Capella University Critical Thinking Discussion and Responses

Reflect: Reflect on the characteristics of a critical thinker. Critical thinking gets you involved in a dialogue with the ideas you read from others in this class. To be a critical thinker, you need to be able to summarize, analyze, hypothesize, and evaluate new information that you encounter.

Write: For this discussion, you will address the following prompts. Keep in mind that the article or video you’ve chosen should not be about critical thinking, but should be about someone making a statement, claim, or argument related to your Final Paper topic. (Poverty and income inequality)

One source should demonstrate good critical thinking skills and the other source should demonstrate the lack or absence of critical thinking skills. Personal examples should not be used.

• Explain at least five elements of critical thinking that you found in the reading material.
• Search the Internet, media. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates good critical thinking skills.
• Search the Internet, media, and find an example in which the author or speaker lacks good critical thinking skills. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates the absence of good, critical thinking skills.

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length, which should include a thorough response to each prompt. You are required to provide in-text citations of applicable required reading materials and/or any other outside sources you use to support your claims. Provide full reference entries of all sources cited at the end of your response.

Peer 1

As humankind, were are confronted with the need for judgement. In this judgement, we focus on applying critical thinking to issues confronted. In this critical thinking, we are not required to summarize other people’s opinions, but rather, we are required to come up with a solution related to the situation at hand. In critical thinking, one must assess the factual presentation of information from the scenario at hand. One needs to live beyond their biasness in critical thinking, identify problems, and infer them logically. Take, for instance, two articles on international drug trafficking; some could be written based on critical thinking, and others could be missing the element of critical thinking.

One of the articles that one can think of when assessing the topic of international drug trafficking was published by United Nations. The article embraces critical thinking in several ways. The article addresses direct and indirect routes that drugs traffickers use to move different drugs from one region to another. The element of drug trafficking is also present in the article because it compares the intensity of action of internal drug trafficking in the countries covered (United Nations).

The second article of consideration on the same topic does not have the element of critical thinking for several reasons. This article is limited in terms of its approach to the topic. The article addresses that it is more common sense the compromised security due to international tracking. The article does not shed light on more hidden facts about security interest as it is related to international drug trafficking Paul Rexton Kan, (2016).

Peer 2

After reviewing and reflecting on the reading and videos for this discussion the five elements of critical thinking to question (do not believe everything you read or hear), analyze, research, apply logical reasoning, and reflect on the justification of my beliefs and values.

In the article from Nasa (Smith, E., 2022) it mentions the effects of the Woolsey fire on the Coast of Southern California. Scientists combined satellite images, water tests and precipitation tests after the fire and determined the fire caused the ocean to contain high amounts of fecal bacteria in the ocean that stayed for months. The fecal bacteria will cloud up the water and will prevent the sunrays from entering the water which plankton and kelp and marine life depend on. They tested pre-fire and post fire and it took almost six months to clear up which an average would be a couple days to clear. The testing and imagery is based on facts and all the analysis and proof provided by scientists which is a good article regarding critical thinking.

The blog posted regarding pollution and global warming (Voices of DGHI, 2016) has a lot of questions as to what we are doing to prevent global warming however there are not many answers. The question as to who is policing the greenhouse emissions and the countries that are high contributors to carbon dioxide. They discuss the skeptics that could be delaying any resolution of global warming because they are taxpayers and politicians and are not helping provide any policies to protect our global issues. This blog is biased and has no research to back up its arguments and has some conflicting statements from what I found in my research such as USA is the highest contributor of carbon dioxide more than China and India together is not accurate. The authors are not listed either or their expertise on the subject so this article to me lacks critical thinking due to biases and flaws in the content.