Critical Thinking Skills
The chosen article is Mazza’s “Stepehn Fry Explains Why Some People Believe Everything that Donald Trump Says,” published in the Huffington Post. According to Mazza (2017), people who believe Trump are exhibiting the Dunning-Kruger effect, which stipulates that they do not have the skills to recognize their own incompetence. Furthermore, Mazza (2017) also stated that Fry’s assertion that the illusion of knowledge is responsible for people believing in Trump is correct.
In this article, Mazza demonstrated good critical thinking skills. According to Plecner (2014), the difference between critical thinkers and uncritical thinkers is that the latter accepts the point of view of the person as long as the arguments presented are good, or logical. Mazza (2017) accepted the argument presented by Fry because it is backed up by research from Cambridge University. Another element of critical thinking is that the skills required are generic and can be learned in themselves and can be applied to different contexts (Bailin, Case, Coombs & Daniels, 1999). Furthermore, Bailin et al. (1999) stated that there is a separation between critical thinking and knowledge. In support of Mazza’s assertion, Plecner (2014) stated that the incompetent have a tendency to overestimate their own abilities, lacking the skills to evaluate the competence level of others. This is another dimension of critical thinking that is evident in the article. The fifth element of critical thinking is that it also involves emotions (Plecner, 2014). Thinking cannot be separated from emotions and thinking cannot be “reduced to pure rationality” (Plecner, 2014).
Critical thinking is an essential, albeit understudied, part of education that is applicable to everyday life. The elements of critical thinking provide ways to understand what critical thinking is and how it can be applied to everyday contexts.
References
Bailin, S., Case, R., Coombs, J.R. & Daniels, L.B. (1999). Common Misconceptions of Critical Thinking. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 31(3), 269-283.
Mazza, E. (2017). Stephen Fry Explains Why Some People Believe Everything Donald Trump Says. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stephen-fry-explains-lies_us_591550ebe4b00f308cf4323c
Plecner, A. (2014). Critical Thinking and the Challenges of the Internet. Communication Today …
