Chapter 1: How to Begin Thinking Critically

Last Updated on 1 day by Liam Lopez

Hello, everyone. Today, I’ll present a crash course of information I used to become a critical thinker. It’s a multi-post catalog that provides information from the references provided and my insights.

Section 1 – What is Abraid scientism?

What is Abraid Scientism? Abraid Scientism refers to scientific realism and stoicism but focuses on these principles from the two:

1. Scientific theories are approximately true that the entities and concepts they represent exist and are supported by good evidence.
2. Science aims to provide an accurate account of the world and ourselves; theories are approximately true (they are not strict; sometimes, theories are wrong or incomplete). Additionally, these theories are roughly true because the concepts correspond to real-world properties.

Abraid scientism puts more emphasis on critical thinking and unconventionally. For abraid scientism, we are given these questions to start any investigation:

1. Who?
2. What?
3. When?
4. Where?
5. Why?
6. Which?
7. How?
8. Now?

With that out of the way, let’s continue onwards.

Section 2 – Subjective Stillness and Becoming Your Critic

Next, we will highlight a basic but impactful observation of our lives. The world and universe are both dynamic and static. This means what we define as static differs for other locations or organisms. Static things are considered beyond our control, but the more you transcend your limits, the easier things become to influence. This is where dynamic comes in. This is one core trait critical thinking harnesses; we will not deviate from our mission; let’s define critical thinking.

Critical thinking is a disciplined and reflective process emphasizing self-correction, self-discipline, and self-direction. It involves actively questioning one’s beliefs and assumptions while striving for clarity and accuracy in reasoning. We hold ourselves and others to rigorous intellectual standards, demonstrating openness to considering diverse perspectives and challenging personal biases. This approach fosters a deeper understanding of complex issues, encouraging individuals to analyze information thoughtfully and make informed decisions based on evidence and reasoned judgment.

Poor decisions often stem from forgetting key concepts. When you become a critical thinker, you perform metacognition to evaluate your thoughts and see if they should have meaning.

Section 2.1 – Ideals vs hope vs realism

Do you know the difference between ideals, hope, and realism? Many people favor one-sided arguments instead of acknowledging exceptions.

Ideals are about everything going according to plan without exceptions, while hope involves seeking positive change in response to adverse circumstances. Realism focuses on outcomes based on probabilities and everyday events. One-sided thinking can lead to problems, as seen when some parents view their children as perfect and label them failures when they falter, ignoring the reality that no one is perfect.

Hope is crucial, as it allows us to recognize the need for change. Idealists may overlook practical circumstances, while realists might fail to consider hopeful possibilities. Hopefulness enables us to transcend limited perspectives and embrace unconventional approaches, much like advancements in aeronautical engineering, such as the MIT toroidal propeller, which challenges traditional designs.

Even the toroidal propeller can not escape the inherent flaws of traditional propellers, which are often overlooked or considered unsolvable. Moreover, several alternative inventions show greater effectiveness in creating tremendously low-pressure areas, promising and delivering laminar flow, and simplifying aircraft design. These alternatives surpass the capabilities of conventional propellers and compressors but are often neglected or hidden from view.

Critical thinkers recognize inherent problems but believe in the possibility of change, regardless of how unconventional the solution may be. Understanding our critical thinking levels can guide us toward practical solutions.

Section 3 – The Principles of Critical Thinking

In the modern era, many humans boast they are critical thinkers; the truth is that critical thinking is a process, not something automatically applied to you; though it is technically a title, it cannot be given easily. Critical thinking is built from encountering errors, experience, hope, logic, and reasoning. This statement introduces another common situation: reputation and genuineness. Some people do specific actions to improve their reputation or front for the general public. Some genuinely do the things they do because they believe and are passionate about the activities they are engrossed in. These people are genuine. The question is, are they doing this for their reputation, or are they honest?

Section 3.1 – Three fundamental scales of a critical thinker

There are weak, continuous, and developing critical thinkers. A weak critical thinker is often characterized as:

1. Do not hold themselves accountable or take responsibility.
2. Do not account for people’s perspectives.
3. Think narrowly, neglecting others frame-of-references.
4. Do not accept change and reconstruction.
5. They use their intellectual skills to manipulate others selfishly to serve their desires without a more significant cause.
6. Use located fallacies to refute their arguments rather than finding common ground and solutions.
7. Justify irrational thinking with manipulative and unreasonable rationalizations.

A continuous critical thinker often uses combinations of weak and developed statuses but is usually inconsistent, too idealistic and realistic, and usually forgets concepts. A developed critical thinker is the spindle that holds ideals and realism, good and evil, and so on. They employ unbiased, objective, critical thinking and are seen as witty and intelligent. They are characterized here:

1. Reflect on whether they are too idealistic or realistic or see that their approach is not yielding results.
2. Reconstruct viewpoints to strengthen them and use knowledge and sources to seek truth and common ground rather than win arguments. It’s essential to admit that losing is acceptable.
3. Understand that our viewpoints are incorrect or incomplete and be willing to change them based on reason, evidence, and hope.
4. Do not prioritize their rights and needs above others unless necessary. For example, know that this importance is not based on arrogance but situational considerations for the greater meaning.

Before we end this section, I mentioned the standard intellectual standards of critical thinkers.

section 3.2 – intellectual standards

1. Fair-mindedness: Treating all viewpoints equally, guided with accuracy and logic, and dropping some when evaluating and acquiring more evidence.
2. Humanity: Recognizing the current limits of your knowledge, understanding that we know some things but not everything.
3. Courage: For growth, embracing challenging ideas and beliefs is necessary, even when they provoke strong reactions in yourself and others.
4. Consideration: This is finding and understanding the reasons behind someone’s beliefs and upbringing. You know why someone thinks the way they think, feels the way they feel, believes the way they believe, and so on.
5. Integrity: We must hold ourselves accountable to the same high standards that we have for everyone else. There should be no favoritism; everyone should be accounted for. Furthermore, we have to acknowledge the inconsistencies.
6. Perseverance: The commitment to the truth despite the challenge, confusion, and resistance, proving our dedication to understanding and self-improvement.
7. Confidence in Reasoning: Reasoning is a core component of receiving, delivering, and manipulating information. Robust and changing reason can drive us to the greatest good for ourselves and society, valuing sound reasoning despite opposition.
8. Autonomy: Where we exercise independent thought and stand by our beliefs based on evidence and reasoning. No matter who the opponent is, if the evidence and reasoning say otherwise, stick to it.
9. Sense of Justice: Seeking fairness and accountability without being swayed by emotions, learning from past actions to improve the treatment of others. Justice is not karma. Karma suggests that darkness returns to the giver without the intention of self-reflection and betterment, promoting ongoing vengeance.
   • Sending someone to prison for isolation isn’t justice; it’s vengeance, allowing darkness to thrive. We know people can change, yet we let them suffer due to our pain. Rehabilitation should focus on genuinely transforming individuals. It involves changing how they think, feel, and act, leading to a rebirth of those willing to help rather than harm. Unconventional methods are welcome if reasonable, healthy, and intellectually accepted.
10. Boundaries: We recognize that certain situations cannot persist, acknowledging that a problem exists even when others claim it is acceptable. Those who think critically understand that if a harmful behavior or individual remains in place, the harm will continue.

Section 4 – A Droplet of Occhiolism

Becoming a critical thinker involves recognizing that you are not the center of everything, which is related to the concept of occhiolism. This term describes the awareness of how limited your senses and perspective are, highlighting that you know very little in the vast universe. You live on one planet among millions of celestial bodies, with most existence continuing independently.

Experiencing occhiolism can lead to discomfort and feelings of non-importance, as it brings to light the limits of your experiences and knowledge.

How do we handle this revelation? With the concept of locality.

Locality allows us to understand our range of influence, perception, and comprehension is not fixed. While we can’t explore the solar system right now, we can engage with everything on Earth. We can hike the tallest mountains, take photos of the night sky filled with galaxies and planets, and continue exploring.

When determining locality, we reconsider what we think, feel, and want. The information underlying our thinking, feelings, and desires is what is happening to us, what we think of them, and what our goals are in response. To improve your life as a critical thinker, you make your unconscious feelings and thoughts conscious; if they are not confronted, they can not change, making you unable to improve yourself.

When someone says everything revolves around them, we say they are egocentric. Egocentricity is viewing everything about ourselves, confusing our perception of the locality with reality. Concepts such as arrogance, self-righteousness, and superiority stem from egocentricity.

section 4.1 – Egocentricity and Socioecentricity

Egocentrism (egocentricity) is the tendency to believe that everything around you is indeed about you, and sociocentrism is the assumption that your group’s beliefs and answers are correct, with beliefs not examined.

Sometimes, people focus on their feelings and the present moment, opting to go with the flow instead of considering intellectual standards and decision-making. This tendency can be observed in today’s society in various individuals, including politicians, doctors, pharmacists, content managers, influencers, and even our family and friends.

As critical thinkers, we avoid exhibiting these traits and uphold higher standards in our thinking and decision-making processes. It is important to understand that identifying biases and logical fallacies and employing argumentation and critical thinking can help break this cycle. Doing so can challenge the belief that these negative patterns are unchangeable.

We must recognize that the problems others face can also happen to us. There is no automatic assumption of “that does not apply to me.” Instead, we should reframe our thinking to say, “I will do whatever I can to ensure that does not happen to me.” Moreover, we should avoid limiting our perspective by catching ourselves intentionally “forgetting” or ignoring evidence and information that contradicts our expectations or beliefs.

It is important to remain humble when seeking the truth, acknowledge hypocrisy, and avoid oversimplifying complex situations or generalizing broadly. We should also be open to unusual or absurd outcomes without letting our thinking falter. We can cultivate critical thinking skills by being adaptable, hopeful, and thoughtful.

section 4.2 – the bigger picture

Next, we have bigger-picture thinking, a critical thinking technique that emphasizes the situation’s greater good or necessity. This technique involves thinking more broadly and long-term and accounting for numerous variables to promote impactful and long-term change. This involves argumentation, fallacy and bias checking, investigative techniques, etc., an important occhiolism property.

The final section – where are you at?

This is the final section before the second chapter. It discusses the hierarchy of critical thinking. We have weak, continuous, and developed critical thinkers, but what are the other categories? These are described here in its completeness:

1. The Ignorant Thinker: Where you are unaware of the problems in your life, letting them continue further destroying your life, everything, and everyone around you.
2. The Weak Thinker:
   • The Awakened Thinker: When you have an epiphany and clarity that you have problems, you know something is wrong and has to change.
   • The Beginning Thinker: Where you attempt to improve your life without regular practice, studying, or conviction.
3. The Continous Thinker: Where you begin using the guidelines of critical thinking, but you are inconsistent, too idealistic and realistic, and usually forget concepts.
4. The Advanced Thinker: Where you have regularly practiced and become accustomed to the principles and content of critical thinking.
5. The Developed Thinker: Known as the prestige thinker, this is where you are the spindle that holds blades containing ideals and realism, good and evil, and so on. You know when to stop, continue, make exceptions, and have secondhand intellectual skills and wits. If yellow is good and red is evil, then you are the color orange.

When you become an awakened thinker, you may experience feelings of guilt and regret for your past actions. These feelings are valid; however, it’s important not to let them linger after your realization. Remember, you are your critic, not your bully.

Many contributions shape our lives; they are briefly shown here:

1. Vocational: Impact from our work environment.
2. Sociological: Influences of social groups we are part of.
3. Philosophical: Effects of our personal beliefs of reality.
4. Ethical: Our obligations to others and the justice thereof.
5. Intellectual: The ideas we hold and how we reason.
6. Anthropological: Cultural practices and taboos.
7. Ideological: Influence of power structures and interest groups.
8. Economics: What we considered value and currency.
9. Historical: Impact of our and their history and its narration.
10. Theological: Impact of more developed beings on our lives.
11. Psychological: Influences from our personality and psychology.
12. Physiological: How our body handles or acts in situations.

Remember, there are no simple solutions. We can make models to capture the essential information, and they can lead us in the right direction, but often, there is more to a book than its cover.

That concludes the first chapter; see you in the second one!

REFERENCES

1. Paul, Richard, and Linda Elder. Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life. 2nd ed., Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson Education.
2. Ostrander, Sheila, et al. Superlearning. New York: Delacorte Press, c1979, 1980 printing., 1979.
3. Damer, T. Edward. Attacking Faulty Reasoning: A Practical Guide to Fallacy-Free Arguments. 6th ed., 2009.
4. Bennett, Bo. Logically Fallacious: The Ultimate Collection of over 300 Logical Fallacies (Academic Edition). Sudbury, Ma, Ebookit.com, 2014.
5. Benson, Buster. “Cognitive Bias Cheat Sheet. An Organized List of Cognitive Biases Because Thinking Is Hard. | by Buster Benson | Medium.” Medium, Sept. 2016, buster.medium.com/cognitive-bias-cheat-sheet-55a472476b18.
6. Liston, Michael. “Scientific Realism and Antirealism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, iep.utm.edu/scientific-realism-antirealism/.
7. Pigliucci, Massimo. “Stoicism.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2022, iep.utm.edu/stoicism/.