Keiser University Daniel Kahneman and Greek Philosophers Discussion
PART 1
Discussion: What is critical thinking and why it is very important (or is it)?
(Please watch the movie moments — they will help you to grasp the core principles of critical thinking)
‘If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.’ (Renee Descartes, the great philosopher of the enlightenment)
‘An unexamined life does not worth living.’ (Socrates, ancient Greek philosopher)
We, humans, all think, all the time in some ways or other (in fact, we are engaged in incessant self-talk all the time). As Descartes’ famous adage says, ‘I think, therefore I am.’ The Nobel prize winning American-Israeli psychologist Daniel Kahneman in his latest book, Thinking Fast and Slow, explains that there are two types of thinking, and he calls them fast and slow (or type I and II), but I think we could also call them reflexive and deliberate. Reflexive thinking is our immediate (reflexive/involuntary) response to mental impulses/experiences, and, in many cases, it may be even unconscious, and we could not even stop it (see, STROOP effect). Critical thinking is a form of the conscious/deliberate kind of thinking. However, it is still different from everyday thinking in some ways.
POST 1
The most important difference between everyday thinking and critical thinking is very simple, every day is pretty much a routine, you don’t have to put to much attention at what are you doing or what you have to do because is just repetition. But critical thinking is more of solving problems that you may not expect or have an argument with a person that have different ideas, it is something that you must stop, think, and react. Critical thinking is very important for very reasons, but I will focus on the most important to me, jobs. Some jobs are required to have critical thinking skills because 80% of it will be solving problems, and I will say that most jobs have problems or challenges you must pass to succeed. For example , I’m a team lead at Walmart , my everyday routine is pretty basic , set up for the trucks and make sure they finish on time and pulled all the freight to the sales floor , but some days I’m required to do some many extras stuff and there when my critical thinking start rolling, I have to think who and how to complete every single task and even sometime I have to leave some for the next day so yeah critical thinking is very important. Even though philosophy and critical thinking seems like a pair there is a difference, philosophy is a biggest thing while critical thinking is more like a branch of it. Is like if you have an apple tree, the tree is philosophy while critical thinking is the apple , so yes is something to care about , because if we don’t have one , we may don’t have the other because critical thinking is an aspect ( the most important one ) of philosophy
References :
Jobs that require critical thinking: Critical thinking secrets. Jobs that require critical thinking | Critical Thinking Secrets. (2021, March 27). https://criticalthinkingsecrets.com/jobs-that-require-critical-thinking-skills/.
What is the relationship between philosophy and critical thinking? Quora. (n.d.). https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-relationship-between-philosophy-and-critical-thinking.
POST 2
Everyday day thinking is simpler than a critical thinking approach. Thinking in general can be a bias approach based of life experiences through interpersonal interactions and all educational medias, either scholastic or non-traditional means that have their owns biases such as articles or social media post. When using a critical thinking approach, you have to remove all biases and take a more reflective and creative approach by addressing all angles of the subject to seek truth, rather than confirm your beliefs or biases.
Critical thinking is extremely important because it provides an un-biased and logical approach based on fact and scholarly researched articles that seek the rightest answer based of the facts given. “In contrast to feeling, thinking is a conscious mental process performed to solve a problem, make a decision, or gain understanding” (Ruggiero, 2009). We as a society across the world tend to take the things we hear or read for face value, and then regurgitate it as fact and will defend it tooth and nail. However, this approach isn’t always correct because the data provided is often skewed in the direction of the person providing it which leads the reader to a one-side and predetermined answer. Critical thinking teaches you to challenge the information given and provides you with a more accurate version of the truth based of your own intellectual research.
In Europe critical thinking is referred to as philosophy dating back as far 2500 years ago by Socrates (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2019). He established that one cannot necessarily depend on authority to have sound knowledge and judgement. Using a method of probing questioning provided the truth that people could not always rationalize or justify their confident claims. His method of Socratic questioning is the foundation for critical thinking and provides the roots for challenges all claims to ensure the best truth is provided based off the understanding. As a member of society, I believe it is our obligation to ensure that our voices are heard with intelligent and factual concern to better our communities and this world. Being the passer of false information without challenge provides no substance to making this world a better place.
WC 361
References
A Brief History of the Idea of Critical Thinking (2019). Foundation for Critical Thinking. https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/a-brief-history-of-the-idea-of-critical-thinking/408
Boss, J. (2021). Think: critical thinking for everday life (5th ed.). McGraw Hill.
Ruggiero, V. R. (2009). Beyond feelings a guide to critical thinking (9th ed.). McGraw Hill.
Here is the discussion challenge: The book talks about critical thinking on pages 6-14. Please read the book chapter and research critical thinking online before you post a comment. Thank you!
Three questions:
1) what are the most important differences between ‘everyday thinking’ and critical thinking?
2) Is critical thinking important at all (if it is indeed a thing)? Why? Why not?
3) In Europe, critical thinking is generally referred to as philosophy. Why? And what is philosophy in its broadest term and should we even care about it? Why? Why not?
1-Your initial post: State your answers backed by the evidence you found. This post must be at least 300 words and it is due before midnight on Wednesday.
2-Your response to two students: Remember to address the comment to that person’s name in your post. These responses must be at least 200 words each and on two different days. You may agree or disagree with the post on which you are commenting. What do you think of the position they posted? Did they present an objective viewpoint?
PART 2
Instructions:
Please complete the six steps of My Life Plan below
This is personal and applies to your own life. Use the checklist below for the completion of this assignment. I hope you find this enjoyable and helpful.
THIS IS NOT AN ESSAY BUT A COLLECTION OF YOUR THOUGHTS/PLANS — PRESENTED IN BULLET POINTS OR ORGANIZED AS A LIST (WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT BE WRITTEN IN FULL SENTENCES) SO IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO ORGANIZE IT INTO PARAGRAPHS; GOOD GRAMMAR WILL DO!
Final Project Presentation on Cognitive Errors and Biases
PART 3
Final Project Presentation on Cognitive Errors and Biases
Due Sunday of Week Three — Graded by the end of Saturday of Week Four
PowerPoint Presentation On Cognitive Errors and Biases
Read pages 113-133 of your text discussing cognitive and perceptual errors in thinking. Do research in other sources (at least 3 reliable, respectable, and trustworthy sources) to provide you with a more in-depth look at the stages that are discussed — I warn you that the information you find will have a dizzying array of methods of categorizations, but you do not have to go too deep into this issue (there could be a whole course about such errors).
You will write about cognitive errors. All biases, prejudices, disproportionate fears, irrational expectations, etc. are cognitive errors. Children display much more of such errors and are less aware of them than adults, although adults also lack insight into such errors, mostly (that is, their own errors because we can often spot such issues in other people). In any case, most of us, as we grow up, start to discover/catch our cognitive errors and, in many cases, correct them to various degrees. Magical thinking, fallacies, self-fulfilling prophecies, ‘Irrational Beliefs’ (as well as irrational beliefs), religious and political extremism, sexism, ageism, racism (and other biases, including — very importantly — confirmation bias), anger, hatred, dread, panic, extreme suspicion, extreme greed, conspiracy theories, etc. are all cognitive errors. Even simple mistakes in logic (even without biases or emotions) are cognitive errors. Once again: cognitive errors are related to thinking/information processing.
There are two parts to the project:
Part I. Make a PowerPoint presentation consisting of at least 15 slides on cognitive biases.
You will also submit a discussion page (Part II), explaining how your own judgment and decision making are reflected in the past and reflects now some of your biases you were able to recognize (you do not have to discuss those of your biases that you were unable to recognize:
Part II. (essay) Answer the following questions about your own judgment and Cognitive and decision-making process in your discussion paper (using at least 500 words) after you have made your slide presentation.
(1.) Discuss those of your biases of which you became aware through your intellectual development.
(2.) Do you make judgments and decisions differently now than you did at an earlier point in your life? Explain and provide an example of how a bias (or biases) influenced a judgment/decision (or decisions) you made at an earlier point in your life.
(3.) Discuss a recent judgment/decision that you made and explain how this judgment/decision is different from what you would have made at an earlier time based on the bias(es) you could not recognize at an earlier time.
