Critical thinking

Right off the bat critical thinking leads to creativity and innovation, the prime movers of progress. A person who does not think critically accepts the way of life (thought and behavior) imposed by elders and leaders with the unfortunate result that he/she makes little progress towards maturity (as an independent person) in his/her relationship with the rest of the world.

It was critical thinking that made Galileo see that the world is round not flat. Critical thinkers, challenging the divine right of kings, gave birth to democracy. Einstein’s critical mind discovered the atom. Modern convenience gadgets we enjoy using today were all born of inventive critical minds.

Critical thinking belongs to the field of dialectics, generally defined as the “art of discovering the truth by considering opposite theories.” In the field of natural science and physics critical thinking by the best of human minds practically goes unhampered. That explains the exponential progress experienced globally in gadgetry that unfortunately includes weaponry.

In the field of politics and economics, however, progress is slow because society’s lead personalities promote a culture of acceptance of and/or submission to the status quo that is benefitting them the most. One must remember that progress on the part of society’s underprivileged means a more equitable share of the benefits of the political and economic systems. This in turn means a diminution of the current share of the elite that benefit the most from the systems.

One effective way of protecting the status quo is for those who enjoy privileged positions in the current political and economic systems to tag as deviants and enemies of society those who think critically and differently. Blind obedience, therefore, to political, economic and religious leaders is what they promote as the primary virtue at home, in schools, churches and offices. And that explains our slow progress towards genuine political and economic democracy.

Dialectics should, therefore, be taught in schools so we can use it wherever we are in society. We need to challenge and not just accept blindly contrary political postures. We need to challenge neo-liberal capitalism and not allow ourselves to be reduced to a number or an inanimate cog of the economic machine. Priests and faithful should think critically and create innovative and more effective ways of imparting Christ’s message to the world.

The last thing we want is to walk this earth like zombies sharing essentially a primitive world vision and way of life using ironically the latest in high-tech gadgetry.

Why critical thinking? Because without it there’s only stagnation and no human progress, that’s why.