GRE-孙远的工具箱-思想类

No 1 孙远的工具箱 思想类 思想类 1 critical thinking Critical thinking is a path to intellectual adventure Though there are dozens of possible approaches the progress can be boiled down to concrete steps Be willing to say I don t know Some of the most profound thinkers of our time have practiced the art o critical thinking by using two magic phrases I don t know and I am not sure yet Those are words many people do not like to hear We live in times when people are criticized for changing their minds Our society rewards quick answers and quotable sound bites We re under considerable pressure to utter the truth in 15 seconds or less In such a society it is a courageous and unusual act to pause to look to examine to be thoughtful to consider many points o view and to not know When a society embraces half truths in a blind rush for certainty commitment to uncertainty can move us forward Think again When we use the base three number system two plus two equals 11 A child learning to write numbers might insist that two and two makes 22 And a biologist might joke that two plus two adds up to a whole lot more than four when we re talking about the reproductive life for rabbits Define your terms Practice tolerance Having opinions about issues is natural When you stop having opinions you are probably not breathing anymore The problem comes when we hold opinions in a way that leads to defensiveness put downs or put offs Going hand in hand with critical thinking is tolerance for attitudes that differs from yours Consider that many of the ideas we currently accept democracy Christianity voting rights for women civil rights for people of color were once considered the claims of dangerous and unpopular minorities This historical perspective helps us accept a tenet of critical thinking What seems outlandish today may become accepted a century a decade or even a year from now Understand before criticizing Strictly speaking none of us lives in the same world Our habits preferences outlooks and values are as individual as our fingerprints Each of them is shaped by our culture our upbringing our experience and our choices Speeches books articles works for art television programs views expresses in conversation all come from people who inhabit a different world than yours Until we ve lives in another person s world for a while it s ineffective to dismiss her point of view Watch for hot spots hot spot anger or discomfort when conversation shift to certain topics such as death penalty or abortion To cool down your hot spots seek out the whole world of ideas Avoid intellectual ruts Read magazines and books that challenge the opinions you currently hold If you consider yourself liberal pick up the National Review If you are a socialist sample the Wall Street Journal Do the same with radio and television programs Make a point to talk with people who differ from you in education level race ethnic group or political affiliation And to hone your thinking skills practice defending an idea you consider outrageous Consider the source Seek out alternative views Dozens of viewpoints exist on every critical issue how to reduce crime end world hunger prevent war educate our children and countless others In fact few problems allow for any permanent solution Each generation produces new answers based on current conditions Our research for answers is a conversation that spans centuries On each question many voices waiting to be heard You can take advantage of this diversity by seeking out alternative viewpoints Ask questions Stripped to this essence critical thinking means asking and answering questions If you want to practice this skill get in the habit of asking powerful questions Look for at least three answers Using this approach can sustain honest inquiry fuel creativity and lead to conceptual breakthroughs Be prepared The world is complicated and critical thinking is a complex business Some of your answers may contradict each other Resist the temptation to have all your ideas in a neat orderly bundle Be willing to change your mind We should enter discussions with an open mind When talking to another person be willing to walk away with a new point of view even if it s the one you brought to the table After thinking thoroughly we can adopt new viewpoints or hold our current viewpoints in a different way Lay your cards on the table Science and uncritical thinking differ in many ways Uncritical thinkers shield themselves from new information and ideas In contrast scientists constantly look for facts that contradict their theories In fact science never proves anything once and for all Scientific theories are tentative and subject to change Scientists routinely practice critical thinking Examine the problems from different points of view Sometimes new ideas are born when we view the world from a new angle When early scientists watched the skies they conclude that the sun revolved around the earth Later when we gained the mathematical tools to stand in another place we could clearly see that the earth was revolving the sun This change in position not only sparked new thinking it permanently changes our picture of the universe Write about it Thoughts move randomly at blind speed Writing slows that process down Doing so allows us to see all points of view on an issue more clearly and therefore thinking thoroughly Writing is an unparalleled way to practice precise accurate thinking Construct a reasonable view Instead each point of view is one approach among many possible approaches If you don t think that any viewpoint is complete then it is up to you to combine the perspectives on the issue In doing so you choose an original viewpoint 2 The function of critical thinking Critical thinking is a path to freedom from half truths and deception You have the right to question you see hear and read Acquiring this ability is one of the major goals of a liberal education 3 Critical Thinking as Thorough Thinking Both critical thinking and thorough thinking point to the same array of activities sorting out conflicting claims weighting the evidence for them letting go of personal bias and arriving at reasonable views We live in a society that seems to value quick answers and certainty This is often at odds with effective thinking Thorough thinking is the ability to examine and reexamine ideas that may seem obvious Such thinking takes time and the willingness to say three subversive words I don t know Thorough thinking is also the willingness to change our point of view as we continue to examine a problem This calls for courage and detachment Just ask anyone who has given up a cherished point of view in the light for new evidence Skilled students are thorough thinkers They distinguish between opinion and fact They ask powerful questions They make detailed observations They uncover assumptions and define their terms They make assertions carefully basing them on sound logic and solid evidence Almost everything we called knowledge is a result of these activities This means that critical thinking and learning are intimately linked 4 Creative people Two things are implied in the word Creativity as I have come to understand it novelty and significance What is created is new and the new opens up path that expand human possibilities Creative people then often look at something from the past that is the result of convergent thinking and by thinking about it divergently come up with a novel use of a familiar object They look in the common place to find the strange Instead of thinking toward to old solutions they think away from them making the leap from the unexpected to the inspired Poets do it with metaphors and similes Journalists can do it with garbage Yes garbage It was the first subject we decided to explore because we sensed that it would be a usual vehicle for demonstrating that you can think creatively about almost anything if you learn how to relate and connect what at casual glance seems odd to couple In our research we found an Arizona professor a garbologist teaching contemporary civilization through what people throw out a New York artist turning ordinary things off the street into works of art and an East Texas sewage plant where earthworms are used to turn sludge into topsoil Creative people tolerate ambiguity They have unremitting desire to create a satisfying new order out of chaos and the courage to persist to create that order on one s own terms This makes them often cantankerous sometimes exasperating always unconventional What matters to them is not what others think o them but what they think of themselves 5 The lowest animal Indecency vulgarity obscenity these are strictly confined to man he invented them Among the higher animals there is no trace of them Of all animals man is the only one that is cruel He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it It is trait that is not known to the higher animals The higher animals engage in individual fights but never in organized masses Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities war Man is the only slave And he is the only animal who enslaves He has always been a slave in one form or another and has always held other slaves in bondage under him in one way or another It seems pain to me that what ever he is he is not a reasoning animal His record is the fantastic record of a maniac In truth man in incurably foolish Simple things which the other animals easily learn he is incapable o learning 6 Decision by Consensus Westerners tend to make major decisions at the top in board meetings among department heads and the like They then pass the word down the line to managers and others to implement and carry out the decision The Japanese do the opposite Their system commonly known as ringi is the corporate version of government by consensus Decisions are not made on high and handed down to be implemented