Critical Thinking and Science

Common Sense The author of this report has been asked to explore the relationships between four different facets of a person's thinking and mindset. Those four facets are common sense, science, personal beliefs and critical thinking. The author will define each of the concepts, will explain the role of each facet when it comes to scholarship and then the author will provide a personal definition of belief perseverance along with an explanation of how it influences critical thinking.

Finally, the author will share at least one strategy that can be employed to ensure that one thinks critically despite the presence of an ingrained personal belief system. While having core values and beliefs are important, it is more important to remain open-minded about different perspectives and details when those ingrained beliefs are called into question. Summary Of course, the four facets of thought described above are related and they tend to interact with each other quite frequently.

For example, conclusions made about science are often compared with "common sense" when they are explained. For example, if someone explains to another that gravity is a force that keeps us from floating away," the person listening can say that this makes sense and is not out of the realm of possibility because it jives with what the listener has personally learned and experienced. However, if that other person said the sky is red, the listener would immediately know that is not true since the sky is blue (Merriam-Webster, 2015).

When it comes to personal beliefs, a lot of personal beliefs come from common sense and many others come from science. Quite often, both science and common sense lead to the same conclusion. However, another factor would be critical thinking. There are indeed many things that require some thought and consideration. This is where critical thinking comes in. Sometimes, common sense or even science alone are not enough to come to the proper conclusion.

Sometimes it takes some analysis and consideration of what is known, what is unknown and why certain things occur or do not occur. When it comes to scholarly thought, this can easily be segued from the immediately prior thought. If a scholar or scientist is trying to figure something out and they do not currently have evidence of what precisely is the truth, they will use critical thinking to deduce what could be true.

However, they will tend to compare and contrast that with what science would say about the subject and what common sense would say about the subject (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2013). Belief perseverance is basically another way of saying core values or beliefs. Indeed, these are beliefs and thoughts that are fairly ingrained and entrenched within a person's belief structure. These are the thoughts that are hard to change and alter once they are firmly in place.

However, some of these thoughts can run directly counter to science, common sense or critical thinking. How open-minded someone might be would be directly tied to the belief perseverance that they tend to engage in (Friedman, 2004). Conclusion In closing, the author of this report would suggest that having core beliefs and value are important. Being too easily swayed by others is just as bad as being too inflexible.

However, the viewpoints and "common sense" employed has to make sense and must stand the test of scholarship, science and questioning of the belief in question. Having.