Critical Thinking and Distance Education

Why should we work on developing a Critical Thinking? I decided to write something about Critical Thinking for a couple of reasons. First, on almost every article about Distance Education I have read so far, they spent at least one paragraph to talk about Critical Thinking. Second, I have been taking an excellent online course at www.udemy.com (Critical Thinker Academy, Kevin deLaplante) about Critical Thinking that are leading me to realize the importance of developing a Critical Thinking basis, which are well described and discussed during the course. I want to share my opinion on this issue and also a little bit of what have been taught in this course. Perhaps you will desire, just like me, to learn and think about this philosophical topic too. The reasons for us to develop a Critical thinking, according to Kevin deLaplante in his online course (Critical Thinker Academy – www.udemy.com) are: 1. Self-defense. When thinking of self-defense instantly what comes up in our minds is defending ourselves from someone or something using physical actions, but what happens when you have to choose between believing or not in someone´s argumentation or influence? When you have to discriminate good and bad arguments? When you are in the position of receiving an argument that have the power to influence your believes, your values and actions? To give you an example of the art of influence how about thinking of politics or advertisements? Do you think that their care about your well-being just because they are “good guys”? What they care about is convincing you that their product is your best choice, so they can sell more and more, or to keep their political power. In other words, for them, people are instruments to meeting their goals. That is where Critical Thinking releases its power by sensitizing us against bad arguments, manipulation and non-arguments and also immunizing us from their influence. 2. Empowerment. This is the other side of the situation, when you are in the position of persuading, giving the arguments. Critical Thinking is frequently separated by common view into two opposite statements, considering it purpose (for good or bad use): a. Logic and good argumentation, usually seen as good tool b. Rhetorical technics and psychological strategies, usually related to bad purposes as persuasive advertisements. Actually, those statements are only “tools” for Critical thinking and rhetoric technics and psychological strategies have their positive aspects when used for good purposes. A good argument is not only based on good logic but also on good psychological and social factors. For instance, every argumentation has to consider the context in which the argument will be given, who will be persuaded, their background, believes and values. As it said deLaplante: “If you can’t see the issues through their eyes and tap into what they care about...Then you will never persuade them to accept your point of view.” After all, a good argument is all about organizing our ideas in a logic way and give the audience strongest reasons to accept our conclusions. 3. Civic Duty. Every citizen has civic duty. They need to be able to critically evaluate laws and policies to identify injustice. Critical thinking is an essential tool for that. The State shouldn’t impose any particular concept of the good life on its citizens, they are free to pursue their own conception of good life. Critical thinking will not eliminate oppressive policies by just raising questions, but it sure works as obstacles for injustice to gain foothold in a democratic society. 4. Wisdom. There are many definitions for wisdom but basically it can be defined as the acquisition of knowledge about what is reality and what is worth pursuing for one’s own sake. Philosophical wisdom is achieved by rational argumentation and together with critical thinking are the center elements of wisdom. Hope you had a great time reading this. Feel free to share your point of view!