Has thinking become obsolete in society?
Jessica M Hewitt “thinks” that we need to challenge our minds.
“To live is to have problems and to solve problems is to grow intellectually” — J.P. Guilford.
It is certain that life is full of problematic situations. Unfortunately, some individuals find it difficult to manage those problems and resort to their comfort zone, expecting peers, teachers, parents, colleagues, and even technology to provide a resolution to those troubles.
We live in a society that is driven by instant gratification where thinking is no longer valued or required. Everything is but a mere keystroke away.
However, when faced with a problem that has no immediate solution, individuals find themselves in a labyrinth, lost and confused, for there are no specific guidelines or instructions to advise one on how to think critically.
Consequently, this is affecting our children, students, workers, businesses, economy, and future.
Failing to expose individuals to identify, probe, and seek problems and solutions hinders their ability to exercise their critical thinking skills. According to Emeritus Professor of Education Arthur L. Costa, critical thinking is “performed in response to questions and problems the answers to which are not immediately known — challenging conditions to resolve a complex problem.”
Falling short of encouraging individuals, in every facet of life, to utilize, expand, and nurture their critical thinking skills is cause for great concern, for this has become not only self-destructive, socially destructive, but globally destructive.
It is evident at school when a student sits at his desk staring at a blank sheet of paper because he is unable to formulate his own ideas and too easily says, “I don’t know what to write about.”
It is evident in the medical field when a doctor misdiagnoses a patient with gastritis, and keeps that patient at home suffering, when in reality the patient needs her gallbladder removed, failing to seek all possibilities before that final diagnosis.
It is evident in the world where British Petroleum (BP) neglected to think critically about the mass destruction it would bring if their oil rig exploded, and now find themselves with blood on their hands amidst one of the greatest oil spills in U.S. history, relentlessly contaminating our ocean water, while adding pain and burden to an already struggling economy.
Providing individuals, regardless of who they are, immediate answers to their questions instead of guiding them toward inquiry is the easy way out.
Parents must deviate from giving instant answers and as an alternative instill questioning by asking, “Why do you think” or “How do you think …” questions to awaken curiosity and motivate their children to search for answers.
Teachers of all disciplines and grade levels must develop their curriculum to advance students’ critical thinking skills not only inside, but outside of the classroom, making it relevant to their daily lives.
Businesses and entrepreneurs must develop their trainings to present ongoing opportunities for employees to develop and exercise these skills so that they can attain more customers rather than lose them.
We must strive to cultivate great minds like those who have preceded us: Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Jane Austen, and Bill Gates. These individuals utilized their critical thinking skills to not only grow intellectually but to transform our world.
We must all leave our comfort zones, welcome uncertainty, delve into the realm of discovery, and challenge our minds, “for apart from inquiry individuals cannot be truly human.”
It is our responsibility as individuals of this nation, regardless of age, gender, race, or profession to become inquirers and seekers searching for solutions to problems that will forever pervade our daily lives.
Jessica M. Hewitt is a teacher at Ysleta High School (USA) and a teacher consultant for the West Texas Writing Project.
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