I post about my classes as because it is part of my current life. Although the class was last mod, it still affects me, and I didn't have time to post last month as I may have this month. I had two classes last mod, but don't generally post about my assignments or discussions in accounting. They're boring. Even my instructor said they were boring. That made me laugh. The subject of accounting is so one dimensional. Answers have to be exact. Everything is black and white. Blah, blah, blah . . .
Critical thinking, on the other hand, teaches aspects of human behavior and the way our minds work. There isn't right and wrong in the same sense as accounting. Not everything is black and white as with math. Not only is there a huge variety of grey shades, but huge explosions of many colors. Perhaps I should have gone into journalism . . .
I've shared a bit of my assignments and discussions from my critical thinking and feel the desire to share more as there is always more than one side to the story or situation and I need to learn how to accept both (or all) side.
Roland was getting on my case for not posting to the discussion board first thing on Monday morning, but we had specifically been told NOT to post until after we had received further instructions in the lecture itself. The first week's discussion was to define critical thinking and include examples of how we think in various settings such as social, political, environmental and religious, which are most important and why. This is what I posted to my first discussion:
"Economically: When we lived in Salt Lake, we always had a tremendous amount of garbage to fill our cans each week. The sanitation program in the area had recently sent around flyers to introduce a recycling program, and we could pay to have a recycling can for about the third of another garbage can.
"I accepted offer believing that I was helping the economy in addition to having more room for whatever I was disposing of. Problem is the men in my household refused to learn to sort - which is more crucial now that we live in Oregon than we did in Salt Lake.
"I view that recycling helps create jobs; my husband looks at recycling as more cost to us both financially and time-consuming.
"Politically: I have always had a problem with the media's interference announcing the outcome of an election before everyone on the west coast has even had a chance to vote; some voters get cocky thinking their candidate is going to win as it was announced and may not even bother going to the polls. The media is not always a reliable source and sometimes the cockiness has cost those who didn't vote because they believed they had it in the bag [I think the results of this last Presidential Election for example]
"Socially: Salt Lake felt like it was all about business and growing. No one could leave the house without marketing being thrown in our faces. Life depended on gain.
"Here, in the part of Oregon where I currently reside, they have no clue what marketing is. They have social events to bring the community together - not necessarily to raise money. We're a close-knit community. I prefer the simplicity. My husband likes the complex. I Hate competition. He sees it as necessary.
"Religion: The population of the area I currently reside is less than 3500 and yet there are 17 denominations of faith. It's good to have a place to meet and share Christian beliefs (or what have you) but there are certain sectors that are ousted by others. For example, we recently asked to use one of the rooms in the LDS church we attend; we needed space to host my daughter's birthday party as there were several friends that she wanted to invite - more than our house would hold; we needed a larger space but without a large cost. Some of the kids she had invited couldn't come because their parents didn't want for them to be in an LDS church specifically.
"I think the most important issue to me is how we interact with one another and how we're accepted. I love the friendships I have made within this community. I am not suspicious of people as I was in Salt Lake - often wondering what a person wanted from me or what he/she was trying to sell. I like having friends who are interested in real friendships and not just what I can do for their business or political career."
