Critical Thinking? You’re not supposed to know about that!

Truth vs Lies

Critical thinking has a bad reputation in the twenty-first century. People tend to look at it suspiciously. This is partly because of its background. Critical thinking is especially taught at colleges, and as a preparation course for young students hoping to attend the most prestigious universities like Oxford or Harvard. This means that critical thinking is especially used by those annoying, young, affluent intellectual-types who you can usually find making horrible comments on Facebook. Just imagine the kind of person who would actually say, in an ordinary conversation, ‘I think you’ll find that argument is non-sequitur’. The person making this statement is often trying to silence you with the tools of their education.

But critical thinking has another side. A big part of critical thinking is learning how to avoid being manipulated by those with power. We can do this partly by always being aware of who profits from a statement. I reckon lots of people get that same strange feeling when listening to politicians – also lawyers, salespeople & managers – like a slug is sliming its way up your neck. When you’ve been trained in critical thinking you are able to explain exactly what is wrong with what the politicians are saying. Usually it’s because, in posh critical thinking terms, they appeal to pathos and ethos not to logos and pass off opinions as facts; meaning they don’t have any evidence and anytime they show emotion it is fake. These people aren’t attacking you like the bully with the critical thinking skills, but they are trying to manipulate you and you can’t trust them either.

Most of us don’t want to be that internet bully, but it’s important not to be put off by the way critical thinking is misused. Critical thinking is one of those very few skills you can learn which makes the world seem more transparent and makes it harder for you to be used. Those of us experienced in critical thinking are not easily bullied by over-educated Facebook trolls because our arguments are legitimate, and we aren’t scared of big words. We also (usually!) can’t be manipulated by politicians, sales-people or lawyers because we can recognise when they are being fake and sort through the lies and irrelevant arguments.

Here at the Academy for Distance Learning we offer the online University Preparation Course which teaches our learners the basic writing and thinking skills which are usually reserved only for students who have been to elite colleges, universities and prep-schools. Give it a go!

LEAVE A REPLY

BLOG CATEGORIES

MOST POPULAR

Easter 2025 Opening Hours

Easter Opening Hours We will close on Thursday 17th April at 4.30pm and then re- open again on Tuesday 22nd April at 9am due to the Easter break. Feel free to email as normal or leave a message on live chat or on our answerphone 01227 789649 over the weekend and we will get back

Read More »

Christmas 2024 Opening Hours

Merry Christmas, here are the ADL opening hours for Christmas 2024: Monday 23rd December – 9am to 5pm Tuesday 24th December – CLOSED Christmas eve Wednesday 25th December – CLOSED Christmas DAY Thursday 26th December – CLOSED Boxing Day Friday 27th December – CLOSED Monday 30th December – 10am -4pm Tuesday 31st December – 10am

Read More »

At ADL we focus on helping you learn! You have the opportunity to interact one to one with our tutors, so you can approach learning in whatever way and speed that best suits you. This individual service not normally found at most colleges, contributes to successful learning. You decide how you wish to receive your

Read More »

Water Gardening Site Selection

Things to Consider When Selecting Your Water Garden Location Have you ever dreamed of building a Water Garden, but just didn’t know where to start?  ADL’s online certificate course in Water Gardeng provides the necessary knowledge and skills to help you get started. The first thing is to decide on the location of your water

Read More »

SIGNUP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER

Scroll to Top

REQUEST A CALLBACK

To speak to one of our course advisors, please enter your name and phone number below and click the "Please Call Me" button. We will call you back as soon as possible!

By submitting this form, I provide my consent to ADL to contact me via email or telephone, regarding the course I selected. All information provided is protected in conformity with our Privacy Policy.

CONTACT US

required fields are marked with *

By submitting this form, I provide my consent to ADL to contact me via email or telephone, regarding the course I selected. All information provided is protected in conformity with our Privacy Policy.