This quarter I am taking an extremely interesting class called Applied Critical Thinking in Communications and I think, for the first time I can honestly say, this class will make me better person. Not just a better, more competitive professional, but an all around better, more fair-minded professional. For those of you who seek to be better human beings without the cost and time constraint of taking a class, buy the book "Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life" Third Edition written by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.
If you do decide to open you mind, be prepared to, somewhat painfully, be ripped from the bias of your upbringing, to question every "truth" you ever known and most importantly, to question your own identity.
Whew...sounds pretty intense I know but trust me, the end result is the beginning of a lifelong journey to battle your own egocentric (which Webster's New World Dictionary defines as "to view everything within the world in relationship to oneself, to be self-centered") nature and gain a wider view of the truths of the world. The most striking topic the book discusses is the extent to which we all act to further our own self-interest. It has really forced me to realize that in order to truly think critically, I must acknowledge the depths of my own irrational behavior. This is an incredibly difficult thing for a person to consider because if means negating the natural tendency to protect yourself and admit to self-gratifying objectives. A mother protects her child, believing her intentions are solely based on her love for that child and the need to keep them safe. This is what she believes to be true and to an extent it very well may be. A practiced critical thinker, however, can admit to themselves that their motivation is also based on the socially acceptable behavior of being a good mother. You don't want to be judged for being a bad mother if you fail to protect your child. And on that end, what does our society deem as "protecting"? In African tribes, you may see babies running around without shoes in the blazing hot sun and that is completely acceptable. But consider if you saw that here... wouldn't you say "where is that baby's shoes, they'll get hurt?!" or "that poor baby, where is his mother!" See...I told you it might be a little painful. Does it take your breathe away to realize your intentions might include motivations that are anything but altruistic? Well then congratulations, you are human!

We have been conditioned by the society, time and even region we live in to see the world with a biased view and often times we don't even realize our "truths" are biased. Without knowing it, our parents have taught us to be biased in the same way they are and our teachers taught from books written from a decidedly American view point. Did you know that until recently, only one story about the negative after-effects of Hiroshima being bombed had ever been written by an American Journalist? For a long time, we didn't want to admit that the country we hold so dear as the liberator of people and peace spreaders, could actually cause such utter destruction. Americans didn't want to hear about it so media outlets didn't think it was a relevant news topic (gasp what a shock to hear the media's true agenda is to increase ratings and make money...not truly to share relevant news!) The internet has helped to present a multitude of opposing ideas for consideration. In fact, I encourage each of your to read one article online which presents and opposing view of something you believe in. Is it hard to read it with an open mind? I read an article recently which praised communism and talked about how good it is for society and I really struggled not to insert my own judgments about the author and what was written.
One quote I found especially descriptive of this thought process was "When we feel internally validated, we live comfortably with ourselves even if what we are doing is irrational" (Pg. 229). Its easier to believe in things that reinforce that the world is the way we want it to be than to question them and change those views. This book has actually made me realize that as open and fair-minded as I've always prided myself to be, it is really an irrational lie I've been telling myself. I'm just as biased as the next person but the good news is, like practicing your tennis swing, you can learn over time and with adequate practice to open your eyes and your mind to becoming a truly critical thinker. We can actually teach ourselves to break free of these inherent blinders and narrow points of view. And, if you are very happy with your view of the world and wouldn't appreciate having it questioned, then definitely stay away from this book!

Well...those are my ramblings for the day and I promise most posts won't be this intense but I hope it made sense and you leave more enlightened than you came.

-Kaley