“Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them”
-Henry Ford
Let’s talk about the importance of critical thinking. It’s something I feel the school system neglects too often. In my opinion, our current school system conditions children to think being wrong is a terrible thing and it doesn’t encourage questioning or voicing opinions/concerns. There is no teacher-student bonding, it’s more like accepting being told what to do.
Too often problems are just swept under the rug. People tend to never dig to the roots of the cause. For example, doctors will give a patient with allergies antihistamines for their allergy symptoms and usually neglect the actual cause of the allergies. The same can be said about crime, war, poverty, etc. Everyone is just looking at the surface. Sometimes it’s the way we think that is the problem, not the initial problem itself. Critical thinking is hard, but if you train and develop it, it can become a habit. Acquiring habits isn’t that hard, but it takes persistence. Some habit’s (mainly bad habits) come rather quickly, depending on the nature of the environment.
It’s true what they say, sometimes people really are too afraid to learn the truth. Most people form an identity based on what they know and what their current lifestyle is. Their paradigm is set in stone; anything that challenges it is seen as a threat or an attack. Let’s face it; it’s uncomfortable to realize that all those years we’ve been wrong about something. It’s just as uncomfortable to have our values questioned.
Growing and creating for ourselves and others stems from the ability to keep an open mind and use critical thinking skills. Keeping an open mind means being humble to embarrassment. Embarrassment doesn’t exist; it’s only in the mind. The more you feel comfortable in your own shoes and the more you can ignore public ostracism, the easier it will be to look for answers and know your true self.
Thoughts and perceptions are so ingrained that people begin to form an identity based on them. Our idea of how the world is shaped defines our reality. So let me stress this again, anything that is counter to that identity becomes a threat. That’s when defense mechanisms come into play and people begin attacking back when questioned. So how can we fix this? One way is to be self aware. We need to know that we are all victims to some degree. Next, we should constantly question our thoughts and beliefs. At first, we might find some uncomfortable flaws, but eventually we will develop more complete ideas and have a better understanding of our lives, society, and the people around us. Security isn’t real………
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