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Joeychgo.com Book Store > Joeychgo.com books beginning with C
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Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life |
Author: Richard W. Paul
Published: 2002-06-23 |
List price: $37.99
Our price: $25.07
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As of: January 07th, 2009 09:43:34 AM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Helping to gain access to our own reasoning!
Critical thinking has fascinated me ever since an exceptional professor I had years ago (affectionately called Dr. G.) challenged us to not believe things just because they were so called "common knowledge." He showed us time and again how non-intuitive thinking is critical to being successful in our personal and professional lives. He once said to me: "Chuck, if you don't want to be like everyone else, don't act like everyone else!" These words resonated with me though the years. Being a critical thinker and asking tough questions can be difficult, but the rewards are freedom from the shackles of mediocrity and complacency.
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br /Critical thinking by Richard Paul and Linda Elder teaches how to develop a deep understanding of how our mind functions. They provide many thought provoking ideas. Here are just a few:
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br /* "Typically, people see mistakes in other's thinking without being able to credit the strengths in those opposing views."
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br /* "Numerous problems exist in human life because people fail to understand the important role that information plays in everything we do."
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br /* "One of the fundamentals of critical thinking is the ability to assess one's own reasoning."
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br /The book also discusses pitfalls of critical thinking such as social conditioning, biased experience and self-delusion. Knowing the pitfalls is a key to avoiding them.
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br /This and many other concepts like it make the book a powerful learning tool for critical thinking skills. Critical Thinking does an excellent job of presenting ideas to help modify thinking patterns and improve both professional and personal lives.
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br /The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking
A useful guide to thinking critically.
The introduction to this book asserts that the world is becoming both more complex and less liberal as a result of knee-jerk reactions and short-term thinking. In contrast, say Richard W. Paul and Linda Elder, critical thinking helps people cope with the uncertainties of modern life and become more confident in their decisions. By mastering the tools and techniques of critical thinking, they say, readers will be able to improve their emotional and intellectual skills, their job performance and the success of their organizations. Their claims about material benefits may be somewhat exaggerated, so getAbstract suggests applying some of that critical thinking to the authors' generalizations. Nonetheless, their overall points are well-made, and readers will find these skills and techniques intriguing and very useful.
 Great Timing
I would have given this book a Five Star rating but for the fact that the authors seemed to get a bit carried away with themselves toward the end of the book. But don't let that stop you. As us Boomers become more reflective and introspective with age and as we move from a life of having to a life of giving, believing and sharing, this book could not come at a better time. I guarantee you will see yourself and others you know in many of the examples shared in this book. The authors really do allow you to step outside your mind and examine how you really think about things. Best advice is not to read it as a text book, but read it to have some introspective fun with yourself. It really is a great read.
Better thinking, better living
The worst problem isn't thinking wrongly, is thinking wrongly and believing that we are thinking correctly. If we don't question our thinking we don't know if we are correct.
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br /If you want to improve your best asset in your life, read this book and use the knowledge that it contain to improve yourself, your relations with your family, coworkers and this complex world where we live in.
 Not fit for critical thinking
Although the authors have plenty of authority in this field, the book comes across to me as marketing or propaganda. They have focused on what they view as the essence of critical thinking which they call "fairmindedness." However, their intent seems less about teaching people how to apply logic to life's situations and more about an agenda of promoting liberal, Humanist philosophy. They eschew emotion as counterproductive to "fairmindedness," yet the text is replete with emotionally charged words, symbols, and examples. I was very disappointed, and I struggled to find the nuggets of truth in the sea of philosophical pondering.
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