A500.2.3.RB_MenesesAlexandria

When posed with the question “what are some standards that are most important in your life”, I immediately think of my family. I think of how much my family has sacrificed for me to have the life I have today, I think of being a good daughter, attempting to be a role model for my younger brother, and being a supportive partner.  This standards of respect, integrity, loyalty to my family are all very non-critical thinking standards, but these will always be the primary standards by which I live my life by.

 With that said I think it is also healthy to evaluate the subset of standards that I live my life by, most of which are involved with my educational goals and my career.  Persistence and reliability are both dominating standard for me, being a first-generation college student, and a second generation Cuban American, it would be disrespectful to my family if I didn’t give my 100% effort in everything that I pursue career and education wise. Being reliable is measurable, timeliness is a huge factor in this for me, to be late is to reveal to someone else that you believe that your time is more important then theirs. I was not anticipating linking back to my primary set of non-critical thinking standards dealing with loyalty to my family, but I do not think I would be giving this discussion justice if I do not acknowledge this.

 I think that it is extremely interesting how we tend to lean on our non-critical thinking standards when faced with challenges in our lives, especially when these critical thinking standards would obviously help us reach a sound solution, just as our text noted “you can see the uphill battle you have ahead of you if you want to think critically so many influences in the world tend to push these non-critical thinking standards on us” (Nosich, 2012). It can be easy to lean on our non-critical thinking standards when faced with new obstacles, I can easily decide family loyalty over anything else, but I think that it is tremendously important to utilize the critical-thinking standards that we are all equipped with in addition to the non-critical thinking standards that we keep near and dear to our identity. 

Reference 

Nosich, G. (2012). Learning to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum (4th edition). Boston, MA: Pearson.