#1: A New Interpretation On Criticism

It's funny how you think in a particular way for the majority of your life. You are brought up observing things in certain ways, and absorb what those around you express about their beliefs and views. You take from that their perspectives and form your own personal opinions, that in a way helping develop your thought process and how we perceive all things. It's funny because of how I have always been one to take a step back and hear all sides of a "story" before developing my own personal assessment, and yet after reading an excerpt from Michael Ryan's "Theory for Beginners." An Introduction to Criticism: Literature/Film/Culture, I find myself questioning if my methods are honest.

            When you discuss any particular idea or subject, you like to hear the opinions of others and then based on your own, debate on the similarities and differences. You do this because someone else may have different information that is varied or contradicts that of which you are familiar with and may have already heard. It allows you to create a better picture with more information to fill it with and make it more detailed. It can allow you to deduce alternate possibilities or facts. New conclusions are formed and mysteries unraveled.

            The thing is … we, or at least I, sometimes think we may have derived a masterful conclusion about something after looking at all angles and hearing all sides of the story. Since finishing this challenging and interesting read, I learned that before I come to such inconclusive results, I should use another style of thinking. I like to think “outside of the box” as much as the next person. I love philosophy and enjoyed the challenge it brought to my thinking process. And still, 31 years later I find another method that intrigues me as much, critical analysis. This type of thinking entices new, never before conceived thoughts and images to sprout within your “old” brain. I wasn’t sure if I liked this battle within my mind at first, but once I began to understand it better, I found it more acceptable to blend with other methods I prefer.

            I have always been an analyst at heart, which is why my mind is constantly questioning everything, disregarding whether I am capable of understanding it or not. This is probably why I chose to be an Intelligence Analyst when joining the Army. Critical thinking has notified my mind of how one-sided it honestly is, a fact I would not have admitted as of a day ago. I have thought many times that I had enough facts to base a well thought out opinion on something, and now realize many of those things may not be as accurate as I once thought. We have derived certain views because they were pushed on us for so long we only see that side and forget there are others.  Truth is there, so long as we are not blinded. Unfortunately our blinders on many subjects have been in place long before our generation was conceived.

            There’s so much to say and describe about what I learned and think now. It is quite the (fun) eye-opener. I will be questioning old opinions and developing new ones from here on out. I must digress for now as I have much more to learn in this world, and not just limiting my education to a new style and process of thinking. Chemistry will definitely not be the same today.