In regard to a choice a friend has made, ask, “Why do you decide to
do that?” After the friend gives his or her initial response, ask that
she or he to elaborate so that you can understand his or her thinking.
In your log, explain why you decided to ask that friend about that
particular decision, describe the context within which your conversation
occurred, and write down the questions you used to get a full and
accurate understanding of your friend’s reasoning. Then write your
friend’s response as fully as possible. Capture not only the option
chosen, but the other options considered and the reasons leading to
rejecting those options and selecting the option chosen. Carefully
analyze what your friend said, but do not evaluate. In your log, map the
decision your friend made, showing the reasoning process as objectively
and fair-mindedly as possible, whether you agree or disagree with it.
In fact, go out of your way not to reveal your evaluation of your
friend’s decision – be as analytical as possible without being
evaluative. Share a draft of the map with your friend and explain to
your friend how to interpret it. Listen to your friend’s comments about
the accuracy of your analysis as it is revealed in the draft decision
map you made. Note in your log all the amendments or revisions your
friend wants to offer. Make another draft of the decision map in your
log and compare the two side by side. Reflect on what you learned by
allowing your friend to view and comment on your analysis. Did your
friend change his or her story, add more reasons in favor of the
selected choice, add more reasons opposed to rejected choices, ask you
to remove argument strands that looked like weak reasons, or ask you to
bolster argument strands that looked flimsy?
Using the Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric from Chapter 1,
add a final part to this section of your reflective log in which you
permit yourself a few evaluative comments on your friend’s decision
making.
Module 8 - Reflective Log
Complete the reflective log exercise titled, "Getting the Problem
Wrong" on p. 163 of your text. Be sure to follow the instructions provided
in this textbox.
Module 8 - Discussion
Go to p. 161 in your text and read
the textbox tilted, "An Act of Mercy?" at the top of the page. Review
the materials here at the following link:
Answer the question you are asked in
the textbox: Which of our twenty-first-century practices that we see as righteous
and sensible will people in the twenty-fourth century look back on in horror?
When you have done this, explain to at least one classmate why you agree
or disagree with his or her views.
An
Act of Mercy? (The Day the Universe Changed)
As the beginning of episode 10 from
The Day the Universe Changed illustrates, given our twenty-first-century
worldview, the burning of a woman alive is a horrific killing of an innocent
person. But, given their seventeenth-century worldview, the people living in
Scotland only four centuries ago interpreted the very same event as an act of
mercy. The laws of logic are the same here and now as they were then and there.
What has changed? The differences in how the event is seen result from the
vastly divergent set of implicit unspoken assumptions that constitute the two
worldviews. It is within the context of our 'truths' about the world that the
laws of logic function. Today, in parts of the world where a non-scientific
worldview prevails, beliefs in voodoo and magic have a real influence over the
lives and decisions people make. In those communities, it would be 'common
sense' to fear that some might have the power to cause harm or misfortune
simply by thinking evil thoughts and incanting spells. Learning to make logical
inferences is vital. But logic alone is not enough. Strong critical thinking
requires more than skillful inference, analysis, explanation, and
interpretation. It requires courageous truth-seeking and the intellectual
honesty to reflect from time to time on our own most cherished beliefs and
unspoken assumptions. Which of our twenty-first-century practices that we see
as righteous and sensible will the people in the twenty-fourth century look
back on in horror?
Be advised that the images in this
video might be disturbing. This six-minute long scene begins within the first
minute of the final episode in this remarkable series. The episode is called
"Changing Knowledge, Changing Reality." (Watch from 0:45 to 6:25.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)