The Seeking Flaws In Elbow's Idea Of Critical Thinking

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From the beginning of human consciousness, mankind has been obsessed with the question, “why”. From “why do animals have fur,” to “why do I live,” humans have searched for answers, leading to the development of critical thinking. But what is critical thinking? According to an essay by Peter Elbow, called The Doubting Game and the Believing Game, critical thinking is ordinarily defined as seeking flaws in arguments. However, Elbow believes that it is only a part of critical thinking, which he calls the doubting game. Elbow’s idea of critical thinking involves not only the doubting game, but the believing game as well. To understand Elbow’s view of critical thinking, one must first understand what the two games are. The doubting game is the seeking of flaws in arguments as mentioned above. However, the believing game is the opposite. Instead of seeking flaws in an idea, one believes the idea in …show more content…

However, in his recommendation, he assumes that there is some degree of truth in at least one of the ideas being analyzed, and that human intellectual processes include both capability and willingness to find that truth. Sometimes, people find things other than truth easier to believe, as it might protect the world views that make them feel safe. For example, the illusion of being informed presented by the media, the internet, and world leaders. People tend to feel safer thinking that they know what is going on, even if evidence suggests that they might not. The information presented might have some truth to it or be total fabrications, and many people feel safer assuming that it is true. Elbow also assumes that only one of the ideas is the truth when, in fact, both ideas may contain some degree of truth. Of course, if human intellectual processes are used correctly, truth can be found through critical thinking as Elbow suggests in either

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