Controversial Topics: Questioning Concepts & Impediments
In a supplemental guide to your Nosich text, the critical thinking scholars explain that concepts are “ideas we use in thinking. They enable us to group things in our experience in different categories, classes, or divisions. They are the basis of labels we give things in our minds. They represent our mental map of the world telling us how things operate and what to expect of them. Through our concepts we define situations, events, relationships, and objects of our experience” (11). Interestingly enough, we conceptualize things each day. Some questions we ask are simple and have simple answers, while others are much more complex and lead to further issues and discussion points. …show more content…
What topic did you select? Please write out the main debate in one sentence. For example, some critics believe the grass is always greener, while others think it is a myth.
Some critics call it reductive and dangerous, but the Black Lives Matter movement is heralded by others as a movement for real change in our society.
2. Why did you select this topic? How invested are you? (think personally?)
I chose this subject because I personally think this movement is changing America for the better. I’m heavily invested, because I think that our country needs real revolutionary change to come even close to the equality rhetoric we spout all the time. If one person is not equal, no one is.
3. Attempt to write a thesis about your topic. A typical thesis will function this way. YOUR OPINION + 3 REASONS WHY. Example, I am against eating oranges, not only because I dislike the color, but they are messy, and difficult to peel.
I believe that Black Lives Matter is a true movement for change because it brings people together, it calls to the heart of the problem, and it has influenced real, visible …show more content…
This article claims that BLM is accusing the police system and government are monolithic entities against black people. That isn’t the point of the movement, at least not the movement as a whole. Just like any civil rights issue, a grassroots movement spread across the nation is bound to have people who believe different things involved. Part 2: Impediments
Now that you’ve gotten a chance to think about your articles and controversial topic, I want you to list out some impediments you think you may have in dealing with this topic. For example, one impediment I have in looking at capital punishment is my blind acceptance of authority figures, or perhaps my egocentric perspective. List three, and explain in a sentence or two:
1. Impediment: I have a personal tendency to see criticism as extremely negative. This is a hindrance to my own personal growth sometimes, so I can see that sometimes it can impede my thinking critically.
2. Impediment: I get over emotional when it comes to issues like race, feminism, etc. I tend to tie myself to the cause without thinking sometimes, which leads to bias against people with different opinions.
3. Impediment: I sometimes shut down other people’s opinions just because I don’t agree with them. This is no way to have a real debate, but logic and practice are often two very different