Recent op-eds appearing in WHT were critical of one of WHT’s regular contributors — Mikie Kerr, “Constitutional Corner.” I, too, have criticized Ms. Kerr on several occasions when, in my opinion, she crossed the line separating political partisanship (tribalism) and thoughtful analysis.
Yale Law Professor Amy Chua’s newest book “Political Tribes” explains: “For 200 years whites in America represented an undisputed politically, economically and culturally dominant majority. When a political tribe is so overwhelmingly dominant, it can persecute with impunity, but it can also be more generous. It can afford to be more universalist, more enlightened, more inclusive, like the WASP elites of the 1960s who opened up the Ivy League colleges to more Jews, blacks and other minorities — in part because it seemed like the right thing to do.”
Chua is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
“Today, no group in America feels comfortably dominant. Every group feels attacked, pitted against other groups not just for jobs and spoils but for the right to define the nation’s identity. In these conditions, democracy devolves into zero-sum group competition — pure political tribalism.” (Political Tribes, Chua).
While political tribalism is nothing new to American society, our latest round of “let the games begin” was the dispiriting political campaign culminating in the November 2016 election which has cast a pall above this nation like no other in our history, save perhaps the Civil War. In this writer’s humble opinion, the absence — no, the resentment — of critical thinking by these tribes will drive us to the brink.
The process of critical thinking requires effort. It is often avoided, sometimes out of laziness but more so out of fear that long held beliefs will not withstand fair and reasoned analysis.
Nonetheless, it is essential to making decisions which affect our families, friends, our nation and the world of which we are a part. It is certainly important to our judgments which place individuals into positions of authority and power over our very lives.
The American Philosophical Association has defined critical thinking as “the process of purposeful, self-regulatory judgment. The process gives reasoned consideration to evidence, contexts, conceptualizations, methods, and criteria” (1990). Critical thinking is sometimes broadly defined as “thinking about thinking.” It includes the ability to interpret, verify, and reason, all of which involve applying the principles of logic.
It is intended to guide behavior and beliefs. Several skill sets are required:
* Having the ability to understand the information you are being presented with and being able to communicate the meaning of that information to others.
* Having the ability to connect pieces of information together in order to determine what the intended meaning of the information was meant to represent.
* Being able to evaluate the credibility of statements or descriptions of a person’s experience, judgment or opinion in order to measure the validity of the information being presented.
* Having the ability to not only restate information but add clarity and perspective to the information so it can be fully understood by anyone you are sharing it with.
* Having the awareness of your own thinking abilities and the elements that you are using to find results.
Now, think about your decisions past and future.
Edward H. Schulman is an attorney in Kailua-Kona.