Critical Thinking - 1

We were talking about critical thinking.  What is it?  How do we describe it?  How can it be taught.  As we gabbed, one thing seemed to become clear:  a person must be able to detach to some extent.  

When you can detach, you can look at anything -- any relationship, any belief, any tradition, any data -- and think about it.  Suppose you get some feedback that you believe to be unfair, rude, or simply a pack of lies.

If you can detach, not always easy to do when your ego and emotions are involved, you can look at it.  You might seek the help of a relatively disinterested party to help you.  You might come up with these possibilities:

• I could learn this from the feedback
• Some people are working out their emotions by attacking me
• The person who said that missed the point altogether
• I must communicate more clearly, and stress the same thing more times but in different ways
• I communicated well - I cannot make others learn.  That is their responsibility

Without detachment, a person can only agree or disagree, and maybe only get caught up in emotions.  With detachment I might discern subtle possibilities, and come closer to truth as it applies in this situation.