66 Day challenge

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Picture credit - ​greatperformersacademy
Day 44 - Critical Thinking Skill
23 May 2020
Prabodh Sirur
sirurp@gmail.com
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My learning for the day
Today I want to summarise two books on critical thinking skills.
Book 1 - ​Weaponized Lies
Author - ​Daniel J. Levitin
Summary (source - ​LifeClub​)
We all consume news and media in our content-saturated world. ​How many
of us take the time to verify the truth​?
It is not enough to blindly trust even reputable news sources or public
figures.
Key ideas in the book
Separating fact from fiction​ is no easy task - We must understand that
information on the internet isn’t regulated. ​Example -​ The site
martinlutherking.org. appears to be devoted to the life of the civil rights
leader. It’s actually a neo-Nazi propaganda site that manipulates facts and
uses out-of-context quotations to further its agenda.
Don’t take ​graphs and statistics​ at face value - Even visually simple graphics
like pie charts can be manipulated. ​Example -​ In 2012, Fox News ran a pie
chart showing the standing of the candidates for the Republican nomination.
It took a second glance to notice the slices added up to more than 100
percent!
Know the ​context​; understand the ​conclusion​ - Sometimes the details that
authors tend to ​omit are vitally important​. ​Example -​ After the Paris
terrorist attacks on 13 November 2015, some experts argued for stricter EU
border controls on refugees from Arab countries. The arguments ignored the
big picture of saving thousands of refugees by Europe’s asylum policy.
Counterknowledge​ comes in many forms, and we must be vigilant enough
to spot it - Counterknowledge is false information that many people still
perceive as true. The most common form of counterknowledge is the
imaginative ​conspiracy theories​. ​Example -​ Andrew Wakefield, a surgeon,
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published an article on a link between autism and vaccination. It was later
debunked. As a doctor, he had the appearance of an expert, but in fact, he
was not particularly familiar with autism. The fallout was huge.
Use the ​Bayesian method​ to become a critical consumer of news - The
Bayesian method provides a way to decide how readily we should accept an
assertion. ​The more ludicrous the claim​, the more diligent you need to be.
Example -​ In 2015, while speaking at a rally in Alabama, Donald Trump
claimed he’d seen "thousands and thousands” of Muslims on TV cheering the
collapse of the World Trade Center.
Book 2 -​ ​Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking
Author - M. Neil Browne and Stuart M. Keeley
Summary (source - ​Apologetics315​ by ​Brian Auten​)
This book is about critical thinking through a process of simply asking the
right kinds of questions.
The key message is - one should avoid the ​mindless sponging​ up of
knowledge; much more useful is a ​careful, methodical approach​ that is
thoughtful and precise.
Each chapter of the book is dedicated to a question. These are listed below
1) What are the issues and the conclusions?
2) What are the reasons?
3) Which words or phrases are ambiguous?
4) What are the value conflicts and assumptions?
5) What are the descriptive assumptions?
6) Are there any fallacies in the reasoning?
7) How good is the evidence?
8) Are there rival causes?
9) Are the statistics deceptive?
10) What significant information is omitted?
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11) What reasonable conclusions are possible?
The authors don’t want you to be a roadblock to ideas put forth by others but
to ​seek together​…not to elevate yourself above those who have other
conclusions, but to move us all forward to some better understanding of who
we are. All the while, you will be improving yourself as a thinker.
Hope this list (or the one fine tuned by you from this) becomes your
companion in your success.
What is Critical Thinking Skill?
Critical thinking skill is the ability to think in an organized and rational manner in
order to understand connections between ideas and/or facts. While Creative
Thinking is about finding new ways of solving problems, Critical Thinking is about
evaluating the new ways proposed by the Creative Thinker.
My learning so far on this topic
Day 4 post​ - 3 Simple Habits to Improve Your Critical Thinking
Day 14 post​ - The Six Hats of Critical Thinking and How to Use Them
Day 24 post​ - The Six Types of Socratic Questions
Day 34 post​ - Two TED talks - Encourage critical thinking with 3 questions &
This is what it’s like to go undercover in North Korea
How to improve this skill?
Set a goal to ​become a go-to person​ by mastering the art and science of ​critical
thinking​.
Follow the ​LAST model​ to build your personal brand as a Guru of ​critical thinking​.
Learn​ - Invest time in learning different frameworks/ models/ techniques of ​critical
thinking
Apply​ -
Identify a model suitable to you
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Create a template to document the flow of the process
Find opportunities to use the selected method/ template
Maintain record/ process flow of every important activities you did with
respect to ​critical thinking
Maintain notes of your thoughts/ insights/ failures/ challenges…. to be used
for sharing/ training others
Share​ - Share the insights captured in step 2 above in a planned manner (social
media posts, blogs, videos, study notes…)
Train​ - Generate opportunities to train your peers and team members so that, over
time, your organization benefits from your efforts
Purpose of this document
I took a 66 day challenge​ to study Life Skills last year (10 April 2019). To my
astonishment, I succeeded in studying for 66 days one skill a day.
My objectives of learning these skills were - To strengthen my mind to face life’s
challenges with ease, To use these skills in my worklife for a better performance, To
use these skills in my personal life for enriching my relationships, To open new
possibilities to surprise myself.
This is my next 66 day challenge​ (from 10 April 2020) - To share my Life Skills
learning with my social media friends.
I pray that my toil helps you in your success journey.
What are Life Skills?
UNICEF​ defines Life skills as - ​psychosocial abilities​ for adaptive and positive
behaviour that enable individuals ​to deal effectively with the demands and
challenges of everyday life​. They are loosely grouped into three broad categories
of skills
- cognitive skills​ for analyzing and using information,
- personal skills​ for developing personal agency and managing oneself,
- inter-personal skills​ for communicating and interacting effectively with others.
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Which LifeSkills are covered?
The ​World Health Organisation​ identified these basic areas of life skills that are
relevant across cultures:
1. Decision-making
2. Problem-solving
3. Creative thinking
4. Critical thinking
5. Communication
6. Interpersonal skills
7. Self-awareness
8. Empathy
9. Coping with emotions
10. Coping with stress.
Some trivia
‘Life skills’ was never part of the school curriculum. WHO/ UNESCO mandated
academia to teach these skills in all schools across the globe in 1993.
Different countries educate their children in these skills with different objectives
- Zimbabwe and Thailand - prevention of HIV/AIDS
- Mexico - prevention of adolescent pregnancy
- United Kingdom - child abuse prevention
- USA - prevention of substance abuse and violence
- South Africa and Colombia - positive socialization of children.
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