Barrier

Barriers to Critical Thinking

There are many barriers to critical thinking that can affect our ways of thinking. I for one will state three barriers of critical thinking that affect my thinking and some strategies I will use to overcome them. First is Rationalization.

Rationalizing is a dishonest substitute for reasoning whereby we set out to defend our ideas rather than to find out the truth of the matters concerned. You are reasoning if the belief follows the evidence that is, if you examine the evidence first and then make up your mind. You are rationalizing if the evidence follows your belief if you'll first decide what you'll believe and then select and interpret evidence to justify it. The process for reaching a rational decision is to start with evidence and then move to a conclusion. With rationalization you start with the conclusion you want, and then you gather evidence to support that conclusion. “I didn't get the job that I applied for, but I really didn't want it in the first place.” This is an example of rationalizing thinking. A step to overcome this rationalization thinking is to base your thinking on evidence.

A second barrier that affects critical thinking and affects me is egocentrism. Egocentrism is the tendency to see reality as centered on oneself. Egocentrics are selfish, self-absorbed people who view their own interests, ideas, and values as superior to everyone else. I for one tend to be egocentric An example of how I remain egocentric would be me leaving the toilet seat up because in my point of view that is the best and most convenient way for the toilet to be, after all that is the way I uses it, and that's the way it is and should be. Egocentric behavior persists in some people because that is the way they are, or have not been given the tools or information for them to learn or understand differently. Egocentricity persists in all of us to some degree, simply because of our mental make-up, upbringing, education, and social...