Critical Thinking

In the previous article Seven Liberal Arts, we looked at some explanations of three widely asked questions – why ‘seven‘, why ‘liberal‘ and why ‘arts‘?

Three short videos explain these questions simply and concisely.

So, now you know what they are but do you know what can you do with them?

It may look complicated and ‘antiquated‘ at first but as with all things, the explanations and applications can be broken down into bite-size chunks.

Firstly, we have the Trivium which is the first group of arts, unsurprisingly relating to ‘three’ subjects – ‘trivium’ means ‘three paths’.

Grammar is the art of inventing symbols and combining them to express thought; logic is the art of thinking; and rhetoric is the art of communicating thought from one mind to another, the adaptation of language to circumstance. — Sister Miriam Joseph, The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric (2002)

The Trivium teaches us: How to think, not what to think

1. Grammar: the study of words, language and communication – the art of combining letters, sounds and words; defining and establishing the norms of words and language. This all relies on input – data or information gathering without prejudice or bias – ‘Who’, ‘What’, ‘Where’, ‘When’.

2. Logic: the study of reasoning – the art of thinking and sorting information; the analysis and appraisal of arguments; validating the premise and conclusion. It is the processing, analysis and understanding – of having curiosity and sound reasoning – the ‘Why’?

3. Rhetoric: the study and art of communication/persuasive reasoning – it is the culmination of mastering the previous two arts of Grammar – communication, and Logic – thinking. This allows us to express a logic-based thesis, concept or idea – the ‘How’.

It is a given that the Trivium arts are to be studied before moving onto the Quadrivium – for medieval students of the liberal arts, it was the equivalent of an undergraduate course.

The Quadrivium – ‘four’ arts – it’s all about numbers and the study of pattern recognition in science and nature:

1. Arithmetic: the study of numbers

2. Geometry: the study of numbers in space

3. Music: the study of numbers in time/interval (harmony/ratio)

4. Astronomy: the study of numbers in space and time

This is a superb video by Suburban Homestead Outfitters, which simply and eruditely sums up how we can use the seven liberal arts in the methodology of critical thinking.

In the video the presenter makes the crucial point that: ‘today instead of a logic-based culture, we have become an emotional-based culture subject to the influence of carefully crafted manipulation designed to target primal desires and emotions over our intellect’.

This is something we are faced with on a daily or even hourly basis when we watch the news, read a paper or magazine, or scroll through social media – every headline, every post, every Twitter feed, is guaranteed to elicit a response.

We spend a vast amount of our lives these days in a heady mix or confusion, frustration, anger, or just plain feeling offended.

Often we don’t even read the article/post or listen to the full report because our primal emotion-based brain has already gone into full flow.

We are not engaging critical thinking, or if we are, we may then be employing confirmation bias, logical fallacies, or cognitive dissonance and we end up having conflicting or biased assumptions (and feelings!) OK, too many confusing words?

Confirmation bias: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories.

Cognitive dissonance: the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioural decisions and attitude change.

Cognitive bias: an umbrella term that refers to the systematic ways in which the context and framing of information influence individuals’ judgment and decision-making.

source: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/cognitive-biases

So, how do we learn to make sound judgements from the information we are given?

Critical Thinking – the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement.

1. Gather your data – without prejudice/bias – whether that is the written word or through speech/language (Grammar)

2. Analyse and sort the data – eliminate contradiction and cross-reference to identify facts (Logic)

3. Express effectively what has been gathered, analysed, and validated in a logical-based explanation (Rhetoric)

So, as an example of how to combine the Trivium lessons – if I wanted to give a lecture, I would:

1. Research my subject, gathering information from books, articles, research papers etc; talking to others or watching/listening to media (Grammar)

2. Sort through all that information, analyse it to find out which of it is factual or mere conjecture. I would cross-reference and validate my findings, thus ensuring a result free from any biases or fallacies (Logic)

3. Finally after gathering and analysing my data (combining 1 & 2 above), I can give a factual, logic-based, organised speech, with a sound premise and conclusion (Rhetoric)

Studying and applying the liberal arts can help you in daily life, be it work, study, finances, and relationships. They can teach you how to:

• ask good questions
• formulate good answers
• conduct research and organize that material effectively
• write and communicate effectively
• be creative in thinking and doing
• problem solve – use pattern recognition and numerical skills
• engage in critical and reflective reading skills
• give constructive feedback and criticism
• analyse information and data without bias
• make your point clearly and coherently
• be respectful of others’ viewpoints
• have independent judgement
• make ethical decisions
• manage time, meet goals and deadlines, complete projects
• be self-confident and independent

Remember –  knowledge (arts) can set you free (libre)!