Critical Thinking: Chapter 1

How I discovered this book
I first came across the book Critical Thining by Richard W. Paul and Linda Elder in the EVTEK library in Finland in 2004. I was doing a semester abroad there. I didn't find the time to really work throught he book then but bought it and now in 2009 it seems like its time has come.

What this book promises to do
The preface is all about how we are what we think and that our thoughts control the way we see our life and how we feel about it. The book is supposed to help me gain control of my thoughts.

Introduction (pages xii - xx)
Good thinking is good in any situation in life and everything we do, want and feel is influenced by our thinking. We do have many bad habits in thinking like making generalizations, looking at things from a fixed point of view or fabricating myths. But if we learn about thinking we can overcome those habits.

Ex I.1 Beginning to think about your thinking
See if you identify any discovery you made about your thinking before you started reading this book.
Mmm. Let me think. :-) I did discover in the past how I can to some extend influence my moods by the way I think. If I'm in a traffic jam and consciously decide not to get angry and annoyed about it that works most of the time. Same with feeling content. If I tell myself that something is ok as it is, a lot of times I can then really feel content with it.

Ex I.2 Understanding the importance of concepts
See if you can think of a time in which you "misused" an imporant concept. Hint: Think of an idea that you commonly use in your thinking, such as friendship, trust, truthfulness, or respect. Have you ever implied you were someone's friend but acted against that person?
Don't know if this is what's meant here, but it happend before that someone told me a secret and I talked about it with my best friend. I do understand the concept of "don't share this with anyone else" but somehow telling my best friend is an exception. The concept of sharing everything with your best friend counts more in that case.

Ex I.3 Beginning to think about your thinking
Consider your thinking in personal relationships, in sports, in dealing with others, as a reader, as a writer, in planning your life... Complete these statements:

1. Right now, I believe my thinking across all domains of my life is of medium quality. I base this judgment on the fact that I do think in stereotypes sometimes and a lot of times I feel like my own thoughts make things worse for me.
2. In the following areas, I think very well:
a. Problem solving and finding creative solutions at work or at the scouts.
b. Planning games and activities with the scouts.
c. When I learn about new things.
3. In the following areas, my thinking is okay, not great, but not terrible either:
a. When I'm writing.
b. In sports.
c. In planning my life.
4. In the following areas, my thinking is probably poor:
a. in personal relationships
b. in relating to the opposite sex
c. in dealing with my emotions

Ex I.4 Changing your habits
Have you ever changed a habit as a result of your conscious effort and planning? What do you have to do to change a habit? Is it easy? If not, why not? What do you think you would have to do to change habits of thought?
I had some success in using the Getting Things Done approach. Collecting everything in one Inbox, writing down all the "To-Dos" I carry in my head.. that worked out fine. I also got quite effective in emptying that inbox and filing stuff. To make this a habit I really have to force myself to keep doing it. Then when I see the benefits it starts to run by itself. Another habit I consciously started is writing ideas down in my idea book. This is so much fun that all I need is to remind myself that the book exists and I use it. The first steps in changing a habit need to be small. If it's too hard to start and takes to much time I find too many excuses not to do it.


Yeah! I made it through the introduction! Now we'll see how I keep up the next days.. :-)