Critical Thinking and Its Importance in the Current Society

Responsibilities of a Critical Thinker in a Contemporary Society

Some thinkers consider critical thinking to be solely a type of mental skill, devoid of any moral value; it is often utilized to rationalize prejudice and to promote self-interest. While moral integrity is understood as good heartedness, it is also susceptible to manipulation to satisfy vested interests in the same way as responsible citizenship can be manipulated. The human mind, regardless of conscious goodwill, is subject to the more powerful and self-deceptive egocentricity of the unconscious part of the mind. The complete development of each and every characteristic, be it critical thought, responsible citizenship, and moral integrity - needs to include cultivation of each other characteristic, in a parallel strong sense (Paul, 1993). The three characteristics of higher thought can only be developed in an environment that promotes intellectual virtues such as integrity, intellectual courage, intellectual fair-mindedness, intellectual empathy, intellectual perseverance, and faith in reason. These virtues are interdependent. Our fundamental ways of knowing cannot be separated from our fundamental ways of being. How one thinks reflects who one is. Moral and intellectual virtues or lack of them are strongly correlated. To develop the level of intellectual independence advocated for within strong critical thinking, one must appreciate the need to cultivate intellectual humility, integrity, courage, empathy, perseverance, and fair-mindedness (Paul, 1993).

Intellectual Humility

Intellectual humility is essentially being aware of the limits of our own knowledge, and being sensitive to situations wherein our ego-centrism is likely to function in a self-deceptive manner. For example, sensitivity to prejudice, bias, and awareness of the limitations of our own viewpoints might be such cases. Intellectual humility is basically anchored on the recognition that we should not claim to know more than we actually know. One may think that it implies intellectual spinelessness; however, this is not the case. Rather, intellectual humility implies insight into, or awareness of logical foundations and/or their lack in our beliefs (Paul, 1993).

Intellectual Courage

Intellectual courage is basically being aware of the need to tackle head-on the beliefs, viewpoints, or ideas concerning which we have very strong negative emotions and have not yet given serious consideration. This courage is linked to the awareness that beliefs or ideas considered absurd or even downright dangerous are at times rationally justified; thus, conclusions we might have about them may be false or even misleading. To judge for ourselves what is right or wrong, we must not be passive or uncritically "accepting" the things we have "learned." Intellectual courage helps us to discern for ourselves whether perhaps what we thought to be absurd or false may actually have some truth in it. It requires courage to be true to one's own thinking in such situations. This is because the penalties of not conforming to the ways of our societies can sometimes be severe (Paul, 1993).

Intellectual Empathy

Intellectual empathy is basically being aware and/or able to picture oneself in the situations of others, so as to genuinely comprehend what they are going through. It requires the awareness of one's egocentric inclination to "identify the truth" using our immediate perceptions. This virtue is associated with the capability to accurately reconstruct the ideas and thinking of others and to reason from assumptions, ideas or premises other than our own. This virtue is also associated with the readiness to remember occasions in the past where one was wrong despite an intense conviction that one was correct. This awareness and the concomitant humility gives one the knowledge that one can be similarly deceived in a current situation (Paul, 1993).

Intellectual Good Faith (Integrity)

Integrity is the awareness of the need to be true to, and/or consistently act in accordance with one's own thinking. This means to demonstrate consistency in the intellectual standards we hold ourselves to; to hold ourselves to similar rigorous standards of proof and evidence as we hold for our antagonists. It also means to practice what we "preach" or advocate for and to genuinely admit the inconsistencies in our own thoughts and actions (Paul, 1993).

Intellectual Perseverance

Intellectual perseverance is the readiness and awareness of the necessity to continue working to discover or pursue intellectual truths and insights despite obstacles and difficulties or frustrations. This means also holding to rational principles in spite of the irrational antagonism of others. Perseverance is a willingness to continue the pursuit of a deeper understanding despite confusion and unsettled questions (Paul, 1993).

Faith in Reason

This is the confidence that ultimately our own higher interests and those of humanity as a whole will be served best by allowing the freest play to reason, and by encouraging individuals to come up with their own conclusions by cultivating their own rational faculties. Faith in reason is the faith that, with proper encouragement, individuals can learn to form rational ideas by themselves, draw logical conclusions, think critically, and convince or persuade each other using reason and become reasonable persons, in spite of the hindrances in the inherent nature of the human mind and society (Paul, 1993).

Fair-mindedness

Fair-mindedness is the willingness to treat all ideas alike, without putting undue weight on one's own self-interests or feelings. This includes not being swayed by the opinions of our friends, our social group or our nation. It also implies applying intellectual standards without preference, and attempting to think and/or be aware of facts even when they are not to the advantage of ourselves or our affiliates (Paul, 1993).

Principles of Critical Thought In Relation To Teen Violence Such As Cyber Bullying

Technological advancements have largely been regarded as a positive transformation or change. However, despite the many advantages of technology, it is becoming clearer every day that these advances are exposing more people to violence. The use of internet services and video games is one of the ways in which this is occurring. The end result is that the youth in our societies are becoming desensitized to gruesome acts of violence. This is promoting a perpetual cycle of violence that is becoming the norm in our societies (Willoughby & Sugarman, 2013).

Technological advances represent creations that help in carrying a particular task (Killick, 2004; Pfaffenberger, 1992). Technology enables individuals to have more options for accomplishing different tasks. For instance having the latest Smartphone enables individuals to have a higher communication speed and greater access to a wider range of social applications and news online. Despite the many advantages offered by these advances, they do have a negative side. For example, technology can alter behavior. Perhaps the most recognizable example of this role is military conflict. Local, regional, national and global 'wars' have evolved (or perhaps 'devolved') from the use of spears, bows, and axes to nuclear and chemical weaponry. In this particular case technology has greatly increased the capability with which people can harm others (Willoughby & Sugarman, 2013).

Cyber-bullying is any use of a technological form of aggression. It includes different forms of online activities, such as sending other people hurtful messages and/or photographs (and artwork) through computers and smartphones (Kowalski, Limber, & Agatston, 2008). It is also known as cyber-aggression. Of late, more individuals have become aware of cyber-bullying, especially due to the recent highly publicized suicides of teenagers such as Amanda Todd, Phoebe Prince, and Megan Meier, all of whom were victims of cyber-bullying (Willoughby & Sugarman, 2013). Reports have shown that as many as 43% of teens have reported having experienced a form of cyber-bullying in the last year. The number of females experiencing cyber bullying is higher than that of males; this form of aggression is most common among 15 and 16-year-olds (NCPC, 2007).

Teenage victims of cyber-bullying reported that they were more likely to consider the following actions immediately following the event: ask the perpetrator to stop; use electronic means to block the individual from interacting with them; or talk to a friend about it. It was also noted that teens were twice as likely to tell a friend about the event as compared with telling a parent or any other adult (NCPC, 2007).

Teens who have experienced cyber bullying have reported a variety of emotions including indifference and embarrassment. About 56% of the victims have reported feeling angry; 33% have reported feeling hurt; 32% said they were embarrassed; and 13% reported feeling scared (NCPC, 2007). However, many teens reported that the cyber-bullying incident they experienced did not affect them. Even though many teens often do not know immediately who the perpetrator was, three quarters of them reported that they eventually figured out the identity of the perpetrator. Most of the times it is a 'friend', a student they know from school, or someone else they are familiar with. Less than a quarter of the teens reported that they were bullied by someone they did not know (NCPC, 2007).

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse includes pushing, slapping, hitting, and punching; this is the most common and visible form of abuse. Several studies have reported that about 14% of parents have been physically assaulted by their teenage children at some point. Some studies have noted that boys were more likely to be physically abusive compared to girls. It was noted that the stronger, bigger and the older the teenager, the higher the chances that parents could be physically assaulted. Physical abuse often appears at puberty. Children who throw "tantrums" as a form of communication at a younger age are more likely to be physically abusive; this is used as an early warning sign. Children who have themselves been emotionally, sexually, or physically abused, or who have been exposed to incidents such as one parent being abused by the other, may often feel powerless. It is possible that such teens will react by abusing others who are perceived as being less powerful. Other physically abusive teens are believed to act in that manner because they suffer from behavioral disorders or medical conditions. These disorders include: conduct disorder, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or schizophrenia (NCFV, 2003)

As a society, there is a need for us to take collective responsibility of our children. Even though parents play a major role in the growth and development of their children, other influences also have a role. Societies play a key role in the cultivation, acceptance, and perpetuation of physically abusive behavior. Teenagers see gruesome acts of violence in their everyday lives through television or in film, and have grown to accept violence as an appropriate method of accomplishing goals, and basically as an acceptable form of social control.

Social Media

If one has to cultivate a single attitude or competence so as to survive in this era of social media, it should be critical thinking. Consider: how many rumors are created and circulated on sites such as Facebook and/or Twitter or elsewhere? A few individuals are of the school of thought that negative actions were already occurring in emails, prior to the wide acceptance of mileaus such as Facebook, and this is true. What social media sites have brought on board is the expansive power and virality (rapid spreading) of the negative message. People are concerned due to the fact that social media sites have equipped their users with the power to spread false, as well as true, information. The speed with which messages spread is of concern. This rapid spread, concomitant with wide dispersal, worries those individuals who have grown up in more controlled systems, where people could not entertain or even publish information without approval from authoritative sources. Social media is a concern to those who are of the idea that many individuals are incapable of handling the technology in a 'moral' or caring manner. It is also a concern to businesses that worry they may lose clients due to the publishing of malicious 'Tweets' or Facebook posts. Acknowledging the worrying consequences of social media, many have suggested that posting of information on such sites should be regulated.

Obviously there are actions that should be discouraged and punished; however, controlling publishing is not the right way to go. First, regulation of online sites such as Facebook would be technically impossible, although there have been some activities to halt overt 'terrorist' postings, and United States Law Enforcement Agencies now monitor both Facebook and Twitter, as well as other sites, for incendiary activities. Second, controlling publishing on social media sites could be problematic: this is because once societies start to regulate what is permissible, issues arise concerning who should be the body tasked for determining what is allowed or not. The issue is one of 'free speech', and concerns the approach to educating the populace of the difference between freely speaking one's opinion and actions that deliberately harm others. The solution to this problem can however be found at the reader's level. Basically, one should learn to separate the good from the bad. For instance, a reader should always check the source, compare the information with other sources, and question the credibility of the information (Duperrin, 2013). Simply put, one should be a critical thinker. For some individuals, critical thinking is a natural attitude (and aptitude). However, for most people it is a new attitude to learn and/or adopt. As with many other practices, good habits are learned in school. However, some feel that the present education systems have been structured in such a way as to teach 'unquestionable truths'. Individuals do not cross-check or question the information they read or come about. This level of competence is not learned at work either. Businesses are not the kind of places where people who doubt, cross-check information or question things are appreciated (Duperrin, 2013). On the other hand, many university professors will state that they make a point of teaching students 'do not believe everything that you read'. Teaching critical thinking in the classroom is a definite goal at the higher educational levels.

Literature Review

Teenagers, especially 13 to 17-year-olds, are often part of an online community. They use the internet at their homes, schools, public libraries, or other places with Wi-Fi, to communicate with friends, research information for assignments, and socially interact with other people. Seventy eight percent of teens have reported using the internet for at least three years and about 80% reported using the internet "yesterday." (NCPC, 2007)

Even though parents are often vigilant about protecting their children from specific types of content and have limits on the time spent online, many teens have reported being generally unsupervised by their parents or any other adult while online. For instance, 70% of 12-year-olds have reported that their parents think they know what they are doing online, although the parents are mistaken, as compared with 27% of 13 to 15-year-olds (NCPC, 2007).

One of the most important issues concerning cyber-bullying is whether the apparent increased prevalence is increasing due to the widespread use of advanced technology nowadays. Studies across different age sets have reported that the prevalence ranges from as low as 9% to a high of 50% (NCPC, 2007). The huge differences of prevalence rates may be due to different methods used in assessing cyber bullying in different studies. For instance, the studies that report low prevalence rates of bullying are often those that have provided a definition of bullying before asking the participants to state whether they have experienced it. In contrast, studies that report high prevalence rates often failed to provide definitions or examples of acts of bullying. Therefore, some forms of online bullying may not be perceived as such by teenagers. In the same context, perpetrators of online bullying may not have necessarily intended to harm the other person (Willoughby & Sugarman, 2013).

For instance, a survey by Mishna et al. (2010) asked 2186 Canadian students to indicate whether they were a victim of any form of aggressive online behavior, or indicate if they themselves had perpetrated such behaviors. This study did not define such behaviors as bullying. In a second component, Mishna et al. (2010) later asked students whether they had bullied others online or they felt they had been bullied online before; this aspect more clearly 'defined' bullying. The difference between the two surveys was significant. In the first case, 50% of the students claimed they had experienced aggressive online behaviors, and 33% reported that they had perpetrated aggressive actions when the behaviors were not directly defined or labeled as bullying. However, only 14% of these participants indicated that they had been bullied when the question was reframed as bullying (Willoughby & Sugarman, 2013).

A study by Wong-Lo and Bullock (2011) that engaged 137 participants (62 teenagers and 75 parents) reported over 90% of the teenage participants had experienced some form of cyber-bullying, and that over half of them did not know who the perpetrator was. The study also reported that 90% of the parents had no knowledge of whether or not their child had been a victim of cyber-bullying. This study further gave qualitative findings of parents and teenagers personal perspectives towards the menace. A different study by Erdur-Baker (2010) showed that 32% of students had experienced both physical and cyber-bullying, compared to 26% who reported themselves having bullied others in both environments (Notar, Padgett, & Roden, 2013).

In some situations, adolescents have reacted abusively when they have been abused or when they had been exposed to abuse of one of their parents (Duffy & Momiroc, 1997). In other cases, absent or permissive parenting may contribute to the adolescent's abusive behavior (Ambert, 1997). Lack of leadership in families may results in teens acting out because they do not feel protected or safe. Stress caused by money, and/or work pressure may leave parents with little energy and time for their children. The situation is usually worsened by dysfunctional family situations such as divorce or separation, where the children may end up resenting the parent that they live with, blaming them for changing their lives (NCFV, 2003).

Today's teens spend huge amounts of time online on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Teachers and parents are often concerned with the time spent claiming it is a waste of time. However, is it really wasted time?

Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive skills developed in the 1950s is still used to date. It is broken down into two levels: lower level cognitive skills (remembering and understanding), and higher level cognitive skills (creating, analyzing, applying, and evaluating). It appears that many schools do not give enough time and/or emphasis towards developing the higher level skills, instead allocating more time for the learning of facts and figures. However, in this age where most facts are just a click away, it makes filling students heads with all these facts pointless. What students most need to learn concerns creating, analyzing, applying, and evaluating (Saiyasombut & Voices, 2014).

The Impact of Academic Knowledge on Social Elements and Institutions of both Local and Global Communities

Research has demonstrated how social linkages have been cultivated among diverse organizations within the same society. In trying to explain why community-based studies were no longer that popular, a researcher was of the viewpoint that modern communication and transportation systems have evolved such that geographical boundaries are becoming meaningless. Many individuals have 'online friends' from a variety of other countries; online 'chat' can occur regardless of time-zone differences as well. Of late, 'globalization' has become the 'in thing' in studies, further contributing to the abandonment of community-level studies (Marquis & Battliana, 2007).