Critical Thinkers

As a teacher (and now professor...what?!), the idea of constantly encouraging higher-level thinking is always at the front of my mind.  We read about, think about, and talk about Bloom's taxonomy until it is sprouting out our ears.  We stress the need to create critical thinkers.  I constantly find myself saying things to students such as, "Dig a little deeper than that..." or "Let's put our problem-solving caps on..." or "Think of five different ways to answer this question with your group..."

Yet...

I feel like we are failing as a society to actually produce such thinkers.  Yes, there are those who examine nearly everything, and most of us question the rare, novel, or shocking.  But going about our daily lives, I feel that it is too common for people to read something, learn something (whatever the situation might be), and we accept our initial reaction to said information, make a quick evaluation of some kind, and move on.

I've experienced this frequently over the past year as I have taken to reading more and more online articles and blog posts than in the past.  I will read an article, think something like, "Oh, that was nice.  I should share this with my friends."  I click "share," and move on to the next article, event, or task of my day.

I generally do this casually without giving much thought about it.  Lately, I have noticed that many articles floating around in blog/Facebook world produce sequels and rebuttals within a few days.  Sometimes I disagree with these responses, but the thing that disturbs me is when I wholeheartedly agree with a rebuttal to an article that I originally read, and approved of.  Maybe disturbs is too strong a word.  I suppose I am just glad that some people take the time to express a point of view that I hadn't considered, which helps me to see an issue from a broader perspective.  The thing that bothers me is that I often don't come to many of these conclusions on my own the first go-around.

For example, back in  December, there was a Facebook group started about and issue that I quickly passed off as silly.  I wrote a little about it here.  But, a friend brought to my attention many of the things that made the issue important to her, and I was able to see it with a shifted paradigm, almost looking at my own previous thoughts as silly.

This week, a letter has been "sharing" around on Facebook about one mother's desire to help raise boys of integrity, and her disapproval of girls posting inappropriate pictures of themselves online.  While I personally agree with her disapproval of this behavior, and did "share" her letter with my friends, this article, and this one written by my personal friend made me back-pedal again and wonder how I could have missed something so important myself.

These are just two of many similar instances.  The subject matter is not nearly as important to me as the realization that I am all too often quick to judge (even if it is a judgement of approval).  I fail to think critically or use the higher-order thinking skills I have labored so diligently to develop.

There is so much information floating around these days, that it is often difficult to muddle through it all and make appropriate decisions.  It is even more challenging to determine what is truth, good, or important.  Is it any wonder we were warned that in this day, there would be many people who are pure in heart, "...who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it" (D&C 123:12).  Or the warning given by Paul to Timothy that in the last days perilous time should come and people would be "ever learning, and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth."

Questioning more, pondering more, critically thinking more.  That's what is being lost of a lot of us.  When we talk about revelation from God, we almost always refer to scriptures and prophets.  But, what about personal revelation through the spirit?  Isn't that the most important part of it all?  Taking the time to really think things through and seek confirmation on the conclusions we come to?  I would be the first to admit that I am not really going to spend a ton of time on figuring out articles I read and how they might apply to eternal life, but...shouldn't I take a little more time in general to question the world around me and inspect things for varying angles?

I don't know that I have a point necessarily.  I guess this is just a personal reminder that I need to take my own advice and put on my thinking cap a little more often to dig deeper myself.