Filters, Barriers, and Impediments

1. Filters, Barriers, and Impediments Hindrances to critical thinking

2. Filters • Allow things that meet certain criteria to flow through while preventing others • Color or shape what comes through • Can be a useful sorting mechanism • Can be a feature of mindful and reflective thinking • But also screen out valuable input if they aren’t applied mindfully

3. Barriers • Keep out rather than let in • May indicate the presence of non-critical, manmade, or enculturated thinking patterns • Can be useful in some circumstances • Require some kind of monitoring • Can be removed, sometimes with heavy lifting • Unless monitored carefully, usually a hindrance to mindful, reflective thinking

4. Impediments • Often involve walls or total blockages • Often involve non-critical instead of critical standards of thinking, so they may inhibit mindful thinking • Often are reflexive and habitual, so they contradict or replace reflective thinking • Must be understood before they can be thought around

5. Nosich’s Impediments • Pictures formed from the news media • Pictures formed from entertainment and pop culture • All-or-nothing thinking/black and white • Us vs. them • Stereotyping • Fear

6. Nosich’s Impediments • Educational practices (see p. 21) • Egocentrism • Developmental Thinking • Previous Commitments • Personal Experiences • Denial

7. The Difference Between. . . • Impediment-free thinking • Highly unusual • Not likely to happen when subject is significant AND • Impediment-aware thinking • Means you are working mindfully • Lets you make allowances for your barriers and impediments