What is critical thinking?

[Chris OConnor]

Up until this point I have been genuinely interested in knowing what the heck hexagrams are for, but I seem to have found a site that explains things.

http://people.howstuffworks.com/meaning-of-taoism6.htm

Hexagrams are for people that lack critical thinking skills and an ability to understand the relationship between cause and effect.

The ruler Wen Wang, of the Hsi-Chou Dynasty, developed Pa-Kua until it became the sophisticated analytical tool we know today.

Analytical tool? LOL Please.

the rationale for using six lines for a successful divination

Divination? Now I get it. This is about seeing the future. Complete and utter nonsense.

To cast a hexagram, toss three coins and add the values. Draw the first line according to the chart on the next page and place it at the bottom of the stack. Throw the coins five more times, making six lines in all. This is a hexagram.

Right. Tossing coins and counting their values is clearly a meaningful endeavor. Now I see why you avoided answering me in the chat room many weeks ago. You're embarrassed by your belief in hexagrams. I would be too.

[geo]

http://socialwelfare.berkeley.edu/faculty/gambrill.htm

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1247089106/ ... ill&page=1

Suzanne, thanks for the links. This looks like quite an interesting book. My wife is working towards her masters in clinical psychology and this looks like it could be very useful.

[Interbane]

Casting hexagrams is more enlightening than thinking, right?

In defense of Confucianism, many of the Chinese who ascribed to the philosophy during that time did not believe in the divination aspects of the l Ching.

It's interesting as an intellectual hobby, but any modern day philosopher knows the folly of trying to embrace the entire universe in one static philosophy.

[Thomas Hood]

Out of curiosity, Thomas, what are your thoughts on evolution? I'm just curious and you don't have to respond if you don't want to.

The scientific account is basically correct, although pictorial representation of human evolution is fanciful. There is no conflict between First Genesis and evolution because First Genesis is astrological in substance and reverential in tone.

Tom

[Thomas Hood]

Yea, right. But what is the value in a hexagram? Use your own words.

Confucius said: If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of the Yi, and might then escape falling into great errors. -- Analects

The study of the hexagrams aids the cultivation of an awareness of xuan. At BookTalk I have mentioned xuan here:

Poetry ABCs
http://www.booktalk.org/poetry-abcs-t6239-165.html

Xuan (玄) may be described as "poetic perception," although it is usually translated as subtle, dark, mysterious, obscure, ethereal. For example, from Thoreau's Journal entry for today in 1854:

July 8 (1854) Saturday . P. M. -To Assabet Bathingplace.
. . . .
8 P. M.- Full moon ; by boat to Hubbard's Bend.
There is wind, making it cooler and keeping off
fog, delicious on water. The moon reflected from the
rippled surface like a stream of dollars. I hear a few
toads still. See a bat ; how long? The bullfrogs trump
from time to time. . . .

Consider: "The moon reflected from the rippled surface like a stream of dollars." The dollars are silver dollars. At this time, Thoreau is passionate with issues of abolition, especially the effort to buy the freedom of the recently re-enslaved Anthony Burns. His visual image is xuan, subtly indicative of his inner nature. Inner nature is universally disclosed as xuan, and study of it does give foreknowledge as Confucius said, because character is fate.

I must add that not everyone should study the hexagrams. Unstable persons with poor contact with reality may find the search for meaning disorienting. Early Jesuits who struggled with the Yi became apostate or insane.

Tom

[Interbane]

That's an interesting philosophy. Asian philosophy has always piqued my curiosity. They sought objective truth by looking inward. I'm not sure how this would qualify as a belief about the universe, as it only deals with the human brain and is entirely subjective.

TH: "Unstable persons with poor contact with reality may find the search for meaning disorienting."

Meaning is, in itself, indicative of subjectivity. When people refer to reality, they usually refer to objectivity. You may have to expand on your above sentence for me.

[Aussie_Lifter]

Critical thinking is an important component of all university programs.

This semester one of my required readings was:

The art of thinking : a guide to critical and creative thought.
Vincent Ryan Ruggiero.
Publisher New York : Pearson Longman, c2007.
Edition 8th ed.


It was fairly basic, but discussed all the attributes of critical thinking mentioned so far.


If you think that critical thinking is a brain-washing institution TH, then how do you approach problems in your life?

[Frank 013]

TH
Frank, but are you or are you not telling me that you "studied critical thinking in college psychology"?

Psychology and other courses yes.

TH
Could you be more specific about what you studied? Was it in a textbook or just thrown in by the teacher while talking?

Honestly I don’t remember that much about the class… I was watching the girls for the most part… I got a B though.

That was nearly 20 years ago, so sorry I cannot recall if the information was in the textbook or a flyer or simply spoken.

TH
I want details, and I will consider your claims provided you document them.

Honestly at this point what you want means almost nothing to me.

TH
Why has it been so hard to get this little bit from you?

Because I feel it to be a senseless question... to me it’s really like asking someone where they learned to walk.

Everyone critically thinks from time to time (even you as you demonstrated earlier) it is most commonly seen when someone is researching a topic that they have no bias in… just as you did when researching the word pacifier.

As Chris stated “You don't need to take critical thinking courses in order to think critically, clearly and effectively. You need to appreciate honestly, truth and personal integrity.”

Later

[Frank 013]

Aussie_Lifter
If you think that critical thinking is a brain-washing institution TH, then how do you approach problems in your life?

Apparently he throws coins!

Later

[Thomas Hood]

If you think that critical thinking is a brain-washing institution TH, then how do you approach problems in your life?

Sometimes I search for more information(Internet, books), sometimes I ask someone who has experience, sometimes I experiment with the problem material, and since I have my hangups like everyone else, sometimes I procrastinate.

I prefer a top-down (whole or context to parts) approach but frequently waste time since a brute-force exhaustion of possibilities would be quicker. When I have a problem -- and I have had many recently -- I deal with them autonomously and directly. I do not possess nor want to possess the Seven Virtues of interpersonal diplomacy given at the start of this thread.

You are the only one here to admit to reading a book on critical thinking and having a course in it, and apparently you liked what you got and are now a true believer. You say: "Critical thinking is an important component of all university programs." I disagree. I believe it is a liberal thought reform cult and useless for solving real problems but nice for happy chats. Let's look:

http://www.mindpower-inc.com/about.html
bio of Vincent Ryan Ruggiero

Making your mind matter: strategies for increasing practical ... -
Google Books Result by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero - 2003 - Psychology - 119 pages

Bingo. In the table of contents of this Google Book, he quotes Alfred Korzybski. I have read most of Korzybski's Science and Sanity and his Manhood of Humanity. I was a member of the General Semantics Society for a year and have also read the works of his followers -- Weinberg, Chase, Hayakawa, Keyes, and others. I guarantee you that Korzybski and anybody who recommends him by quoting him will do you no good, no matter how attractive their talk sounds. And also, this is the critical thinking -- General Semantics missing link I've been looking for. Eureka!

If at all possible, read chapter 23 on General Semantics in Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science by Martin Gardner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fads_and_F ... of_Science

Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science is also available as a Google Book, with a few pages of the General Semantics chapter missing.

http://us.books-online-store.net/node/b ... 729_5.html
81. The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Seventh Edition
by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero

"The Best Critical Thinking Book Ever Written
I first read this marvelous book while doing the research for my book "Why Didn't I Think of That? - Think the Unthinkable and Achieve Creative Greatness." Anyone serious about improving their thinking capacities simply must read Ruggiero's book. Used as the primary text in many college level critical and creative thinking courses, "The Art of Thinking" covers both basic and advanced concepts using well designed examples and artfully crafted exercises helping readers to learn both easily and completely. At signing events, and after speaking engagements, when readers of my book ask me to recommend other related works, I always place Ruggiero's book at the top of the list."

OK, true believers, that must be the one critical thinking book you should read, but I've already warned you . . . .

Tom