Murder of Critical Thinking

Public and everyday discourse is symptomatic of the critical condition of critical thinking in Pakistan. Critical thinking was never common or robust, even in the so-called intelligentsia of the country, let alone ordinary citizens. However, the phrase› critical thinking’ is heard occasionally, which, like so many other words and phrases used in the country, has become vacuous and meaningless. Therefore, a brief detour into the basics of thinking and critical thinking is necessary.

Thinking is part of the human genetic endowment, which, however, evolves through cognitive development stages, which start at birth and continue through infancy, childhood, and adolescence. As children develop intellectually, their thinking becomes increasingly sophisticated, peaking roughly around age 12 and upwards, when, ideally, the potential to think critically develops. That is, there is an increase in the use of logic, deductive and abstract reasoning, thinking scientifically, and seeing multiple potential solutions to problems. Such thinking starts by examining personal, moral, philosophical, social, or political problems.

In theory, by the last stage of cognitive development, the individual can think critically. However, reaching that stage of cognitive development is not wired in, and some may never achieve it, which seems to be the case for most people visible in public discourse, and by projection, one can conclude that that is also true for most of our adult population.

Even if critical thinking abilities remain undeveloped, everyone nevertheless does think. However, most such thinking tends to be egocentric, not necessarily logical, biased, partial, uninformed, prejudiced, or not fully based on facts and evidence. Yet the decisions we make, the actions we take, the things we produce, and the overall quality of our life are a function of the quality of our thought. And shoddy and flawed thinking is costly in societal progress.

Critical thinking, on the other hand, is founded on globally accepted intellectual canons like being evidence-based, logical, and rational. It is the intellectually disciplined process of conceptualizing, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information, which can guide belief, help in decision-making, and strategies feasible action. The outcomes of critical thought have clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, depth, breadth, and fairness. Further, critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective. In short, critical thinking is the cross-cutting factor for progress in the fields of knowledge in particular and individual and human progress in general.

Thinking critically is a personality disposition. Exemplary critical thinkers are keenly aware of the inherently flawed nature of human and their thinking. They strive to diminish the power of their irrationality, prejudices, biases, uncritical acceptance of social rules and taboos, egocentric and socio-centric tendencies, and thinking simplistically about complicated issues. They recognize that critical thinking requires life-long practice and ongoing self-improvement. Most critical thinkers demonstrate intellectual integrity, humility, civility, empathy, and a sense of justice. They embody the Socratic principle that “An unexamined life is not worth living” because they realize that, as in Pakistan, many unexamined lives result in an unjust and dangerous world and impede progress.

Critical thinking must be cultivated, which is a function of multiple determinants, and in that regard, the dice are loaded against it in a country like ours. At the broadest level are our society’s prevailing culture and traditions, which reward conformity in thought and behaviour, and discourage or punish questioning and independent thought. Another important determinant is formal education, which schools, colleges, and universities provide. However, at all levels, our education system and educational institutions discourage critical and independent thinking rather than fostering it, which is the broader purpose of education. Finally, our public discourse is a major contributor to the perpetuation and spread of flawed thinking. Barring very few exceptions, public discourse in Pakistan is replete with biases, irrationality, personalization, egocentrism, and inattention to or distortion of facts. So, the ordinary citizen is exposed to the murder of critical thinking 24/7.

The deterioration of critical thought and erosion of logic is so ascendant that those engaging in logical fallacies, irrationality, anecdotes, personal attacks, and plain lies are the ones who are allowed to speak and have buy-in: As a result, those arguing logically and rationally are prevented from speaking or do not have many takers. Most of the so-called intelligentsia do not challenge flawed thinking and, in fact, contribute to it. Frequent and widespread public display of flawed thinking is highly pernicious as it becomes the norm, and there is a vicious cycle of perpetuation and entrenchment of such thinking.
Motivationally, someone may indulge in flawed thinking intentionally, another without awareness: If the former, then there is Machiavellianism, and if the latter, then there is intellectual poverty and an indication that critical thinking abilities are poorly developed, if at all. And often, one sees a mix of both.

Pragmatically, in our case, most decisions and actions of the ruling elites are based on flawed thinking, which has had profoundly tragic consequences for individuals, society, the rule of law, and the state. Interestingly, perhaps because of their blatant irrationality, falsity, and flouting of norms of logic and natural justice, increasing numbers of ordinary folk now seem able to see through them. Paradoxically, instead of recognizing and correcting flaws in their thinking and practices that flow from such thinking, the ruling elites continue upping the ante in word and deed, which feeds greater disbelief, mistrust, uncertainty, fear, and anger and breeds further tragedies and turmoil.

Finally, only rare individuals are critical thinkers through and through, or all the time, for all issues. Most of us think critically only to a certain degree and only some of the time on some matters. Therefore, the practice of critical thinking is a lifelong endeavor. The starting point must be recognizing flaws in one’s thinking, which is difficult for anyone, especially those living in our current psycho-socio-cultural environment. Only when such self-examination starts and continues does it become possible to recognize flawed thinking in others, arrive at a more accurate understanding of the world, and enhance the chances of individual and societal progress. However, in that regard, most key players of our ruling elites and visible intelligentsia are heading in the opposite direction, from which nothing good can come.