Critical and Creative Thinking in Short Essays Essay

Describe a situation of public interest in which critical and/or creative thought could have been used for a better outcome. Describe why it is important to think critically and creatively in similar situations. Recent racial unrest has been a hot topic in the public interest arena. With the death of a young man as a result of an encounter with law enforcement is difficult enough to deal with. Add to that dynamic that the young man was black and the officer was white, and the dynamic instantly intensifies. That moment becomes and instant opportunity where critical and/or creative thought should be considered instead of a knee jerk reaction since there was nothing in place prior. My addressing this does not have anything to do with the result of the riots, but everything to do with the reactions from both sides of the dilemma. Both sides needed to consider what actually happened, how the entire event took place and ended, as well as what the next step should be in anticipation of every scenario possible. There are enough brilliant minds in law enforcement as well as in the community that feel defied, to bridge whatever differences that may have been occurring prior to the event. If the community and the department that is in place to serve and protect them would pause long enough for what is in the best interest of all, they likely would have opted on an approach similar to a Community Policing approach where both sides were involved with changing the minds, actions, and directions of the entire community. Define free will, truth, knowledge, and opinion. Explain how we use them to form thoughts. What role does each play in critically assessing situations? Free will, by definition, is having the ability or power to act without regard to limitations and at the individuals own discretion. Now, to define the word truth, it would be that it is anything that is true  in accordance with fact or reality and is also a fact or belief that is accepted as true. Next is knowledge which is defined as facts, information, or skills learned by a person or group of people. This can be done through experiences or an education. Simply, it is having the awareness or familiarity that is gained by experience of a fact or situation. Lastly, is the word opinion. This relates to a view or judgment formed by an individual or a group about something or anything and it is not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Often it is an estimation of the quality of worth of someone or something that is the beliefs or views of a large number or majority of people about a particular thing. It essentially is an estimation of the quality or worth of someone or something. Each of these has a role and each plays in critically assessing situations. For instance, ‘free will’ allows for a decision to be made based solely on how an individual feels about what is being addressed. They can form their own belief or judgment and choose how they feel about it, how it affects them, without the concern on how it will make others feel about them. Now relating to ‘truth’, all of the information that is known and to be true is presented and a determination of how one feels about it or allows it to affect them is their choice. ‘Knowledge’ allows a person to form an immediate attitude or estimation about any topic because personal experiences or obtained information creates an influence or reaction immediately. The word ‘opinion’ has almost as much of an opportunity to make an immediate impression. This is mostly based on knowledge that may have been obtained but not personally experienced. Identify three hindrances to the critical thinking process. Determine methods for overcoming these hindrances. Identify a time in which you experienced a hindrance in critical thinking. Describe a method you could use to overcome the hindrances. To define  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœhindrances’ before identifying how it effects the critical thinking process, I would say it is a resistance to change, conformity, and/or self-deception. I will address how to overcome these in the order that they listed. First, to overcome resistance to change, a person must be open-minded and welcoming to things that are new. This does not mean that they must be immediately accepted, just considered. Secondly, to overcome conformity, it simply needs for a person to think for themselves and not be concerned about what other people believe or even if they share your view. Lastly, to overcome self-deception, we must be honest with ourselves, our inner selves. Once we obtain as much information about a person, subject, or topic, we base our findings on what we now know or feel about it. A time when I was personally faced with any of the hindrances listed, was when I assumed the new position with this startup company. It is very different from any other position that I have held. Although I do not have a vast knowledge of everything that goes on in the company, I bring an incredible amount of experiences. Here, I have experienced many coworkers at my level of management that insist that they know what is in the best interest of the company on any given situation. Although they ask for opinions, they often go with their own. Everyone is just supposed to be on board and there are some that act like lemmings and simply follow along. To not ‘make waves’, I often allowed this to continue, although I felt strongly that the input I had was not only valid, but equally important. To combat the resistance to change, I openly considered what the final decision was going to be and honestly weighed it against my input. I then decided that conforming was not necessarily in the best interest of the company, so I composed an approach to share what I had to offer and compared it to what was being considered. During establishing how I was going to present it, I was able to share this with vigor and assurance because I was honest with myself when weighing both mine and their options. Identify a message in advertising. Describe how you perceive the message of the advertisement. Try to determine the reality of the advertisement. Distinguish between your perception and the reality of the message. I am a Harley Davidson fan, I own one and I ride it often despite the weather conditions. Very often, other motorcycle companies will do what they can to mimic the style and grace of the Harley Davidson. This is to convince potential buyers that they are just as good  if not better, and less expensive. Although some parts of their advertisement may be true, there are many parts of it that are not. What they often end up doing is over emphasizing quality as well as quantity. It is not that it cannot be obtained, it is just that it can only be obtained for a nominal fee. Again, it is the fine print that most people overlook that actually reveals the truth. I have been deluded myself because of how convincing they campaign is, that I have pondered at least looking at their offer. With the advent of ‘pausing’ your television, I do so at the end of the commercial and read the fine print. More times than not, it reveals the condition that the motorcycle comes in and it is never what you see being driven around by the actor(s). Critical and creative thinking occurs in everyone’s life whether they realize it or not. It would be in the best interest of everyone if they realized the importance of learning to be a more critical and creative thinker. This way, they can feel better about the outcome or realize that the decision was theirs and not someone else’s. It is easier to learn from your own mistakes.