A problem shared is a problem halved. When we share our problem with someone and they share with us, then both problems seem easier. Sometimes the collective human consciousness puts down certain things on us to deal with. Co-operation is vital because it works better. It lasts and makes an impact on our life. It promotes equity and inclusiveness and empowers communities
In the last three decades of working as an academician, I have been dealing with different questions raised by the young creative minds. In the academic journey, it is common for such queries to crop up.
A few months back, while I was discussing critical thinking, one of my students raised some doubts as to whether critical thinking was useful for them because these things are stale and bookish. In fact, he was right to raise such issues when the subject is rarely practised in different walks of life in the prevailing situation.
Critical thinking as such is a kind of judgment, or evaluation, with a critical approach.
Reason, logic and analysis are instrumental to critical thinking. It is not about finding fault or mistakes but encompasses creative thinking as well. It is an approach to finding or discovering ideas which are not apparent. We make mistakes if we take critical thinking as a tool of critical analysis.
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a picture of silver. A sentence is defined as the unit of language that expresses a complete thought.
We should be able to understand the intended function of a passage. It's a mistake to believe everything in the form of a declarative sentence. It is a declarative sentence, but its function need not be informative at all, rather it may be ceremonial or expressive.
Many requests and commands are stated indirectly by means of declarative sentences. A declarative sentence may also express requests for action. The interrogative sentence is not necessarily a request for information, instead it may be a request to hurry.
Similarly, an interrogative sentence is not necessarily a question but a way of communicating information or an attempt to express hostility towards others. The exclamation "Good Lord, it's late!" may in the context be a request to hurry.
What is imperative or informative may in the actual context function expressively.
When a person remarks, "it is raining", the proposition asserted is about the weather, not about the speaker. Y et making the assertion is evidence that the speaker believes it to be raining, which is a fact about the speaker.
It may also happen that people make statements not for the sake of giving information about themselves but simply as a way of saying something else.
To say, "I believe that gold not be used as a standard for currency," is ordinarily not to be constructed as a psychological report about the beliefs of the speaker, but simply as a way of recommending that gold should not be so used.
In other words, a language serves multiple functions.
Effective communication demands certain combinations of functions.
We succeed in causing others to act, evoking in them appropriate attitudes and sometimes by giving them information that affects their relevant beliefs.
Meaning and context are complementary. No meaning can be possible without context. The external meaning is not expressed in words. Even if we are silent we can point out the meaning without using verbal signs or suggestions.
A sentence has a certain structure through which certain information is carried.
But in some cases, the ideas or sentences fail to bear appropriate message or information thereby creating fallacies.
Conflicts are inevitable when a number of people are working together. Conflicts are defined as differences in opinion or some kind of disagreement between two or more parties.
Conflicts need to be peacefully resolved. They are constructive in the sense that they guide solutions by means of interaction.
If the parties are free from fear and create a congenial atmosphere, resolution seems possible to a great extent. It is necessary to find out the best alternatives that lead to a win-win kind of an outcome. The involved parties may also adopt a middle path to reach a resolution.
The parties can also break distrust by creating a feeling of trust. There always remains the point of agreement that encourages friendly situations in which they become determined to share value, customs and traditions.
In a deductive argument, we reach a conclusion because of all the general principles and understanding.
A conclusion is reached because of the apparent logic within the context of the situations whereas the induction method works by analogy.
A problem shared is a problem halved. When we share our problem with someone and they share with us, then both problems seem easier. Sometimes the collective human consciousness puts down certain things on us to deal with. Co-operation is vital because it works better.
It lasts and makes an impact on our life. It promotes equity and inclusiveness and empowers communities Community development cannot operate in a vacuum but needs coordination by means of dialogue.
In the wider process of problem solving, decision-making involves choosing between physical solutions to a problem.
One can be a skillful decision maker provided he has enough information, guided by integrity and zero vested interests and no emotional attachment.
It may be appropriate to share what the Buddha said: "Look back and get experience, look forward and see hope, look around and find reality and look within and find yourself". Critical thinking leads to mental preparedness and independence.
There are certain ways to cultivate the habits of critical thinking.
All these skills improve the capabilities and clarity of the mind of a critical thinker, such as observing, concentrating, analysing opinions and ideas, evidence verifying, awareness and sensitivity in the use of words and understanding fallacies.
Sharma is Associate Professor in English, Mechi Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University
A version of this article appears in the print on May 12, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
