The Virtue No One Wanted:
The Hidden Value of Critical Thought
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“No one ever erected a
monument for a critic.” --Rush
Limbaugh
I don’t know anyone that enjoys being
criticized—I hate it myself, especially when the criticism is accurate.
When it is totally baseless it is easier to write off as some arrogant
git trying to blow smoke in my face, but when it turns out the critic has a
point, it really galls me. It’s
not any better on the other side, either; if you are the one doing the
criticizing, you seldom get positive feedback.
In all probability, no one will ever get a trophy for criticism.
But maybe they should.
When I learned how to play baseball, I
wasn’t very good. I didn’t
stand correctly, I wasn’t holding the bat properly, and I would swing at
anything pitched at me. In short, I
needed criticism. If
I had valued my bruised ego more than my desire for improvement, I would never
have been able to play at all with any kind of effectiveness.
The funny thing is that once you learn how to do it correctly, you do
feel good about yourself, because
there is achievement and achievement bolsters self esteem.
Criticism is crucial to the existence of excellence in any form because
it raises the bar of expectation. In
truth, there can be no improvement without it.
“The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.”--George Bernard Shaw
When I say ‘criticism’,
many of you might be thinking right now of ‘condemnation’,
picturing in your mind something along the lines of the unnecessarily brutal
razing of American
Idol’s Simon Cowell, but that is not what I am talking
about. Merriam Webster defines ‘criticize’
this way: “to
consider the merits and demerits of and judge accordingly”—that
is, to objectively evaluate, not to rip someone apart for amusement, and not to
jump on the bandwagon with the public consensus.
What gives criticism a bad
rap is the manner in which it’s done, and the reasons for doing it.
If your goal in criticizing is to condemn,
then your target
will be the person, not the issue; you will inject a lot of emotion
into your evaluation; and you will choose a setting
that will cause the most emotional
damage (like singling a person out in a large group).
This is destructive and improper. When
criticism is used to elevate
yourself above another or to bring credibility or praise to
yourself that is unwarranted, it is also unsuitable.
These are
inappropriate uses of criticism, but the solution to misuse is not
disuse, it is correct use. The
goal of criticism is to correct or improve, and there is a right way to criticize.
“Reprove
thy friend privately; commend him publicly.” --Solon
Good
criticism will be solution oriented.
Unless you have a solution (or at least a criteria
for a solution), you are just whining. Good criticism must compare
against a suitable standard. If there is no standard (or no standard
principle), then there is no way to measure the degree of error.
Good criticism needs to be fact
based, not feelings
based. There must be observable
information that can be examined practically.
Finally, criticism should be impersonal—it is the subject,
process or idea that stands or falls, not its champion.
“Reason
is God's crowning gift to man.”--Sophocles
If criticism is
the ‘what’, then critical
thought is the ‘how’.
Critical
thought is the act of logically and rationally examining something in such a way
as to understand the truth of it.
It helps you recognize errors in thought and recognize good arguments
that stand up to scrutiny. It helps
you evaluate and solve problems rather than merely compiling a set of facts to
be memorized. It helps you to base
your judgments on ideas and evidence rather than emotion. It helps you to see connections between topics and use
knowledge from other disciplines to enhance your understanding of those same
topics. It helps you to rethink
your views when new evidence is introduced that contradicts your previous
assessment. It helps you to
take a critical stance on issues. It
protects you from deception by equipping your mind with the proper tools by
which you can understand anything.
Attributes
of a critical thinker: 
asks
pertinent questions
assesses
statements and arguments
is
able to admit a lack of understanding or information
has
a sense of curiosity
is
interested in finding new solutions
is
able to clearly define a set of criteria for analyzing ideas
is
willing to examine beliefs, assumptions, and opinions and weigh them against
facts
listens
carefully to others and is able to give feedback
sees
that critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment
suspends
judgment until all facts have been gathered and considered
looks
for evidence to support assumption and beliefs
is
able to adjust opinions when new facts are found
looks
for proof
examines
problems closely
is
able to reject information that is incorrect or irrelevant
Ferrett, S. Peak
Performance (1997).
Critical
thinking gives us awareness
into the real condition of things, and criticism
helps us to improve those areas and better those skills we have to cope.
Skill + awareness = ability.
We need both to improve.
“Awareness
without skill equal anxiety; skill without awareness equals theory.”
--Tony
Blauer
Minds that are versed in critical thought
don’t have to rely on others to understand the world.
As such, in this age of mandatory
interdependence it has become a lost art, and that alone is sad enough, but what
makes it a tragedy is that it is now considered repugnant, divisive and in some
cases, even treasonous. Why?
Independent
free thinkers are dangerous to those in the power elite who want
to sell the public a boat and don’t want anyone pointing out that it is full
of holes. These crooks instead want
sheep who will loyally chant the approved slogans and go along with whatever
agenda they want us to swallow. Does
that sound paranoid? Well listen to
these words by socialist John
Dewey:
"Independent
self-reliant people would be a counterproductive anachronism in the collective
society of the future where people will be defined by their associations."
And
also
"The
children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the
collective society that is coming, where everyone would be interdependent."
The danger this type of attitude poses is that
it lays
the foundation for oppression.
Eventually someone has to work things out, right?
A society where no one thinks will collapse or be destroyed, and if the
people aren’t doing the thinking for themselves, then who is?
The privileged few in power (or who seize power)
take this burden upon themselves in order to ‘save us a lot of trouble’, and
they want us to blindly trust them and give them our thanks; after all, they
would never do anything to exploit us, right?
"No man has ever ruled other men for their own good."
--George D. Herron
There
are countless instances in history when someone rode in on a white horse to
claim ‘temporary’ powers in order to rescue us
from a crisis, and turned out to be a tyrant.
Oh, there were critics and cynics pointing out that we shouldn’t put
the fox in charge of the hen house, and in societies where critical thinking was
encouraged, the fox was run off. In
‘collective’ societies, where thinking was the
job of the few and the privileged, terror reigned.
“Nice
guys only finish last if they think that because they're nice, they can get away
with being stupid.”--Alan Barksdale
Sheep don’t ever think to question why
they’re on the block, but we should. No longer should we subject to the empty promises of
flatterers and liars, for we have at our disposal the tools of deduction by
which we can sniff out the rats and distinguish between plans that are
exploitable and those that are sound. Criticism
and critical thought are good and necessary to any free society that wants to
improve, and they are the first things to go in a society of slaves.
“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.”--Winston Churchill
Darren Turney
26
October, 2005