“Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you’re thinking in order to make your thinking better”         -Richard Paul

Who am I?

Hi, my name is Paulina Garcia de Leon and 

I´m 17 years old. This is my critical thinking blog. Right now I´m coursing second semester of high school in the Prepa Tec. I´m a realistic and a well being person. I like sports, music, singing, culture, and more.

What do you like to do to develop the skills and critical thinker?

I can apply and develop critical thinking skills in many things in life. An example could be in making decisions, for example in choosing in which career I would like to study but analyzing it first. Also I can apply critical while working in teams. It´s good to be analytic in life, you can see things different by looking them in different perspectives. One basic thing first you need to do is to construct arguments.

What do you do to know you or your fellow friends or family as a critical thinker?

When I hear the phrase “critical thinking” the first thing that comes in my mind is to see the things in a different way. It is not only to see the negative side of things, in fact it is to see its positive and negative sides of a problem, to think further than the normal, and to evaluate it. Some main points to know if you’re a critical thinker are: you see different views of people, you don’t believe weird reasons of other people, you ask the question “why” in many situations and you ask a lot of questions about everything.

What suggestions do you have for those around you who are critical thinkers?

Keep being a critical because it is a great and useful tool that will help you solve problems in your life. One suggestion for those who are critical thinkers is to consider opposing points of view, analyze the reasoning of your arguments, ask yourself a lot of questions, focus on the important reasons, take the arguments as conclusions and make them simply, represent your arguments using visual stuff, and not be just be critical on the others works, be critical in both, yours and the others.

What is Critical Thinking?

Critical Thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking.

Critical Thinking is purposeful, reflective judgment that manifests itself in giving reasoned and fair-minded consideration to evidence, conceptualizations, methods, contexts, and standards in order to decide what to believe or what to do.

Critical thinking skills are used to engage purposeful and reflective judgment.

 Those Critical Thinking skills are able to do the following :

–     understand the logical connections between ideas

–     identify, construct and evaluate arguments

–     detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning

–     solve problems systematically

–     identify the relevance and importance of ideas

–     reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values

                References: James Kurtz´s Power Points Presentations

Critical Thinkers

“I think that little by little I'll be able to solve my problems and survive.” - Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo

   The Mexican female painter, Frida Kahlo, was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacan, Mexico. Her father was Guillermo Kahlo, a German-Hungarian ancestor. He was the son of a painter. Her mother, Matilde Calderon, was a Mexican. When she was three years old in 1910, the Mexican Revolution began. When she was six, she got polio, which caused her to have diseases and to have difficulties in the leg and spinal development. At the age of eighteen she had a serious accident and had a temporary state of immobilization during which she learned to paint. Initially she painted self-portraits because the spent a lot of time alone during her incapacitation. Because she had great pain she reflected it in her paintings. Most of her symbolic paintings were of physical and psychological wounds. Frida made personal and deeply metaphorical paintings because of her sensibleness and events that shaped her life. Some people believed she painted surrealism but no, she only painted the reality. Years later she married to a Mexican painter, Diego Rivera. They had a turbulent marriage and got divorced later, because of the infidelity of both. It is said that Frida was bisexual. In 1939, The Louvre museum brought the first Mexican painting of the 20^th century, “The Frame”, which is a painting of hers. She died on July 13, 1954 because of a pulmonary embolism.

I chose Frida Kahlo because she had a desire to succeed, because she painted her feelings and pain, and because even though she was immobilized, nothing prevented her to live her life fully and obtain professional and personal achievements. In few words the expressed to live your life fully despite the circumstances you are passing.

Her impact on the world was to be recognized as a talented Mexican painter, se became a successful artist while she was overcoming some obstacles.

I learned from Frida to live life to the fullest whiles having problems and to solve them.

This is a picture of one of her paintings named "Without Hope":

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“I will build a car for the great multitude”

– Henry Ford

Henry Ford

Automobile manufacturer Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863 in Dearborn, Michigan. Since he was young, he enjoyed repairing and improving machines. Later he worked in a machine shop in Detroit that allowed him to afford him opportunities to experiment. He later worked as a part-time employee for the Westinghouse Engine Company. By 1896, Ford sold his first horseless carriage, which he had constructed.

In 1903, Ford incorporated the Ford Motor Company. One of his quotes that made me think he´s a critical thinker is the following: "I will build a car for the great multitude."- Henry Ford. In October 1908, he offered the Model T for $950, which lasted nineteen years of production. But its price dipped as low as $280. Nearly 15,500,000 cars were sold in the United States. The Model T made the mark of the beginning of the Motor Age. At first the car was interpreted as luxury but it ended as an essential transportation for the ordinary man. That didn´t stopped Ford, he revolutionized manufacturing.

By 1914 he had a factory that allowed him to innovative production techniques which made completes base frames of a motor vehicle every 93 minutes, this was a stunning improvement. Ford organized an assembly line, he made subdivision of labor, he made maintain coordination of operations, and all this made Ford gain huge productivity.

Impact:

In 1914, Ford began paying his employees five dollars per day. He converted the factory to a three-shift workday. Ford's techniques would eventually allow for the manufacture of the Model T every 24 seconds. All these innovations made him an international celebrity.

Ford made the Model T affordable, so that altered the American society because more Americans started to owned cars. The United States saw the importance of the creation of a highway system, and people saw the possibility of going anywhere anytime while having a car.

I chose Henry Ford because fought to improve machines and motor machines, and even though at the beginning he had little money, he worked to gain more to reach his dreams and at the end of all fights he ended as the founder of Ford automobiles. Now a day this mark of automobiles does exist and people still buy it because their cars are quite good.

I learned from Ford that he fight to improve his own automobiles. He always gave his best. Here´s a quote I learned from him: “Failure is simply an opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently” - Henry Ford.

The following picture is the Henry Ford's Model T automobile:

Examples of Inductive and Deductive Reasoning with Sherlok Holmes below:

What is a fallacy?

Fallacies are defects in an argument which cause an argument to

be invalid, unsound or weak.

Fallacies on life:

Fallacies are often used when somebody wants to convince you of something that has little support in fact.

They are also commonly used to distract attention away when needed.

Who uses them the most?

Fallacies are a useful tool for good salespersons, politicians and

lawyers.

Fallacies are especially used in advertising products.

Logical Fallacies:

• “Ad Hominem” (Argument against the man):

This commonly used in debates and in politics,

Ad hominem attacks your opponent's character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their argument and causing doubt on their character. The two ideas are not connected.

Examples:

-"Don't trust my opponent's tax policy, he cheats on his wife!"

- “Don’t listen to Eddie’s arguments on education, he’s an idiot.”

-After a woman politician presents a persuasive and fascinating

case for a more decent taxation system, a person asks the

audience whether we should believe anything from a woman who

isn't married, was once arrested, and smells a bit weird.

• Beggining the Question:

Is a fallacy in which the premises include the claim that the

conclusion is true. Begging the question is a form of circular

reasoning. Examples of begging the

question are commonly seen in arguments

about religion.

Examples:

- “If aliens didn’t steal my newspaper, who did?”

- X person: "God must exist."

Y person: "How do you know."

X person: "Because the Bible says so."

Y person: "Why should I believe the

                 Bible?"

X person: "Because the Bible was written

by God."

-"Since firefighters must be strong men willing to face danger

every day, it follows that no woman can be a firefighter."

-The order and magnificence of the world is evidence of God's

Creation.

Therefore, we know that God exists.

-Abortion is unjust murder.

Murder is illegal.

Therefore abortion should be made illegal, since it is

murder.

• Appeal to Popularity:

This type of fallacy is when someone tries to validate a statement based on the number of people that support or do not support the statement.

Examples:

- “Lots of people bought this album, so it must be good.”

- "I read the other day that most people really like the new gun

control laws. I was sort of suspicious of them, but I guess if most

people like them, then they must be okay."

-“Look at how many people people believe in God, he obviously

must exist”

-Many people once thought the earth was flat, this certainly

didn’t make it so.

References:

Cline, Austin. (2014). What is a fallacy. Understanding Defective

Arguments. Retieved from

     http://atheism.about.com/od/logicalfallacies/a/overview.htm

Fallacies on Life. (s.f.) In Logical Fallacies in Everyday Use from h2g2.com. Retieved from

     http://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A3816795

Ad Hominem Fallacy. (s.f.). In Your Logical Fallacy is Ad Hominem from yourlogicalfallacyis.com. Retieved from

     https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem

Beginning the Question Fallacy. (2012). In Fallacy: Begging the Question from www.nizkor.org. Retieved from

     http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/begging-the-question.html

Joseph. (2011). Fallacy Popularity. Appeal to Popularity. Retieved from

     http://logical-critical-thinking.com/logical-fallacy/appeal-to-popularity/

Taller Vertical
THE GRAT IDEA!

In the Taller Vertical our assignment was to do something as a change agent. My group and me wanted to save the water in Mexico using a new system.

Did you know that…

Every time you wash your hands you spend from 10 to 15 liters?

Our solution

Implement a water recycling system where water from the bathroom sink is reused for the toilet flushes

Who are we?

We’re a campaign that is looking to save the water by using a new system which filters the water that is used in the bathroom sink and then it passes to the bath tank so later that water can be reused, saving liters of water that normally are spend.

Our project:

 Pedir ayuda al Tec, y apoyo a las asociaciones que tienen el poder y las ganas de ayudar. Empezar con instalar estos sistemas en escuelas como el Tec y en casas particulares. Cada vez poco a poco se expandira la idea y llegara a todo el pais y despues al mundo.

Involucrate y se parte del cambio que revolucionara el futuro.

-Todos juntos podemos hacer un cambio. Instalemos estos sistemas para salvar el agua del mundo. Ahorrando agua del lavabo para el inodoro

Amor Azul

Like our Facebook page! There´s a link below: 

https://www.facebook.com/Amorazulcuidaelagua?fref=ts

Visit our website there you will find more information about our project:

http://ferchizvalle.wix.com/amorazul

Watch our Youtube video!

-El mundo se esta quedando sin agua limpia, la poca que tenemos hay que ahorrarla-

Eureka Essay

Because I was sick and didn’t had the experience of Eureka, I asked some friends about their experiences, about what something new they learned from their kid and from themselves.

Starting with Arturo, he told me that his kid told him that where he lives, there is no pavement and that the kid also thought that the Tec was like a city. Even though Arturo spend little time with the kid, named Francisco, Arturo figured out how was his attitude and how the way he was. At the end of the day of Eureka, Arturo became attached to his kid and the both of them experienced love.

The next experience I’m going to describe about is Andrea’s. The name of Andrea’s kid was Beto. Andrea learned that the kid really loves to be riding in the bicycle; they spent all the day literally on the bike. Andrea figured out that she isn’t that bad taking care of the children. Also, she became attached to her kid at the end of the day. She learned that by using adequate love, everything can response lovely and with respect.

I will continue with the experience of Guiomar’s. She was in charge of the snacks of our taller. She learned to appreciate the things you have, especially with food, because not all people have the same opportunities to live with. She figured out that at lunchtime, the kids were really hungry and enjoyed the food she gave them.

The last experience I’m going to redact is Ximena’s. Her kid was named Cristian. She learned from he kid that he really love to read because he got amused when he entered to the lecture talleres. She learned that you always have to be kind with everyone because you never know when people can give you a hand. Ximena learned from herself that she loves to meet those had of people and that she loves to help people with any kid of stuff.

Here's a link of a video from the Eureka Event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW9_3xi4fC8

Fringe Claims

The North Koreans are about to launch a nuclear attack

I . North Korea is looking for an excuse to launch a devastating nuclear attack on the South     in this 2014.

II. South Korea reacted furiously because of an open letter they received demanding an end to all military exercise, which was sent by North Korea.

III. The rapidly escalating row is evocative of last year's clash between the two countries, warning of a "pre-emptive nuclear strike" against America, which is the South's key ally.

IV. Furiously South Korean spoke that the North was trying to engineer a full-blown military confrontation in the coming months.

V. In March 2013,again, North Korea intended to inflict an hostile action to the South and the US following the "Foal Eagle" (annual drill)

VI. A former senior of the White House adviser on Asia, announced the increasing instability and paranoia within the North Korean regime.

    North Korea is looking for an excuse to launch a devastating nuclear attack on the South in this 2014. South Korea reacted furiously because of an open letter they received demanding an end to all military exercise, which was sent by North Korea.

Seoul, the capital of South Korea, immediately responded to the "provocative act" by launching artillery practice, they announced to push ahead with huge joint army drills with the United States soon.

The rapidly intensify row is evocative of last year's clash between the two countries, warning of a "pre-emptive nuclear strike" against America, which is the South's key ally.

North Korea says: “What is important for paving a wide avenue between North and South relations, is to make a decision to stop all unfriendly military acts”. Although South Korean didn’t change of attitude; they are still in negative stand.

Furiously South Korean spoke that the North was trying to engineer a full-blown military confrontation in the coming months. The tensions are because the North's military provocations, which they can be resolved if North Korea stop their aggressive and unfriendly rhetoric.

In March 2013,again, North Korea intended to inflict a hostile action to the South and the US following the "Foal Eagle" (annual drill)

Also Kim Jong-un, North's dictator, claimed to have executed his own uncle. The secretive communist state denounced Kim's adviser, because he was seizing power and was corrupted. Later he was shot.

A former senior of the White House adviser on Asia, announced the increasing instability and paranoia within the North Korean regime. He said: “If he has to go as high as purging and then executing Jang, it tells you that everything's not normal“.

Below there´s a video that supports the possible launching of the nuclear attack of the North Koreans:

Thanks for visiting my blog!!!