Responsibility of a Critical Thinker in Contemporary Society 1 RESEARCH PAPER 3 Responsibility of a Critical Thinker in Contemporary Society Dominique Noble General Education Capstone Candy Henry 11/23/2014 Domestic violence, depression and obesity are issues that are of most concern in any single community. This has been so due to the level of sensitivity that accompanies these issues. Every society therefore, has a survival tactic on how to handle the effects of this issues which can lead to adverse effects on a person`s self-esteem if not properly handled. Critical thinkers however have a huge role in controlling the effects of such issues. Domestic violence is the pattern of human behavior that follows a series of violence or any other form of abuse from one person to another domestically. This involves intimate relationships, marriage or courtship and involves violence in form of battery, domestic abuse or spousal abuse. Through this violence one may acquire physical, sexual or psychological harm by physical aggression and assault that is, kicking, biting, hitting, strangling, burning or amputating. Depression is a psychological condition mostly associated with deep thoughts and stress. It is defined as the state of having low mood leading to distractions while carrying out daily routine, behavior and feeling. This condition makes a person feel hopeless, worthless, increased anxiety and high level of irritability and restlessness. The side effects associated with depression are; one suddenly losses interest in activities that were pleasurable to him or her may experience weight loss and may even at times have loss of appetite or increased appetite. Obesity on the other hand is a condition that is medically described as the accumulation of excess body lipids or fats to an extent of causing health problems or to an extreme of reducing the life expectancy of the patient. This condition is achieved when the body mass index exceeds 30kg/m2, with limits between 20-30 kg/m2 being considered as overweight. This condition increases the person`s risk of contracting various diseases such as heart attack, some types of cancer and even diabetes. Literature Review In a move to reduce the growth of the above contemporary issues, the government and concerned parties such as the activists are creating awareness on the issues. This involves ways in which to overcome situations when faced by these challenges. One of the best ways of doing so is through educating the citizens on these issues, which is done through previous published works in line with other methods. The following is a detailed literature review into the finding of other scholars on this contemporary issues discussed above and the responsibility of critical thinkers in the control of this issues. Wilson (2009) found out that 74 percent of the women ...

1. Responsibility of a Critical Thinker in Contemporary Society 1
RESEARCH PAPER
3
Responsibility of a Critical Thinker in Contemporary Society
Dominique Noble
General Education Capstone
Candy Henry
11/23/2014
Domestic violence, depression and obesity are issues that are of
most concern in any single community. This has been so due to
the level of sensitivity that accompanies these issues. Every

2. society therefore, has a survival tactic on how to handle the
effects of this issues which can lead to adverse effects on a
person`s self-esteem if not properly handled. Critical thinkers
however have a huge role in controlling the effects of such
issues.
Domestic violence is the pattern of human behavior that follows
a series of violence or any other form of abuse from one person
to another domestically. This involves intimate relationships,
marriage or courtship and involves violence in form of battery,
domestic abuse or spousal abuse. Through this violence one may
acquire physical, sexual or psychological harm by physical
aggression and assault that is, kicking, biting, hitting,
strangling, burning or amputating.
Depression is a psychological condition mostly associated with
deep thoughts and stress. It is defined as the state of having low
mood leading to distractions while carrying out daily routine,
behavior and feeling. This condition makes a person feel
hopeless, worthless, increased anxiety and high level of
irritability and restlessness. The side effects associated with
depression are; one suddenly losses interest in activities that
were pleasurable to him or her may experience weight loss and
may even at times have loss of appetite or increased appetite.
Obesity on the other hand is a condition that is medically
described as the accumulation of excess body lipids or fats to an
extent of causing health problems or to an extreme of reducing
the life expectancy of the patient. This condition is achieved
when the body mass index exceeds 30kg/m2, with limits
between 20-30 kg/m2 being considered as overweight. This
condition increases the person`s risk of contracting various
diseases such as heart attack, some types of cancer and even
diabetes.
Literature Review
In a move to reduce the growth of the above contemporary
issues, the government and concerned parties such as the
activists are creating awareness on the issues. This involves

3. ways in which to overcome situations when faced by these
challenges. One of the best ways of doing so is through
educating the citizens on these issues, which is done through
previous published works in line with other methods. The
following is a detailed literature review into the finding of other
scholars on this contemporary issues discussed above and the
responsibility of critical thinkers in the control of this issues.
Wilson (2009) found out that 74 percent of the women in a
violent relationship stick to their spouse for economic reasons.
He stated that though the financial factors play a role in the
violence, there is a number of psychological factors too that we
can take care of in order to stop this vicious cycle of abuse. He
further developed two emotional dynamics that contribute to
this violence, one is that inner voice that one might be attached
to that controls the way they behave such as “A woman should
be submissive and not disrespectful to her man”. The other
factor that he refers to as ‘fantasy bond’ is a dangerous illusion
of connection between couples which brings the sense that the
other person makes you whole and should be the key to
happiness. This factors he discovered to set an environment that
can cause violence.
The author also defines that the common believe that a man
should be more masculine than a lady in the relationship poses
risk of the man being violent. The critical inner voice that this
violent people act upon is what poses the risk of being violent,
threatening and even insulting. The fact that this people act on
their critical voice means that they can employ critical thinking
in handling their feelings that lead to their violent actions. This
author has played a big role in developing the idea of domestic
violence and critical think hence the effectiveness of the book
as a resource for information in this research.
Aguirre (2008) tries to take a look into the effectiveness of the
use of critical thinking as a means of curing depression. The
author in the discussion puts it clear that this thought should not
be taken to mean that the cause of depression is unsound or
illogical thinking as one may erroneously take it, which might

4. contradict his ideas. The author continues to explain that since
depression is a state of mind, one can therefore take control of
his or her thought to prevent this state of depression which can
be explained as cure through critical thinking. He uses the
fallacy of false dilemma which people with depression exhibit.
Life`s setbacks makes them perceive themselves as total failures
instead of successful but currently facing hardships.
The author used another fallacy that he called the fallacy of
suppressed evidence that the depressed sees themselves as
outcasts and no one cares about them. They insist on this
feeling which leads to their condition, critical thinkers can
make them feel wanted by their friends and family which might
help improve the condition (Aguirre, 2008). Fallacy of
insufficient evidence is remedied in the book through critical
thinking by making the person suffering from depression
believe what they are thinking is not true. The book aims at
creating awareness of the possibility of fighting depression
through critical thinking that involves identifying the internal
enemy that is the critical inner voice and means of overcoming
it.
In his book, Barbour (2011) identifies the correlation between
critical thinking and obesity. He starts by detailing the results
of a research he had done earlier that gave an overview of how
people feel about issues of obesity. The author declares that the
general feeling is that those people who think critically are most
probably obese. The author however gives an insight into the
various myths and fallacies following the issues of obesity, that
most people tend to believe and most of which are from the
media. The author brings a twist from the people`s earlier
response in his research to declare that critical thinking bring
the success in eliminating obesity (Barbour, 2011). Critical
thinking here means, getting to understand how the body works
in order to understand how to prevent obesity cases. This
contribution is essential in the research since it helps in clearing
the controversy surrounding the issue on obesity and helps
understand how critical thinking will help in preventing obesity.

5. Impact of academic knowledge
Academic knowledge refers to the amount of knowledge gained
through wide collection of academic resource. This is the new
information gained through learning that can be used I future
for individual advancement. This information has a huge impact
on the contemporary issues, this impact includes;
Domestic violence; academic knowledge equips one with ethics
which assists in making decisions. In such cases of domestic
violence the line lies between what is and what is not ethical,
with such mentality the issues of domestic violence will be
minimized. Issues of domestic violence involve violation of
human rights; this in itself is against human morals as much as
it is against the law. Illiteracy has been found to be the main
cause of domestic violence and since academic knowledge
eliminates illiteracy, therefore this tool is fundamental to
control of the contemporary issue affecting our society.
Depression; academic knowledge has played a role in control of
depression. Many scholars have come up with study and control
mechanisms of handling depression, the knowledge in this
studies have provided an avenue where better understanding of
how to handle depression have been achieved. Through
academics, possible explanations as pertaining to depression
have come up leading to encouragement of those with
depression problems to find solutions to their problem. The
discussions that have been brought about through academic
studies have played a role in making the depression nightmare a
social problem that people are working to eliminate, this helps
find those affected by problem and through speaking up they get
help. Morally, academic knowledge has helped to appreciate
those suffering from depression related problems.
Obesity; this condition is one of the social issues in the society
that affects the self-esteem of a person. People suffering from
obesity are morally affected by this condition to the extent of
not wanting to interact with their mates. Academic knowledge
creates sanity in the relationship with people with this
condition. Sanity here is achieved by eliminating discrimination

6. in the way this people are treated by others. This knowledge
helps people understand that the condition is natural but is
controllable.
Active citizenship is a philosophy that calls for educational and
non-governmental institutions to take part in the activities of
the society and take roles and responsibilities in protecting the
society and the environment. These institutions may not have
any governing role but take it as their Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) or giving back to the society. In control of
the contemporary issues that have been identified above, active
citizenship plays the role of creating awareness to the citizens
and providing civil education to them. Active citizenship should
work to discourage domestic violence and stop it, educate on
depression while helping the depressed with counselling and
those with obesity should be enrolled in development programs.
In conclusion, contemporary issues will affect the majority of
the members in the society; this therefore is a good reason why
the issues should be taken seriously having being accorded the
attention they demand.
Reference
Aguirre, B. (2008). Depression. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood
Press.
Depression has over the years been a condition associated with
stress, today it is normal for one to suffer from such problem
since the level of activities and economic times are high.
Critical thinking has brought a different dimension into solving
the nightmare, which involves re-evaluation of the mental
activity.
Barbour, S. (2011). Obesity. farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven
Press.
Weight gain is mythically associated with eating too much but
doctors have gone an extra mile in proving this beyond
reasonable doubt that it is not any way related to eating habits.
Others argue that critical thinking brings about this condition of
obese; however the resource provides a clear picture of the real
causes of obese and the relationship between obesity and

7. critical thinking.
Criticalthinking.org, (2014). A Model for the National
Assessment of Higher Orde. Retrieved 22 November 2014, from
http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/a-model-for-the-national-
assessment-of-higher-order-thinking/591
The site provides a deep look into critical thinking process and
the principles applied in critical thinking. It helps us understand
the process better and know where to apply the concept in our
daily life. Critical thinking is a concept that is applicable in
solving most contemporary issues in the society.
Crick, B., & Lockyer, A. (2010). Active citizenship. Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press. Individuals need to understand that
whatever they need done by government is achievable through
closer relation. The author describes rights and responsibilities
of active citizenship. This research advocates for active
citizenship and mostly in solving the contemporary issues.
Bentley, J., & Bentley, A. (1998). Contemporary issues.
Longman.
Contemporary issues in the society are like bush fire, in effect
and in the spreading of the effects to the people in the society.
This author takes a look at the most common and prevalent
contemporary issues and their relationship. This is in support of
this research since it provides information that can be used in
developing the background of the issues discussed.
Beyer, B. (1995). Critical thinking. Bloomington, Ind.: Phi
Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.
The term critical thinking seems very easy but it is a
combination of concepts that provides an avenue for analysis of
various ideas with an aim of arriving at a common agreed
position of thought. In this research, understanding of the
critical thinking is inevitable.
Roth, J. (2005). Ethics. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press.
Ethical standards are measures of behavior efficiency; problems
of corruption and truancy are big challengers of ethics. It is
hard for ethics to be enhanced in an organization where
discipline is not upheld. This research demands for ethical

8. standards to be maintained since it deals with society issues,
which, due to their delicate nature will demand attention.
Wilson, M. (2009). Domestic violence. Detroit: Greenhaven
Press.
The act of exercising violence between couples and loved ones
is on the rise in this modern world. Men having been
characterized with strength and masculinity are feeling superior
to the women; modern women not being left out are bringing
their intellectual knowledge to the husbands. The influence of
the critical inner voice not being left out is the force behind the
increased domestic violence cases. This author sheds light on
the issue of domestic violence.