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Discuss the obstacles to critical and creative thinking.

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There are thought impediments that may prevent a person from thinking clearly. Fracncis Bacon referred to them as idols of the mind. Examples include:

1.PREJUDICE

A prejudice is a pre-judgment or a mental bias
A prejudice usually rests on emotional grounds and tends to be in line with self interest, pride or comfort
A prejudice impedes thinking by making one:

To rationalize i.e. to find reasons to continue to believe what we value
To recognize only evidence that is favorable e.g. to our gender, tribe

group etc
To ignore or minimize the part of evidence that is unfavorable to us
To overestimate parts of the evidence that is favorable to us
To see things from our limited point of view
To be unable to draw accurate conclusions

2.HABIT

Habits form when we learn to do things repetitively often without careful reflection and criticism. Thus through habits we learn to do things only in one particular way. Habits hinder our thinking by:
Impeding our capacity for reflection and criticality
Making us dogmatic
Making us blind to alternatives
Make us recognize only evidence that is familiar to us hence making

it difficult to deal with new and unfamiliar situations

3.PROPAGANDA

Propaganda occurs when information is deliberately tainted or manipulated or distorted by the source in order to achieve a certain predetermined end e.g. political
The propagandist first tries to arouse, in the people, some strong emotion or desire and then through suggestion present a line of action that appears to satisfy that emotion or desire

4.AUTHORITARIANISM

This the uncritical and or blind appeal to authority, leading to uncritical and reflective acceptance of authority
This is normally grounded in the false believe that knowledge is validated or guaranteed by authority
Usually we are led astray by the prestige of authority and even fail to realiaze when the speak outside their area of competence
Many people rely on authority because either they have little confidence in themselves or they are intellectually lazy

marto answered the question on April 30, 2019 at 08:58

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Discuss the obstacles to critical and creative thinking.

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