well thought out. For example, the lifeboat problem I selected to push out the 400 pound man in order to save everyone's lives. For the question that asked if murder can be justified in some way, my response was no. So even though I believed that murder can not be justified, I still chose to push out the 400 pound man to save everyone else's lives.
After doing this exercise I've learned that sometimes our values and beliefs can effect our critical thinking. Even though a person may be against something, you should not let that effect your decision making. In the activity I believed that every human life is worth saving, but in the liver problem I chose to eliminate some people off the donor's list based on why I thought someone else deserved it more. If every life is worth saving, then no life should be viewed as better than another's.
In conclusion, I learned that even though I have my own set of values and beliefs, I should learn how to make decisions without involving my emotions.