Critical thinking is a set of reasoning strategies that keep us from believing everything we read or hear.  In an age where more and more information is being created and communicated, we need critical thinking tools to keep us from absorbing every statement as truth or fact and, obviously, to help us find the information that we can trust. 

This link takes you to a good introduction to critical thinking: “Learning the Art of Critical Thinking“.  Read the material there and pay particularly close attention to the section on questions.  When a truly critical thinker reads or listens to material, s/he simultaneously questions the ideas presented.  For example, when listening to the local news, we might ask, “Why did the reporter provide that detail — since it doesn’t seem to support what she’s saying?” or “Isn’t that an assumption that he is presenting as fact?” or “Could that statistic be interpreted differently, to mean something else?”

An op-ed article is usually an opinion piece written by someone not on the given news organization’s editorial board.  These articles can range from simple rants to clever or carefully supported arguments.  Follow this link and read the following New York Times op-ed piece: “In the Wilderness, a New Frontier”.  After you’ve read it, review the sample questions in the critical thinking article and think of how you would question the ideas in this op-ed article. 

For example, I might think the following about Carey’s article.  Carey makes the claim that Sarah Palin’s celebrity has won her little political support in Alaska because many Alaskans felt their local concerns went overlooked as she pursued national attention.  Carey’s statement about how Alaskans feel is not supported, though.  I would ask this question: Are there Alaskan popular opinion polls about Palin that would either substantiate or contradict his portrait of how Alaskans feel about their former governor?

After making a list of your own questions about this op-ed article, write one of them and leave it as a comment below.  Try to read others’ questions and make yours unique so that it adds new critical thought to the exercise.

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BNA’s Core Collection provides links to: 

A comprehensive collection of scholarly research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, this database covers more than 1 million dissertations and theses.

This is a quick assessment of your opinions on a number of issues related to the philosophy of education. It indicates which philosophies you may have an affinity for and suggests a number of theorists to explore. Schools of thought include: Essentialism, Behaviorism, Progressivism, Existentialism, Perennialism, and Reconstructionism.