The interaction of critical and creative thinking

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As part of the course requirements for my SL Physics class, I was assigned the task of conducting numerous experiments relevant to the topics which we were learning about. In these experiments I used different forms of thinking, including critical and creative thinking, in order to form a hypothesis, analyze the data, and then come to a conclusion regarding results and my hypothesis. While knowledge can be formed through the interaction of critical and creative thinking, such as in my physics experiments, the statement given in the title implies that knowledge is solely generated through the interaction of critical and creative thinking. I intend to demonstrate that knowledge can be generated in other ways by showing that either critical or creative thinking alone can generate knowledge.

Before I can attempt to determine whether these processes can generate knowledge or not, I must decide how to determine whether or not the results of these processes constitute as knowledge. Unfortunately there exists no complete and closed definition as to what constitutes knowledge, and so I shall determine whether the results of a given process are true, as in order for something to be knowledge it must be true. I shall determine whether or not a given result is true by holding it to the correspondence, coherence, and pragmatic theories of truth, finding it to be true, and thus knowledge, if the result holds as true for all three theories.

The process of critical thinking is the process of using reason and logic in a structured manner to examine and analyze the knowledge that is already known by the knower. This process of applying critical thinking to prior knowledge is widely used in numerous areas of study, including mathematics, which b...

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...truly new. The application of both thought processes, such as in my physics experiments, allows for the generation of not only knowledge, but original knowledge instead of knowledge developed from prior knowledge. In the end, it was the application of multiple techniques, as opposed to just one, that led to the more interesting revelations.

Works Cited

• Bogomolny, Alexander. "Ptolemy's Theorem." Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles. N.p., 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. .

• Center for History of Physics. "The Expanding Universe." Cosmic Journey: A History of Scientific Cosmology. American Institute of Physics, 2011. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. .

• Crowell, Ben. "Conservation of Mass and Energy." Light and Matter. N.p., 2010. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. .

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