Critical Thinking…Understand What Exactly is Being Said

I recently viewed a video on AlterNet featuring George Carlin – “It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it“. I especially applaud his comments on critical thinking. We, in America, seem to have lost most of our critical thinking skills. These skills are not being taught in schools unless you make it to college and sign up for a course.

One particular aspect to good critical thinking is to understand what is actually being said. Many hear only phrases and form a reaction to just those phrases. I remember way back when Reagan was first running for president. It was the first election that I was old enough to participate in. I was not very politically knowledgeable then, but I made an effort. I forced myself to listen to his speeches. I was appalled. He did not even make complete sentences! He tossed out phrases like “family values” but did not define them. Nor did he speak of what he wanted to do with or about “family values”, etc. Yet many people understood him to mean that he would restore America to a country with the “family values” they held dear. No one questioned that perhaps “family values” may mean different things to different people…

Personally, I want the president to be capable of complete sentences at the very least…

More recently, on “The View”, Whoopi Goldberg was talking about the recent arrest of Michael Vick who was involved in dog fighting. She talked of the culture he came from and how different cultures view this type of thing.

Many took this to mean that she was defending Mr.Vick, that she thought it was okay since he was from a different culture. I watched this episode and not once did she say she thought it should be an excuse or that he should not pay the consequences. She was offering the information as an explanation for why some people do participate in this sort of activity. In fact, the next day, the women on “The View” addressed this issue and as it was pointed out “Explaining is not the same thing as excusing”. Whoopi went on to state that she believes in understanding a problem…

I, myself, have been accused of being a “bleeding heart liberal” in the past when I attempted to explain why someone may have committed certain acts. I was not suggesting that the individuals involved should “be allowed to get away with it”, nor was I suggesting that they should not pay any consequences. Apparently, Whoopi believes as I do; that information is the beginning of understanding and that understanding is the path to solving the problem at its roots. By solving a problem at its roots, perhaps we can prevent future episodes.

There seems to be a trend of “either/or” thinking in this country. That either we punish criminals or we understand them and let them go. What about a third alternative? How about we punish the criminals and at the same time, study the problem? Perhaps we can find a better solution in the future. It seems obvious to me that punishment alone is not enough of a deterrent. If punishment alone were enough, we would not have so many in prison for committing the same crimes.

Which is more important?

a) punishment – “make them pay” or

b) solve the problem? Of course, if we solved all the problems, then we wouldn’t have anyone to punish anymore…