Re: [Phys-L] just for fun

["John Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

Below my text is a fairly full definition of the word critical.

So notice that critical cangle could come under definition a2, while
critical thinking can come under 2c.
Higher level thinking is using mental tools for thinking such as
proportional reasoning, but it is not necessarily critical thinking.  So
students need to do both.

But people do not apply these things uniformly.  Engineers can be very good
at applying these tools within their trained specialty, but they do not
always apply them outside of their specialty.  Linus Pauling applied some
reasonable thinking to his pushing of vitamin C, but neglected the fact that
biological outcomes often do not stem from theoretical chemical concepts.
So when the effects were tested, his hypothesis proved false and the only
possible benefit was a slight lessening of symptoms of the common cold.  He
unfortunately used his fame to promote what turned out to be snake oil as if
it were fact.  He was out of his field, and did not apply good critical
thinking there.

Teaching higher level thinking may improve critical thinking because
teaching it involves getting the students to do the thinking rather than
noodling them with algorithms.  Students all can set up a ratio if told that
something is proportional thinking, but then they fail to recognize it.  The
recognition is critical thinking because it is selecting the correct
algorithm.

Part of critical thinking would also include the ability to recognize when
you are out of your trained field, so you must defer to judgements of the
trained professionals.  MDs in Los Alamos complain that the residents tend
to think they know medicine better than the trained MDs.  However, they also
point out that once a scientist or engineer is convinced of the validity of
the diagnosis and treatment, they are better at completing the treatment.
In the US both evolution and global warming are fields where politicians and
religious leaders are not engaging in critical thinking.  (see the latest
PEW survey)  They are ignoring the professionals in science and using common
everyday thinking which is often not critical.  The same thing happens in
economics where they pick one economist to quote who happens to be far from
the main stream.  These examples are where the built in paradigms outweigh
the ability to engage in critical thinking.  Another example of not using
critical thinking is how many parents have declined to have their children
vaccinated, thereby exposing all of us to diseases which should have zero
incidence in the US.  The falsified data on vaccines and autism was refuted,
but these people do not bother to look up good sources of information and
instead are relying on passed around urban legends.

While check the work is an important step, it is hardly critical thinking.
If you only have lower level thinking ability, or do not recognize which
algorithm is relevant, no amount of checking will help.  If the answer is
obviously false, then critical thinking does apply.  For example if you
calculate a size, and it is impossible, recognizing the impossibility is
critical thinking.  But if you are a low level thinker, you may not have the
resources to be able to fix the problem.

Reuven Feuerstein has a program which involves improving critical thinking.
He gets students to be both exacting, but also flexible.  They must be more
flexible, but not "too" flexible.  Schwartz has done research which shows
the same thing, where he found that teaching algorithms first creates
inflexible experts, but never teaching them creates "annoying experts" who
are creative but ineffective.

A fairly good analysis of critical thinking is at:
http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/our-concept-of-critical-thinking/411

"The concept of critical thinking we adhere to reflects a concept embedded
not only in a core body of research over the last 30 to 50 years but also
derived from roots in ancient Greek. The word ''critical'' derives
etymologically from two Greek roots: "kriticos" (meaning discerning
judgment) and "kriterion" (meaning standards). Etymologically, then, the
word implies the development of "discerning judgment based on standards." "
So criticism is probably another meaning derived from the original word
critical.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


Full Definition:
1
a :  of, relating to, or being a turning point or specially important
juncture <a critical phase>: as  (1) :  relating to or being the stage of a
disease at which an abrupt change for better or worse may be expected; also
:  being or relating to an illness or condition involving danger of death
<critical care> <a patient listed in critical condition>  (2) :  relating to
or being a state in which or a measurement or point at which some quality,
property, or phenomenon suffers a definite change <critical temperature>  

b :  crucial, decisive <a critical test>  

c :  indispensable, vital <a critical waterfowl habitat> <a component
critical to the operation of a machine>  

d :  being in or approaching a state of crisis <a critical shortage> <a
critical situation> 

2

a :  inclined to criticize severely and unfavorably  

b :  consisting of or involving criticism <critical writings>; also :  of or
relating to the judgment of critics <the play was a critical success>  

c :  exercising or involving careful judgment or judicious evaluation
<critical thinking>  

d :  including variant readings and scholarly emendations <a critical
edition> 

3

a :  of sufficient size to sustain a chain reaction -used of a mass of
fissionable material <a critical mass>  

b :  sustaining a nuclear chain reaction <the reactor went critical> 







> On Sun, Dec 29, 2013 at 11:18 PM, Bernard Cleyet 
> <bernard@cleyet.org> wrote:
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking
> >
> > bc what he thought by the term.
>
> But Google says:
> > > > critic
> 1. a person who expresses an unfavourable opinion of something.
> synonyms: detractor, censurer, attacker, fault-finder, 
> carper, backbiter, caviller, reviler, vilifier, traducer, 
> disparager, denigrator, deprecator, belittler; 
> informalknocker, nitpicker; <<<
>
> In my opinion, "Critical thinking" must inherit from 
> "critic",  otherwise it does not pass the self-check - "the 
> foundation-stone of critical thinking "check the work"" :-) 
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