...Critical Reading v. Critical Thinking ...

seribulan

from the net...

Critical Reading v. Critical Thinking

We can distinguish between critical reading and critical thinking in the following way:   

* Critical reading is a technique for discovering information and ideas within a text.
* Critical thinking is a technique for evaluating information and ideas, for deciding what to accept and believe.Critical reading refers to a careful, active, reflective, analytic reading.

Critical thinking involves reflecting on the validity of what you have read in light of our prior knowledge and understanding of the world. For example, consider the following (somewhat humorous) sentence from a student essay:    Parents are buying expensive cars for their kids to destroy them. As the terms are used here, critical reading is concerned with figuring out whether, within the context of the text as a whole, "them" refers to the parents, the kids, or the cars, and whether the text supports that practice.

Critical thinking would come into play when deciding whether the chosen meaning was indeed true, and whether or not you, as the reader, should support that practice.By these definitions, critical reading would appear to come before critical thinking: Only once we have fully understood a text (critical reading) can we truly evaluate its assertions (critical thinking). The Two Together in HarmonyIn actual practice, critical reading and critical thinking work together. Critical thinking allows us to monitor our understanding as we read.  If we sense that assertions are ridiculous or irresponsible (critical thinking), we examine the text more closely to test our understanding (critical reading).

Conversely,  critical thinking depends on critical reading.  You can think critically about a text (critical thinking), after all, only if you have understood it (critical reading).  We may choose to accept or reject a presentation, but we must know why. We have a responsibility to ourselves, as well as to others, to isolate the real issues of agreement or disagreement. Only then can we understand and respect other people’s views.  To recognize and understand those views, we must read critically.

The Usefulness of the Distinction

If critical thinking and critical reading are so closely linked, why is this still a useful distinction?The usefulness of the distinction lies in its reminder that we must read each text on its own merits, not imposing our prior knowledge or views on it. While we must evaluate ideas as we read, we must not distort the meaning within a text. We must not allow ourselves to force a text to say what we would otherwise like it to say—or we will never learn anything new!

Reading Critically:  How Well Does The Text Do What It Does

We can think of a writer as having taken on a job.
No matter what the topic, certain tasks must be done:
* a specific topic must be addressed
* terms must be clearly defined   
* evidence must be presented
    * common knowledge must be accounted for
    * exceptions must be explained
* causes must be shown to precede effects and to be capable of the effect
* conclusions must be shown to follow logically from earlier arguments and evidenceAs critical readers and writers, we want to assure ourselves that these tasks have been completed in a complete, comprehensive, and consistent manner. Only once we have determined that a text is consistent and coherent can we then begin to evaluate whether or not to accept the assertions and conclusions.

Thinking Critically: Evaluating The EvidenceReading to see what a text says may suffice when the goal is to learn specific information or to understand someone else's ideas. But we usually read with other purposes. We need to solve problems, build roads, write legislation, or design an advertising campaign.  

We must evaluate what we have read and integrate that understanding with our prior understanding of the world.

We must decide what to accept as true and useful.   As readers, we want to accept as fact only that which is actually true.  
To evaluate a conclusion, we must evaluate the evidence upon which that conclusion is based.  We do not want just any information; we want reliable information.  To assess the validity of remarks within a text, we must go outside a text and bring to bear outside knowledge and standards.

ps...n d moral of d story is...blablabla...

gegulagetah

critical thinking kot huhuhuhu

Heiro

Ade dua org forumer yg x habis2 nak bincang panjang2 satu topik kucingblue ngan mcbsf  Mod ibnur pun selalu tegur time diorg masuk bod islam X habis2 nak fikir itu ini

Heiro

Xde masa la NAK BACA ARTIKEL TU,.,,

seribulan

Post Last Edit by Heiro at 13-3-2010 11:17

Ade dua org forumer yg x habis2 nak bincang panjang2 satu topik kucingblue ngan mcbsf  Mod ibnur pun selalu tegur time diorg masuk bod islam:lo ...
Heiro Post at 13-3-2010 10:16 AM

No schemata ...link?

kucingblue

be back tomorrow. it's 3:51 am here.

kucingblue

Post Last Edit by Heiro at 13-3-2010 11:17

Ade dua org forumer yg x habis2 nak bincang panjang2 satu topik kucingblue ngan mcbsf  Mod ibnur pun selalu tegur time diorg masuk bod islam:lo ...
Heiro Post at 12-3-2010 19:16

The term Critical Thinking may have a bad reputation among those who don't know what it is. The word "Critical" may not bring a good connotation. Philosophers can simply call Critical Thinking something else, perhaps by substituting the word Critical with something that sounds more pleasant. In other words, use a euphemism. But Critical Thinking also teaches that euphemism is a type of rhetoric, and rhetoric does not have any logical force, it merely disguises the truth. Perhaps, that's why they're not renaming Critical Thinking.

But Critical Thinking is generally about clear thinking. Is it wrong to think clearly and to get others to think clearly too?

kucingblue

My Love for Critical Thinking

Around 9 years ago, I was studying at INTEC (a.k.a PPP) at UiTM Shah Alam after SPM. Among other courses, I took a class on Critical Thinking (I'm not sure if that's what they call the course). I don't know how many sessions I missed. I was lazy at the time. Did well in SPM, I just wanted to fly to the US, I didn't care about the prep courses. And I can't remember exactly what I learned, all I remember is the word "fallacy" that the teacher taught us. And I also remember in one class after looking at some examples, I thought "wow, it's so common I never knew it was actually wrong".

So, because I was lazy, I don't think I learned a whole lot from that class. But I was particularly interested in the concept of fallacy.

Around 6 years ago maybe, I started to get more and more involved in online discussions. I see so many things that people say that I knew didn't make sense, but I could hardly explain why. That's when I revisited what fallacy is, and the love for Critical Thinking began.

I've read multiple books and websites about it. I've learned a lot of types of fallacy that people make. I've also learned about the kinds of fallacy that I'm guilty of, that I should avoid in the future.

Recently, after 3 years I graduated with an engineering degree, I enrolled in a community college to take courses in Philosophy (and Music too). The first class is none other than Critical Thinking. I've read a lot about it, and I thought it's time for me to receive a formal education on it. Out of 83 students taking the class, currently my grade is still the highest.

I love education, both formal and informal. There are many things in life that I've learned that are useful. But if anybody asks me what is one thing that I would recommend, I would say learn Critical Thinking. You have no idea what you've been missing until you learn it. My engineering degree makes me money, my music knowledge earns me praises, but my critical thinking makes me a better user of my brain. Thinking is way too fundamental to be ignored.

Heiro

Wow... Terima kasih kucingblue

kucingblue

Why I am in Cari Forum

I would guess that some may think that I'm here just to pick a fight. On the contrary, there are at least two primary reasons why I'm here.

First off, I've lived in America for over 7 years now. Being here is one way for me to connect with my roots. I want to be in touch with what's going on in Malaysia, what people are concerned about, and how people think.

The other reason is of course Critical Thinking. Of course, there are breakdowns in critical thinking everywhere on the internet, and everywhere else. But here, I'll be able to engage with people better.

I can't say I'm regular in all boards, but there are a few that I'm regular at, where nonsense happens too often. The one that I think stand out among them all is RSF. The board is filled with extreme prejudice from virtually all sides. If you're a Muslim, you may think it's the Christians are the ones guilty of that. If you're a Christian, you may believe the other way around. But I have to say that many Muslim and Christian members, along with others, are guilty of prejudice and other forms of distorted thinking. If you are new to Critical Thinking, that's a good board for you to see obvious examples of bad reasoning. I used to spend a lot of time there, thinking that I could change them. I admit that that's quite a wishful thinking in my part. But at least I had a better "fallacy radar" after spending time there.

I was also a regular at CI. That's where people usually argue about politics. The board is one of the most active here I would guess. It's way too active, I don't have enough time to keep up.

Now I tend to spend most time at M&M. It's not extremely active, but there are still a lot of nonsense that would keep me hooked.

seribulan

My Love for Critical Thinking

Around 9 years ago, I was studying at INTEC (a.k.a PPP) at UiTM Shah Alam after SPM. Among other courses, I took a class on Critical Thinking (I'm not sure if that's w ...
kucingblue Post at 14-3-2010 06:51 AM

Generally, people are too LAZY to use their brains critically{:1_126:}

raeshad

off topic, but i love reading this.

p/s: @kucing i LOVE reading RSF. reading but not joining, coz most of the time - the only thing that i can think of is - what's the point. but i enjoy it nonetheless. just rsf tho. haven't overcome ur username before, but i haven't been on cari for quite some time now....

Generally, people are too LAZY to use their brains critically{:1_126:}
seribulan Post at 1-4-2010 02:51 AM

agree. and guilty of said crime as well [at times la ]

bintang

Generally, people are too LAZY to use their brains critically
seribulan Post at 1-4-2010 10:51

    Yerp seperti ramainya suka membaca novel/bahan bacaan picisan kerana takmo memberatkan otak berfikir... padahal otak kian cergas, bijak bila kita sering latih berfikir.

KILL_NANCY

Conversely, critical thinking depends on critical reading. You can think critically about a text (critical thinking), after all, only if you have understood it (critical reading). We may choose to accept or reject a presentation, but we must know why. We have a responsibility to ourselves, as well as to others, to isolate the real issues of agreement or disagreement. Only then can we understand and respect other people’s views. To recognize and understand those views, we must read critically.

for example, it's hard to say without knowing your level of knowledge.whatever topic you had talked about in your discussion, that's a tool you can use in analyzing the text.if you talked about structure, plot, narrative, then ask how these story work and why it might be constructed that way.if you talked about rhetorical devices, rhyme, alliteration, metaphor, symbolism atc ect.then you might ask what the author is trying to get across and why or how he uses these tools to get the job done effectively.

basically though, the point is to use these tools to not only see how a story works, but to start asking why it might have been written the way it is.

Evaluating The EvidenceReading to see what a text says may suffice when the goal is to learn specific information or to understand someone else's ideas. But we usually read with other purposes. We need to solve problems, build roads, write legislation, or design an advertising campaign.

to me creative thinking is needed to be able to turn those negative, positive, or indifferent things into things that benefit you.you have to be able to look at the same situations in several different ways in order to thrive and turn those bad situations into good ones.
critical thinking is needed to be able to determine what is worthwhile and what you should pursue, what you should ignore, and what you should fight.you need to be able to look at life in a very skeptical and critical way in order to survive in a world that is trying to take advantage of you.

seribulan, may i know your easy way that how you develop critical thinking skills?i mean in conjunction with much of the other advice...

seribulan

KILL_NANCY replied at 12-6-2018 08:05 PM
for example, it's hard to say without knowing your level of knowledge.whatever topic you had tal ...

No easy way but the fundamentals are must be goal-directed, reflective, and reasonable  thinking, as  in evaluating  the  evidence  for  an argument  for  which all  the  relevant  information may  not  be  available... Involving analysis, inference, interpretation, explanation, and self-regulation;  requires  inquisitive, systematic, analytical, judicious, truth-seeking, open-minded, and confident  dispositions toward critical-thinking  processes...

KILL_NANCY

seribulan replied at 12-6-2018 09:37 PM
No easy way but the fundamentals are must be goal-directed, reflective, and reasonable  thinking,  ...

nice seribulan.

that's the good answer on what you think about critical thinking skills and knowledges.such skills are invaluable if we are concerned about the truth of our beliefs and the cogency of our arguments.

kaminau

Both are important