Summary
Jesse introduces critical thinking as a tool we use to solve problems by questioning things and forming coherent thoughts and arguments. Critical thinkers are able to judge others and themselves. They are open minded and understand their ideas and beliefs sometimes aren’t necessarily their own, and it’s okay to change their way of thinking by using reasoning and evaluation. With this tool, we become self-aware and self-powered. To Gary, critical thinking is an art, and we must practice it in order to get better. We use it to break down behavior, ideas, speech and other human action and closely analyze them to find the core meaning or reasoning. After we do this, we sit with all we have gathered and use our own judgement to evaluate what we make of the thinker, idea, or of ourselves.
Before this lesson, I barely knew what critical thinking actually meant or what it looked like. After watching these videos, I feel that I understand the concept and have come up with my own definition. To me, neither are wrong and all of this together makes up critical thinking. Both Gary and Jesse make the point that critical thinking is an essential attribute needed to become liberated. Jesse used to work in advertising and would use his words alone to influence people daily. I feel that we must all practice and master critical thinking to not get swayed easily by words.
