Thinking Critically and Forming Opinions

Intro: Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultral Myths

As I meander through history, I recognize it is full of countries and civilizations where the people who were living within them were punished, imprisoned, or even put to death for thinking outside the box. Yet here we are, paying money to be taught to think critically about the foundations upon the very freedom to do so is based. Amazing! Having an opinion is a inherent; being able to express that opinion is a right, if you live in the right time and circumstance; being listened to and appreciated is conditional.

But what about someone who has a differing opinion than your own? Does having a wrong opinion mean that you shouldn't be allowed express it? Even in this land of freedoms and rights our right to our own opinion is being squelched by violence, discrimination, misunderstanding and closed minded authority. A girl who chooses to dress her own style is teased, shunned, and rejected for her opinion of fashion. A guy who chooses to dance instead of fix cars is considered messed up, is labeled and disregarded by beefier boys.

According to this book, our way of thinking has been ingrained in us, not since we were babies, but for generations into the past. Does the baby get a pink blanket or a blue one? Our minds are inundated with media, parental influence, friendships, traditions, and folk tales until an opinion expressed several hundred years or more ago is "just the way it is".

When does an opinion stop being an opinion and become a reality? Do all opinions even need to attain that level of significance? And who are the authors of this book, to claim the traditions and realities of our past and present as myths? Many of what they label "myth" made sense at the time they were adopted as a reality.

I am a person of intense opinion and conviction. I also recognize that just because it's mine, my opinion is not always right, not always informed and sometimes unorthodox in society. I value others' opinions and know that there is always something to learn in their method of formulating their convictions. I'm looking forward to discussions and analysis of the topics chosen in this book and maybe other topics that weasel themselves in.