From 2b70e6b8732647af93f6dfa4ac8fd504cbf7c8d4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Chris Koeritz Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2013 16:29:18 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] new fortune. --- database/fortunes.dat | 76 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 76 insertions(+) diff --git a/database/fortunes.dat b/database/fortunes.dat index 32f17afe..1967fe01 100644 --- a/database/fortunes.dat +++ b/database/fortunes.dat @@ -39662,3 +39662,79 @@ and stable mind. -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in "On the Path to Enlightenment: Heart Advice from the Great Tibetan Masters", from Shambhala Publications and Snow Lion Publications. +~ +Critical Thinking as Defined by the National Council for Excellence in +Critical Thinking, 1987 + + Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and +skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or +evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, +experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and +action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values +that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, +consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and +fairness. + It entails the examination of those structures or elements of thought +implicit in all reasoning: purpose, problem, or question-at-issue; +assumptions; concepts; empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions; +implications and consequences; objections from alternative viewpoints; and +frame of reference. Critical thinking — in being responsive to variable +subject matter, issues, and purposes — is incorporated in a family of +interwoven modes of thinking, among them: scientific thinking, mathematical +thinking, historical thinking, anthropological thinking, economic thinking, +moral thinking, and philosophical thinking. + Critical thinking can be seen as having two components: 1) a set of +information and belief generating and processing skills, and 2) the habit, +based on intellectual commitment, of using those skills to guide behavior. It +is thus to be contrasted with: 1) the mere acquisition and retention of +information alone, because it involves a particular way in which information +is sought and treated; 2) the mere possession of a set of skills, because it +involves the continual use of them; and 3) the mere use of those skills ("as +an exercise") without acceptance of their results. + Critical thinking varies according to the motivation underlying it. When +grounded in selfish motives, it is often manifested in the skillful +manipulation of ideas in service of one’s own, or one's groups’, vested +interest. As such it is typically intellectually flawed, however +pragmatically successful it might be. When grounded in fairmindedness and +intellectual integrity, it is typically of a higher order intellectually, +though subject to the charge of "idealism" by those habituated to its selfish +use. + Critical thinking of any kind is never universal in any individual; everyone +is subject to episodes of undisciplined or irrational thought. Its quality is +therefore typically a matter of degree and dependent on, among other things, +the quality and depth of experience in a given domain of thinking or with +respect to a particular class of questions. No one is a critical thinker +through-and-through, but only to such-and-such a degree, with such-and-such +insights and blind spots, subject to such-and-such tendencies towards self- +delusion. For this reason, the development of critical thinking skills and +dispositions is a life-long endeavor. + -- from a statement by Michael Scriven & Richard Paul, presented at the 8th + Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education + Reform, Summer 1987. +~ +Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to +reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way. People who think +critically consistently attempt to live rationally, reasonably, empathically. +They are keenly aware of the inherently flawed nature of human thinking when +left unchecked. They strive to diminish the power of their egocentric and +sociocentric tendencies. They use the intellectual tools that critical +thinking offers--concepts and principles that enable them to analyze, +assess, and improve thinking. They work diligently to develop the +intellectual virtues of intellectual integrity, intellectual humility, +intellectual civility, intellectual empathy, intellectual sense of justice and +confidence in reason. They realize that no matter how skilled they are as +thinkers, they can always improve their reasoning abilities and they will at +times fall prey to mistakes in reasoning, human irrationality, prejudices, +biases, distortions, uncritically accepted social rules and taboos, self- +interest, and vested interest. They strive to improve the world in whatever +ways they can and contribute to a more rational, civilized society. At the +same time, they recognize the complexities often inherent in doing so. They +avoid thinking simplistically about complicated issues and strive to +appropriately consider the rights and needs of relevant others. They +recognize the complexities in developing as thinkers, and commit themselves to +life-long practice toward self-improvement. They embody the Socratic +principle: The unexamined life is not worth living, because they realize that +many unexamined lives together result in an uncritical, unjust, dangerous +world. + -- Linda Elder, September, 2007 + -- 2.34.1