Consider this your open thread for the weekend, and for you lurkers, some food for thought: over the years, I've had dozens of people tell me how much they enjoy reading BlueNC, but they're "just not the writing type." Or something along those lines. When I peel a few layers, I often find they really don't believe they're qualified. Or maybe not so much "qualified" as they aren't confident enough in their analytical skills to hang their ass out to dry in a public forum. If you feel that way, consider these observations:
It is important to have a definition of critical thinking so that it can be compared and contrasted with other forms of thinking (i.e., non-critical thinking). For example, non-critical thinking can take the form of habitual thinking (thinking based on past practices without considering current data); brainstorming (saying whatever comes to mind without evaluation); creative thinking (putting facts, concepts and principles together in new and original ways); prejudicial thinking (gathering evidence to support a particular position without questioning the position itself); or emotive thinking (responding to the emotion of a message rather than the content.) Each of these types of thinking may have advantages and disadvantages relative to a particular context. There are situations when each might be more appropriate while the other types would be less appropriate.
Bolding mine, as it has bearing on how people value their own potential contributions here.
Thought processes are fluid, not static. Most people (including myself) cannot simply turn a dial to the "critical thinking" setting and begin churning out solid, substantive analyses. You very often get there by a circuitous route, dragged there by your own internal quality control agent, who is nominally employed by your ego. This is the guy who chimes in when you write things like, "Many people suffer from-" and before you can finish the sentence, there's a rude voice in your head saying, "How many people? You got a percentage in your pocket, or are you just guessing?" He can be a real jerk sometimes, but he really wants to know these things. Meaning, you really want to know these things, so you take a break from writing so you can find out.
In the beginning, there were words. And the words were good, but they could be better. This is how your thought processes "evolve" into something meaningful, and can be expressed in a way that others can also find meaningful. But even if they don't, that fact doesn't reverse the evolution that took place in your mind. That's particularly important when considering the possibility of being attacked by trolls or questioned and/or corrected by other members here. Which will happen, from time to time, when you put your words and thoughts out here for others to read.
But when that happens, remember which one of you has evolved, and which one hasn't.