Scholarly Inquiry FEU Gen Ed Prof. Leo F. Cada, Jr.

Barriers to Critical Thinking

By: Denis Korn

Name: Ciara Lynn A.Semilla

Section:117

Time/Room: EB305/7:30-9:00pm

Date submitted: April 23, 2020

Scholarly Inquiry FEU Gen Ed Prof. Leo F. Cada, Jr.

Barriers to Critical Thinking:

Based on the article by Denis Korn, it is our sole responsibility as a critical thinker to be

knowledgeable of the barriers and recognize the challenges it may produce. It is also our aim to

give the best of our ability to overcome such challenges we may face with these barriers. Two of

barriers that most strongly influence my critical thinking are: fear of being wrong or face-saving

and reliance on main stream television, newspaper and other media for information

1. Fear of being wrong or face-saving

Discussion (with at least one in-text citation):

The fear of being wrong is one of the worst feelings that someone could ever

imagine specifically if there are people around you witnessing it. In our society, making the

wrong decisions or giving a wrong answer seems like an invalidated doing; hence many people

are afraid to speak up. This kind of feeling is usually observed in the school environment where

many students are afraid to participate or give an answer when a particular argument or question

is being raise in a classroom setting. As a student, I fear that I have this feeling every time I’m

caught in that kind of situation. I wanted to speak up but this fear often wins against my

confidence because I was afraid that my answer could be ridiculous or nonsense or wrong. And

with this kind of feeling, I just prefer to stay silent rather than giving a different and meaningful

view that I have. I’d rather just conform and save my face from a nightmare of embarrassment.

As a result, rather than the thoughts or the thinking continue flowing, it stops and having the

chance to critical thinking is cut out.

Scholarly Inquiry FEU Gen Ed Prof. Leo F. Cada, Jr.

Moreover, the fear of being wrong is not actually the fear that we have, it is behind that

fear. I think students are not afraid to be wrong because what we really afraid of is the

embarrassment and the humiliation after that mere fear. Briggs (2014), pointed out that in

today’s society, making the wrong decision or giving the wrong answer is associated with

embarrassment, ridicule and reduced self-worth. She also stated that playing it safe may reduce a

student’s chance of rejection, but will also reduce their chance of learning, growing and

contributing something unique to the society.

2. Reliance on main stream television, newspaper and other media for information

Discussion (with at least one in-text citation):

With the modernized society of us, facts and information are easy to access on the

electronic devices that we have. The flow of information is continuous giving us better ideas to

provide solutions to complex problems in the society and even with our personal purposes.

Relying on the media to access information is indeed beneficial. However reliance also has its

downfall; it could decline critical thinking to humans as we prefer to rely more on the

information on the media and other electronic devices whenever we encounter problems. Relying

too much declines us to think deeply and personally as we consider information on the media

much better and valid. I myself, admit doing this, searching for information is a common thing

for me without realizing that I never think at all. According to Greengard (2009), although

computer technologies often enhances the human mind in the quest to store information, there is

an increasing concern that the same technologies is changing the way we approach complex

problems and making it more difficult to really think.

Scholarly Inquiry FEU Gen Ed Prof. Leo F. Cada, Jr.

Conclusion:

If I find that these barriers declines critical thinkin and drains outthe human brain, then I

think these means think these means that I certainly need to give the best that I can to overcome

the struggle and eventually free myself to express my ideas and thoughts and practice crtical

thinking. Therefore I conclude that I should never be afraid to give the wrong answer or even

save my face because to be a critical thinker, you should have the courage to voice out your ideas

that will even make you learn and grow. Another thing is I should limit myself relying too much

on the information stored in the internet and give myself a chance to think critically. By doing

this, I could make a contribution to the needs of the society.

Scholarly Inquiry FEU Gen Ed Prof. Leo F. Cada, Jr.

References:

Briggs, S. (2014, March 17). Overcoming the Fear of Being Wrong: 20 ways to help your
students.Retrieved from https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/overcoming-the-fear-of-
being-wrong/

Greengard, S.(2009). Are We Losing Our Ability to Think Critically? Retrieved from

https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2009/7/32082-are-we-losing-our-ability-to-think-

critically/fulltext

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