Why Democracy Always Fails

 

Critical Thinking

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Teaching critical thinking is a valuable and complex process that involves developing the skills necessary to analyze, evaluate, and interpret information effectively. Here's a detailed step-by-step guide to help you teach critical thinking:

1. Understand Critical Thinking: Before teaching others, ensure you have a clear understanding of what critical thinking is. It involves actively and objectively analyzing information, considering various perspectives, and making reasoned judgments.

2. Define Objectives: Determine what specific critical thinking skills you want to teach. These could include analyzing arguments, evaluating evidence, problem-solving, logical reasoning, and decision-making.

3. Create a Supportive Environment: Foster an open and respectful classroom or learning environment where students feel comfortable expressing their ideas and challenging assumptions.

4. Introduce Concepts: Start by introducing foundational concepts like logic, reasoning, evidence, bias, and fallacies. Use real-world examples to demonstrate these concepts in action.

5. Encourage Questioning: Teach students to question information, assumptions, and conclusions. Ask open-ended questions that encourage them to think deeper and explore different viewpoints.

6. Teach Analytical Skills: Provide exercises that require students to break down complex ideas into their component parts. Analyze different elements of an argument or issue to understand how they relate to each other.

7. Evaluate Evidence: Guide students in assessing the credibility and relevance of sources and evidence. Teach them how to differentiate between reliable sources and unreliable ones.

8. Discuss Bias and Assumptions: Explore the concept of bias and how it can influence thinking. Encourage students to identify their own biases and consider how they might affect their analysis.

9. Practice Problem-Solving: Present real-world problems that require critical thinking to solve. Encourage students to explore multiple solutions, weigh their pros and cons, and justify their choices.

10. Explore Counterarguments: Teach students to engage with counterarguments. This helps them understand opposing viewpoints and strengthens their ability to construct more persuasive arguments.

11. Foster Creative Thinking: Critical thinking also involves creativity. Encourage students to think outside the box, generate innovative solutions, and consider unconventional perspectives.

12. Teach Decision-Making: Guide students through the process of making informed decisions. Discuss factors like risks, benefits, ethical considerations, and long-term consequences.

13. Engage in Socratic Dialogue: Use the Socratic method, where you ask probing questions to guide students to discover answers themselves. This approach promotes active thinking and discussion.

14. Collaborative Learning: Encourage group discussions and debates. Collaborative learning helps students learn from each other's perspectives and enhances critical thinking through interaction.

15. Provide Feedback: Offer constructive feedback on students' arguments and analyses. Emphasize both strengths and areas for improvement.

16. Practice, Practice, Practice: Critical thinking is a skill that improves with practice. Assign regular assignments, case studies, debates, and projects that require students to apply critical thinking.

17. Reflect and Discuss: Periodically have reflective discussions where students share how their critical thinking skills have developed and how they've applied them outside the classroom.

18. Model Critical Thinking: Demonstrate critical thinking in your own discussions, lectures, and interactions. Be open to adjusting your views based on evidence and logical reasoning.

19. Provide Resources: Share books, articles, videos, and online resources that explore critical thinking and its applications.

20. Assess Progress: Use quizzes, exams, presentations, and projects to assess students' critical thinking skills. These assessments should reflect real-world problem-solving scenarios.

Here are some examples for each of the 20 points mentioned earlier:

1. Understand Critical Thinking:

• Example: Explain to students that critical thinking involves examining information from various angles before forming an opinion. Use a news article as an example and discuss how different people might interpret the same story differently based on their perspectives.

2. Define Objectives:

• Example: State that the objective is for students to be able to identify logical fallacies in arguments. Provide a list of common fallacies and ask them to find examples in advertisements or political speeches.

3. Create a Supportive Environment:

• Example: Establish a classroom rule that everyone's opinions will be respected and valued, even if they differ from the majority.

4. Introduce Concepts:

• Example: Teach students the concept of deductive reasoning using the classic example: "All humans are mortal. Socrates is a human. Therefore, Socrates is mortal."

5. Encourage Questioning:

• Example: Present a controversial statement like "Social media is beneficial for society." Ask students to write down reasons supporting and opposing this statement.

6. Teach Analytical Skills:

• Example: Provide a complex argument about climate change and ask students to break it down into its main premises and conclusions.

7. Evaluate Evidence:

• Example: Show students two articles about a scientific discovery, one from a reputable source and another from an unreliable blog. Discuss the differences in evidence and credibility.

8. Discuss Bias and Assumptions:

• Example: Show a news article covering a political event and discuss how the author's bias might have influenced the language used and the information included.

9. Practice Problem-Solving:

• Example: Present a scenario where a town is facing an environmental crisis. Ask students to brainstorm possible solutions, considering short-term and long-term consequences.

10. Explore Counterarguments:

• Example: Assign students a debate on a controversial topic like genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and require them to argue both in favor and against GMOs.

11. Foster Creative Thinking:

• Example: Ask students to imagine an alternative ending to a historical event and explain how it might have impacted the course of history.

12. Teach Decision-Making:

• Example: Present a scenario where a character has to choose between two job offers. Guide students through a decision-making process considering factors like salary, work-life balance, and career growth.

13. Engage in Socratic Dialogue:

• Example: Use the Socratic method to explore the concept of justice by asking a series of questions like "What is justice?" and "Can an unjust action ever be justified?"

14. Collaborative Learning:

• Example: Divide the class into groups to analyze a case study involving a complex ethical dilemma. Each group presents their analysis, and the class discusses different viewpoints.

15. Provide Feedback:

• Example: After a debate, give feedback to each student on their argumentation skills, acknowledging strengths like effective use of evidence and suggesting areas for improvement.

16. Practice, Practice, Practice:

• Example: Assign a weekly "critical thinking challenge" where students analyze a real-world news article, identifying logical fallacies and evaluating the evidence.

17. Reflect and Discuss:

• Example: Hold a class discussion at the end of the semester where students share instances when they applied critical thinking skills outside of the classroom.

18. Model Critical Thinking:

• Example: During a lecture, demonstrate your willingness to change your viewpoint based on strong evidence or compelling arguments from students.

19. Provide Resources:

• Example: Share a TED Talk or an article discussing cognitive biases and how they affect decision-making.

20. Assess Progress:

• Example: Create a final project where students have to analyze a complex issue, present their findings, and defend their conclusions using critical thinking skills.

Critical Thinking

 

Winning is everything? Sorry, no

In cricket, as in other sports, it's not about the statistics and the bottomline. It's about how much joy you give, how well you are loved and remembered

Ed Smith

December 7, 2011

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	Mark Waugh: never mind the average © Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links Players/Officials: Greg Chappell | Sir Viv Richards | Mark Waugh

Hundreds of thousands of men and women have played professional football. None, surely, could have so fully lived up to the name Socrates. He played as though football was a creative puzzle, to be teased out like a philosophical enquiry. He played with grace but also with lightness.

Not all of you may have encountered a mischievous theory called nominative determinism. The idea is that people are predetermined to pursue certain professions by their names: your name is your fate. Britain's leading jurist is called Igor Judge (his professional billing is "Judge Judge"); the world's fastest man is called Usain Bolt; and "Dudus" Coke awaits trial in the US for allegedly running the Jamaican drugs mafia.

Socrates certainly lived up to his nominative destiny. He was a qualified doctor, a political activist and an independent thinker. His attitude to life was appropriately philosophical. He knew that smoking and drinking were damaging his health, but retorted, "It's a problem, but we all have to die of something, don't we?"

The same joie de vivre informed Socrates' attitude to sport. He was unflinchingly committed to the joga bonito - the beautiful game. "Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy." Even people who don't like football remember being uplifted by Socrates' grace and audacity. They remember his mistakes as well as his triumphs. They remember his movement and imagination as well as his goals. And they remember that he was unique - perhaps the highest accolade any sportsman can achieve. I almost forgot the most important thing of all: he is remembered, full stop.

A great deal is written about greatness in sport. There is a natural human urge to seek objectivity and proof about who is the greatest. Averages are measured, metrics invented, comparisons fed through the meat grinder of statistical analysis.

But statistics, I'm afraid, can never tell us the whole truth about greatness. Because sporting achievement is not quite the same thing as greatness. Look at cricket. Viv Richards was an exceptional performer in Test cricket, but he wasn't off the map in terms of pure stats. Greg Chappell and other contemporaries pushed him hard. But in terms of greatness, Viv stood alone. The numbers don't quite capture the complete Viv effect - not just on opponents but also on fans. Whenever I remember watching him on television, a smile comes over my face - even now, 25 years later.

Mark Waugh's Test match average was "only" 41 (that still sounds pretty good to me, but it's undeniable that lots of players average 41 these days). But the numbers don't reflect the pleasure he gave. A sublime Waugh flick through midwicket was only worth four runs - the same as an ugly thick edge from a lesser batsman - but it was worth much more to those who paid money to watch.

Some of the most astonishing things Waugh did on a cricket field weren't recorded at all. Greg Chappell tells a lovely story in his book The Making of Champions about watching Waugh field on the footholds at extra cover and midwicket in ODIs. The ball would be bouncing unpredictably on the footholds and Waugh would swoop effortlessly and pick it up without fumbling or diving, like a cat pouncing on a ball of string. Chappell writes that he wanted to stand up and cheer every time. Statistically it was an non-event. For the discerning fan, it was pure magic.

According to the averages, the racist cheat Ty Cobb was a better batter than Babe Ruth. But Cobb was nowhere near as great a sportsman. Not if we use the correct measurement: the extent to which he was loved and remembered.

If you still think that winning in sport is all about the final score, I recommend reading Rafa: My Story, the unflinchingly honest autobiography by Rafael Nadal. When he writes about Roger Federer, his great rival, something strange happens to Nadal. Rationally he knows that he has beaten Federer more often than Federer has beaten him, but he insists that Federer is the greater player. Partly, that is because Federer still possesses more grand slams. But the deeper reason is that Nadal deeply respects - perhaps even envies - the way Federer plays. "You get these blessed freaks of nature in other sports, too."

	If you produce grim, boring and joyless sport, it is reassuring to fall back on the delusion that it is all in a worthy cause. Socrates knew better. He knew that sportsmen are entertainers

Here is the interesting thing. Nadal does not congratulate himself for being the more worthy champion. He congratulates Federer for the more sublime talent. And Nadal may be right. In an era of wonderful tennis players, Federer has been the most elegant, refined and instinctive.

Socrates' death has been described as a terrible day for sporting romantics. In fact, it is a much sadder day for sporting ultra-rationalists. Because the win-at-all-costs brigade has once again been shown to be completely wrong. Socrates never won the World Cup, and lost the biggest match of his career playing on his own terms. And how is he remembered? As a loser? No. He is remembered with respect, with adoration, with love. Over the long term, it is very simple: he won.

Remember Socrates' career and legacy the next time you hear "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." That was American football coach Vince Lombardi's dictum about sporting priorities. And in the 50 years since Lombardi's quip, the reductionism of winning at all costs has hardened into conventional wisdom.

Of course, it is a consoling thought - if you're a production-line automaton incapable of playing sport creatively, or if you're a coach determined to stamp out individuality and risk. Yes, if you produce grim, boring and joyless sport, it is reassuring to fall back on the delusion that it is all in a worthy cause.

Socrates knew better. He knew that sportsmen are entertainers. They must try to win, too (no one is entertained by skill without will). But entertainment is not bolted onto sport as an afterthought. It is at the core of the whole project.

Professional athletes are only the temporary custodians of their sports. Their highest calling is to pass it on to the next generation enhanced rather than diminished. By that measure Socrates won - and he won big.