Tag: CRITICAL THINKING

Thinking,not living?

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-childhood/201306/the-secret-summer-kids

Sometimes we think too much.22261308-circus-artists
Is thinking always bad?
Thoughtfulness is praised
but sometimes we need just to perceive;
To lose ourselves in this world
In the sun and in the rain
In the joy and in the pain.
We must engage
in the game of living,
though some
seem better than others,
like those children who stood on their heads,
or turned cartwheels.
I envied them,was awkward,clumsy,

Was already thinking too much

about the reasons for people’s behaviour
and looking for the patterns;

Was I a sinner?Where was Love?
Do we discover  patterns or create them?
Some can live with chaos more easily.
Better not think about that.
Better to see the sun hitting the water
and the ripples where the geese swam;
Reflections,refractions,distractions.
We have to face life in the end

Play wholeheartedly

Take the knocks and come back.

Keep tumbling

And flying.

God save the Queen

Related articles

A TED conversation on thinking

http://www.ted.com/conversations/13165/what_is_thinking_how_thin.html

I am still wondering about thinking…. and this is very good and has good links too.But the more I ponder the

more puzzled I get.Is that good?

Related articles

From thinking to thoughtfulness

 

A week or two ago I was thinking about thinking.There is more than one kind of thinking.Some kinds,like rumination, are  often self destructive.Other kinds of thinking can turn one outside of one’s self and can become what I call “thoughtfulness”.And that is a a virtue.It combines awareness and caring towards others with standing back and considering what is best for them and ourselves.

Then there is what we might call ” blind thinking” which is totally self centred like the  chattering voices in our head

I want that red dress,he’s nasty,I am fed up being at work. so long…………all going on underneath our consciousness much of the time.We may be unaware of it but it can affect us and how we act towards others.It’s childish,turned inwards and trivial.Can we stop it? I am thinking about that,,, not brooding.I mean,my mind is open and I hope some new ideas will come to help me understand this blind thinking

How can we see and not be blind in our thinking?How can we be wise?

Related articles

Thoughtfulness:Some reflections

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thoughtfulnes

I became embroiled in “thinking” but I am more interested in thoughtfulness.To me this is connected to reflection and care.To be a thoughtful person I need to be involved with society.A thinker may remain aloof… and if you are a ruminator or a brooder this will detach you from the world of others too.So there’s a paradox  here about thinking and thought.

The other problem with thinking using logic and reasoning is the question of the premises you use.If they are not sensible,if they are wrong, if they are poor then thinking is entirely vain.And also by a careful choice of  premises or assumptions almost anything can be “proved”

Syllogisms can be useful but really what do they tell you except something you most likely already know

Related articles

An article about critical thinking

http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/becoming-a-critic-of-your-thinking/478

The above website is very good,in my view

EXTRACT

Thinking Gets Us Into Trouble Because We Often:
  • jump to conclusions
  • fail to think-through implications
  • lose track of their goal
  • are unrealistic
  • focus on the trivial
  • fail to notice contradictions
  • accept inaccurate information
  • ask vague questions
  • give vague answers
  • ask loaded questions
  • ask irrelevant questions
  • confuse questions of different types
  • answer questions we are not competent to answer
  • come to conclusions based on inaccurate or irrelevant information
  • ignore information that does not support our view
  • make inferences not justified by our experience
  • distort data and state it inaccurately
  • fail to notice the inferences we make
  • come to unreasonable conclusions
  • fail to notice our assumptions
  • often make unjustified assumptions
  • miss key ideas
  • use irrelevant ideas
  • form confused ideas
  • form superficial concepts
  • misuse words
  • ignore relevant viewpoints
  • cannot see issues from points of view other than our own
  • confuse issues of different types
  • are unaware of our prejudices
  • think narrowly
  • think imprecisely
  • think illogically
  • think one-sidedly
  • think simplistically
  • think hypocritically
  • think superficially
  • think ethnocentrically
  • think egocentrically
  • think irrationally
  • do poor problem solving
  • make poor decisions
  • are poor communicators
Related articles