Blog 4

By viewing critical thinking as dispositions such as being systematic, inquisitive, truth seeking, analytic, judicious, and open minded, it can be quite valuable. When looking at critical thinking as a set of dispositions it is valuable because it leads to a less bias individual. There would be less bias because the individual will work systematically, by being open minded to take into account others thoughts in order to seek the truth. In critical thinking by being judicious, inquisitive, and analytic, it leads to an individual to seek more answers that are well organized and makes the most sense. This is important because an individual must be well informed about a topic in order to a discussion. The set of dispositions can be difficult to activate which was evident during the class discussions on inquiry topic number two. It is difficult to keep in mind all the dispositions and apply them since some people may have strict morals, religious beliefs, or experiences. Out of all the dispositions, being inquisitive, open minded, truth seeking, and analytic come naturally to me. I believe out of the dispositions, I need to develop upon being systematic. In order to further develop my critical thinking dispositions, I need to challenge my own thoughts and be more organized with my thoughts.

Blog 3

By evaluating what critical thinking was I value the fact that critical thinking includes a collection of skills. A few skills include evaluating, analyzing, and interpreting, and it is valuable to use a variety of skills therefore we are not bias thinkers. It was not very difficult to use the variety of skills when dealing with the research topic because we conducted research through different resources and were able to evaluate, analyze, and interpret it to present a new view on a topic. These skills exposed that I have a few flaws in my own thinking. My major weaknesses are that I do not interpret all that I learn and I do not form enough explanations to back up my view. As stated in Facione's article, interpretation is defined as to comprehend and express the meaning of a variety of experiences, situations, data, events, judgments, conventions, beliefs, procedures, or criteria. To overcome the fact that I do not interpret information enough I will try to clarify all information and try to categorize what I learn. On the other hand, an explanation was defined by Facione as "being able to present in a cogent and coherent way the results of one’s reasoning." In order to improve my explanations I should try to look at my idea and come up with multiple reasons how I came to that conclusion.

Blog 2

The two topics we reviewed in the past week that impacted my own critical thinking greatly were irrational decision making and Dunning Kruger effect. Before learning about irrational decision making I believed I was in control of my own decisions. I had no clue that I may not have any part in thinking critically due to default thinking or inferior option. This is due to the fact that I may not understand material clearly to make a just decision or I believe I know what to do at a given time. The Dunning Kruger effect surprised me because I believe I knew my own strengths and can judge and compare it to others. Is there truly any just way to escape from the Dunning Kruger effect? Both these topics continue to make me question how well of a critical thinker I am. 

These lessons slightly impacted my thinking about my thinking hero, Euclid, even if I believe he would be susceptible to some errors. As a mathematician, Euclid was participating in confirmation bias by constantly looking for information to support his findings. He would also be susceptible to irrational decision making. On the other hand, Euclid was good at constructing arguments because in math he dealt with constructing many different ones. These arguments, also known as a proof, were evidence and principals to be written down to take a position. Regardless, Euclid was a great thinker that contributed greatly to the world and is still my thinking hero.

Blog 1

Throughout history, individuals are praised for how the human mind processes ideas, surroundings and information that contribute to society as a whole. One great thinker that comes to mind is Euclid. Euclid is believed to have been alive around 300 BC and he lived most of his life in Alexandria, Egypt. I chose him because as a thinker and a scholar, he developed many mathematical theories. Known as the "Father of Geometry," Euclid expanded on the practice of spaces and shapes making geometry easier to learn and teach by reading his books. He was the best candidate for a great thinker because he questioned everything around and made his own evaluations.

In class, we defined critical thinking as active thinking that is goal oriented, requires focus, involves particular processes (like breaking down), and is action oriented when done well. Euclid possessed all of these traits. He was an active thinker and analyzed everything for a goal: to better not only his understanding, but society's understanding of geometry. He was focus on geometry and was capable of writing his mathematical discoveries in Elements and Optiks, which also means he was action oriented since he put what he thought into words. This could not have been possible if Euclid did not look at geometry as different parts of math, so breaking down an element or idea is imperative. Therefore Euclid was a prime example of a great thinker since he was a focus thinker that left ideas of though that many continue to follow today.