PHL/458 Creative Minds and Critical Thinking
1). Describe a situation in which critical and creative thought could have been used for a better outcome. Describe why it is important to think critically and creatively in similar situations.
Answer: The population is constantly increasing and the highways and roads are packed with congested traffic in some cities. Anxious commuters who desperately want to get somewhere on time create a dangerous potential for themselves and others. In some of the major cities, road has become a common occurrence. Aggressive drivers pose a threat to the safety of others who share the roadways. Drivers have often experienced similar feelings when driving. However, when thinking critically road rage situations such as cutting off, sudden braking, tailgating, etc. can be avoided. It is not enough just to pinpoint who is at fault.
If these drivers would think critically, they would anticipate busy roads rather than driving aggressively and plan accordingly. The frustration that by many drivers experience when they are driving is because their planning is often poor, and they rush out the door at the last minute. They start thinking that they need to get somewhere immediately but others seem to taking their own sweet time. However, as a critical thinker, it is necessary that they give themselves adequate time to be ready to travel the distance they plan to commute without rushing. Speeding is dangerous and with critical thinking in such situations, a dangerous road accident can be avoided.
2). Define free will, truth, knowledge, and opinion. Explain how we use them to form thoughts.
Answer: “Free will is the capacity to respond in ways that oppose even the strongest influences. Free will is itself a causative factor, and one that can trump all others” (Ruggiero, 1998:37). In any given situation, there is always a choice, although one’s ethics or morals influence one’s choices, but one way or the other the choice to react is one’s free will.
“Truth is what is so about something, the reality of the matter, as distinguished from what people wish were so, believe to be so, or assert to be so” (Ruggiero, 1998:27). Truth never changes. Although our belief and knowledge about a subject may change, the truth remains the same as when it was merely a belief and unknown.
Knowledge is something known to be true, what is understood as fact about a subject. “We can obtain authentic knowledge in any one of three ways: personal experience, observation, and report from others (Ruggiero, 1998:30).
Opinions are an extremely personal way of expressing one’s judgment of a specific subject. It is one’s own thoughts of how they perceive the matter and how they interpret a belief or truth.
3). Identify three hindrances to the critical thinking process. Determine methods for overcoming these hindrances. Identify a time in which you experienced a hindrance in critical thinking. Describe a method you could use to overcome the hindrances.
Answer: A critical thinker often faces challenges presented by certain hindrances, and perhaps this is why they find critical thinking so difficult. In Critical Thinking: A Student’s Introduction Bassham has identified many hindrances but the three major hindrances in the critical thinking process include inappropriate bias, egocentrism, and pride. By acknowledging the challenges presented by these hindrances, critical thinkers can overcome them to the best of their ability. For instance:
Critical thinkers can start overcoming their bias by developing intellectual empathy and humility.
Critical thinkers can overcome their egocentrism is to acknowledge their egocentric thinking and be willing to change from this habit.
Critical thinkers can overcome pride by feeling proud about the challenges they have overcome rather than simply achievements.
Although I have never experienced these hindrances in critical thinking but I have experienced self-deception many times. Whenever I am doing homework or some chores I always try to convince myself that I have “done enough” although the job was not over. I finally overcame this hindrance by making a schedule of the work I ‘must’ do during the day and finishing all that work even if I think that I have done enough. This is how managed to stop deceiving myself and start thinking critically.
4). Identify a message in advertising. Describe how you perceive the message of the advertisement. Try to determine the reality of the advertisement. Distinguish between your perception and the reality of the message. Make your advertisement visible by attaching a link, a scanned PDF/jpg image, etc.
Answer: I will try to identify the message in a recent Coca-Cola advertisement that says “a classic never goes out of style” and depicts a combination of small pictures that creates the image of a coke bottle ("A classic never," ). Looking at the small pictures of classic musicians of all time and the message the bottom of the ad I could perceive that the ad is trying to depict Coca-Cola as an “American classic.” To some extent, my perception may coincide with the reality of the advertisement, but at first glance I probably did not see the hidden message behind this Coke’s advertisement.
After a closer look, I could distinguish how there is a difference in the brightness of all those small pictures because of which the Coke bottle becomes more prominent, but because the pictures are in such proximity also seems to be representing another message. All those pictures are in such proximity apparently seems to represent that a Coke bottle has combined the whole of “classic America”. The message behind this Coke ad is quite ingenious but like many others at first glance perhaps I missed it.
References
Ruggiero, V. R. (1998). The art of thinking, a guide to critical and creative thought. (9th ed.). Longman Publishing Group.
Bassham, G. (2004). Critical thinking: A student's introduction with powerweb. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.
(n.d.). A classic never goes out of style. [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NEQ8hy25-N0/Srte22Zt7rI/AAAAAAAAAGE/i2OjmX_1c0Y/s400/coke-advertising-a-classic-never-goes-out-of-style1.jpg
