0801) It seems to me that the internet has as much, if not more, to offer the irrational thinkers as it does to the rational ones. True, never before have so many thinking people been able to access such a deep pool of information and discussion. But then, when else in the history of all human discourse and debate have we been faced with the consequences of so much anonymous opinion?

0642) It seems to me that cognitive dissonance, properly harnessed, not only has the potential of (by definition) upsetting the delicate balance between what we think we know and what we ought to know and thereby encouraging critical thought, but also of wedging open a space between those thoughts to allow the creative parts of our mind to fill in the gaps. Rational thought, then, might just be our ability to recognize that creativity and cross-check it with reality.

0133) It seems to me that education is neither simply a matter of exposing a brain to new information nor just the guided act of placing that information into a context that either challenges the existing information in that head or supporting it, but also the permission given to that mind to recombine our fresh information with their existing information to open spaces for brand new information.

0003) It seems to me that most of the Skeptics and other critical thinkers I’ve met do not vainly consider themselves adept at the task. Rather, having encountered the real consequences of failing to think critically about a situation, they have been the victims of scams, hoaxes, shams, woo, or various other manipulations of trust and loyalty. These haven’t been people trying to convert others to a cause, but they are rather more like a wandering hiker, having just tripped over a root in the forest, warning others they pass on the trail to watch their step on the rough ground ahead.

0555) It seems to me that many of the flaws in our critical thinking come from a desire — perhaps a socially-ingrained need — to be the first to contribute to a story or a narrative. We tend to over-value speed and under-value accuracy. As an extreme example, we tend to over-value Twitter and under-value published research. In the rush to have our names be synonymous with the torch-bearers of a new idea, we often forget that most great leaders are not the same people who rushed heart-strong into a challenge, but those that used their experience and information to carefully plan a measured strategy.

Your turn… altercate, argue, bounce off, canvass, compare notes, confabulate, confer, consider, consult with, contend, contest, converse, debate, deliberate, descant, discept, discourse about, discuss, dispute, examine, exchange views on, explain, figure, get together, go into, groupthink, hash over, hold forth, jaw, kick about, knock around, moot, reason about, review, sift, take up, thrash out, toss around and/or otherwise weigh in in the comments below.