Essay About Critical Thinking And Part Time Job

Thinking Case
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<<< Michelle Obama participates in volunteer service with local elementary school students. What decision-making factors contribute to our own choices to participate in service? PURPOSEFUL, REFLECTIVE JUDGMENT Chapter 01 4 Risk and Uncertainty Abound We might not skateboard through an intersection, but none of us can escape lifes risks and uncertainties. Uncertainties apply to potentially good things, too. For example, people might be uncertain when choosing a major, taking a part time job, making a new friend, or responding to President Obamas call for volunteer service. You never know what new friendships you will make, what new skills you will acquire, what new opportunities might emerge for you, how your efforts will benefit other people, or how much satisfaction you may feel. Whenever a choice is being contemplated, to maximize our chances for welcome outcomes and to minimize our chances for undesirable outcomes, we need to employ purposeful, reflective judgment. Sure, winning is great, but its just not a good idea to play poker unless we can afford to lose. We need to think ahead, to plan, and to problem solve. This means we need critical thinking. All of us encounter opportunities in our daily lives to engage problems and decisions using strong critical thinking. In a nation that values selfreliance and initiative, the stronger our critical thinking skills and habits of mind, the greater our prospects for success. Imagine a population that made thoughtful and informed judgments about the policy issues and social questions of its day. It is unlikely that such a citizenry would blindly accept whatever the authorities said was true or unquestioningly comply with whatever those leaders commanded. Some have argued that corporations that hope to succeed in a global high-tech world will have to cultivate exactly the kind of internal culture that fosters strong critical thinking.ii Fortunately, a great many leaders in government, business, education, military, and religious organizations truly value critical thinking. The quote from Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is only one example.iii Obviously, a society of knowledgeable people determined to apply strong critical thinking skills to evaluate the policy decisions of their leaders might pose major difficulties for those in power. Not everyone in a leadership position has the confidence and the wisdom to want to cultivate critical thinking. A master of irony, the late George Carlin says it could be "Dangerous!" Go to www.TheThinkSpot.com You will recall how you were inspired to THINK CRITICALLY and to question without fear, to seek out radically different solutions and to voice them without reprisal, to read widely and deeply, and to examine without end and grow intellectually. . . . What I ask is this: pass it on. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, June 11, 2009i * * * * * * * A person trying to interpret an angry friends needs, expressed through a rush of emotion and snide comments, to give that friend some help and support * A manager trying to be as objective as possible when settling a dispute by summarizing the alternatives, with fairness to all sides to a disagreement * A team of scientists working with great precision through a complex experiment in an effort to gather and analyze data * A creative writer organizing ideas for the plot of a story attending to the complex motivations and personalities of the fictional characters * A person running a small business trying to anticipate the possible economic and human consequences of various ways to increase sales or reduce costs * A soccer coach during halftime working on new tactics for attacking the weaknesses of the other team when the match resumes * A student confidently and correctly explaining exactly to his or her peers