Language and critical thinking

Language and Critical Thinking a. I had a friend once. He is no longer part of my life, but he remains part of my thoughts. He was a constant rock for me to lean on. Yet I never appreciated him. I didn't give him the respect he deserved, and took him for granted, no matter what he did for me. And he would have done anything for me.

A met him at the movies, of all places. He was a spring rain that whispered: "Is this seat taken?" In this, he was any teenager's fantasy. Except that he was so much older. He had to have been at least 30 to my tender 17 summers. That was his only fault, but a bit one, in my book. Also, he failed to be Prince Charming. He failed to be my fantasy. For that, I punished him mercilessly. Infuriatingly, he accepted the pain like a weary rock - sad but unmovable. Resolute to bask in what he thought was the sunlight of my personality. I think I must have burned him, but he never let the pain show.

The ignorance of youth is foolish indeed. Now, more than ten years later, I understand what I had done. The friend I treated as an irritating insect, proved himself to be much more than that. Now, in retrospect, I can appreciate his devotion. Although much different from me in age and looks, he was nonetheless a constant blessing, rather than an irritant. Our paths drifted apart - we met and married different spouses, and spawned offspring, and had lives.

Recently, I undeservingly had the opportunity to talk to him again. I saw him quite by chance. Despite the scourge of years, he recognized me right away. As always, he was ready with a compliment - the best a woman could wish for. He claimed that I looked young. I pecked his cheek and said thank you, but meant gratitude for much more than just his words. I hoped he understood. His eyes smiled. I think he did.

b. Language is a centrally important part of human life. Language permeates everything. It denotes not only diversity, but also similarity and identification. It is the tool by means of which human beings interact, whether this be on a friendly, hostile, or neutral basis. As such, language is also vitally important in the role it plays in critical thinking. It is the tool by means of which human beings communicate their ideas to each other. Not being clear when using language can have disastrous consequences.

In terms of language, diversity concomitantly means more than just the differences among different groups of people. It also refers to diversity in meaning. This diversity is deeply intertwined with cultural diversity. Expressions may mean different things for different cultures. Critical thinking means that both speaker and listener are aware of this. Without critical thinking, cultural differences may cause great differences of opinion and even fights among different people. Rather than jumping to incorrect conclusions, critical thinking would help all partners in a conversation to first ensure that they understand all terms and meanings in the same way. In today's global society, such understanding has become vital to communicating effectively in both the social and business worlds.

Critical thinking and language can therefore not exist without each other. Critical thinking helps the participants in a conversation to understand the possible meanings in language, while language helps participants to gain clarity regarding these meanings.

Language serves both an empowering and limiting function in expressing thought. The expression "there are no words" denotes the limitations of language to express deep feelings on occasions where these occur. On the other hand, language is perhaps the most empowering force that human beings have at their disposal to express their thoughts.

When human beings are for example compared to the animal kingdom, the human language system takes the place of nonverbal clues such as gestures or hairs bristling. Human beings can share complex ideas and explain exactly the nature of their thoughts. In this, human beings are much more intellectual than animals, which are primarily physical in their expressions towards each other.

This is not however to say that human beings do not engage in nonverbal clues. Indeed, the complexity of these integrate with the use of language in order to make the system of expression even more complex. Human expression then has a further dimension added to it by means of language and words, even if the human race sometimes does find itself at a loss for words when emotion prevails.

Critical thinking plays an interesting and subtle role in persuasion. First, it may be beneficial to consider the nature of persuasion itself. Persuasion is the effect of one person upon another, where the first imposes his or her thinking upon the other, with the other eventually submitting to this opinion as a result of the persuasive power of the words the person is using.