Now, if they could provide that in pill form...

Work is teh hard.

Brilliant!

Indeed...hidebound, rockhard, immovable positions are always suspect to critical thinkers.

This should be required watching for all contributors to any respectable blogs.

That's very good. But those who need it most will be the first to reject it.

Give a person a fish and they will eat that day.
Teach a person to fish and you'll never get any work out of them when the fish are biting

The widest gulf that people have to cross in their thinking process is the realization that they could be wrong and that they have biases that can cause them to want the wrong answer over the right answer.

This does a good job of presenting critical thinking as a strength, rather than equivocation and ivory-tower-ness.

I liked that critical thinkers don't have to have all the answers right now. Acknowledging that you don't know it all is very empowering.

re: #5 The Curmudgeon

That's very good. But those who need it most will be the first to reject it.

I was thinking along similar lines. It's almost as if though one has to have a predisposition for critical thinking in order to contemplate the subject matter presented in this video.

Good as always. I particularly liked the part about false dichotomies. I seem to see a lot of those lately.

Take a fish from one person, give it to another person who will vote for you to get more free fish for him, feed your political career for a lifetime.:D

re: #4 John Neverbend

This should be required watching for all contributors to any respectable blogs.

I would say that these vids should be required watching in grade school. Too bad it won't happen. Can't have young children thinking for themselves, can we?

Good stuff. Thanks for the post.

re: #13 Slumbering Behemoth

Actually, many of these principles were taught me by my religious mother.

Drove me nuts. I just wanted an answer. Much easier that way, but she insisted I learn how to find answers for myself.

Darn her, anyway. ;)

re: #15 EmmmieG

I am happy for you that you had such a patient mother. Many would simply feed a kid the answer just to shut them up.

I like that he included intellectual arrogance into the mix of what keeps thinking uncritical, and what he said about false dichotomies and intolerance of ambiguity. These things take away from meaningful discussion as it's difficult to communicate with an uncritical thinker who can't step away from the false dichotomy they presented themselves. A lot of time seems to get wasted trying to correct the initial flaw of the false dichotomy, and it often seems to go on because people can't admit to a mistake. Such a waste.

The point about skepticism was a good one.

My only beef:

On occasion, our knowledge and evaluation of options may lead us to a conclusion that others may view as a bias, when it is simply a different conclusion - not necessarily a false conclusion, just a different conclusion because we have different experiences.

Part of thinking critically is knowing when someone else is falsely accusing you of bias , and avoiding false accusations of bias in others.

re: #15 EmmmieG

Actually, many of these principles were taught me by my religious mother.

Drove me nuts. I just wanted an answer. Much easier that way, but she insisted I learn how to find answers for myself.

Darn her, anyway. ;)

I did something similar with my daughter, particularly on those questions that were a matter of conscience. LOL. She actually would always make the best choice, even if she struggled for a bit with it.

Anyone remember DeBono and Lateral Thinking? That was a long time ago.

There hasn't been this few responses to a post since about ought three.

Does this guy's voice annoy anyone else...

re: #21 exelwood

There hasn't been this few responses to a post since about ought three.

That's because most people here don't have a problem with this stuff, and those who do have nothing to say, by definition.

Point proven.

Back to dinner.

re: #23 Naso Tang

That's because most people here don't have a problem with this stuff, and those who do have nothing to say, by definition.

Point proven.

Yes, that must be it.

Things like this and people's responses to them always make me think of Yeats:

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity"

Which is to say, if you think you're not the kind of person this video is criticizing, maybe you're the kind of person this video is criticizing. ;-)

Happy winter solstice, everyone.