Critical Thinking and Scientific Method

When I read today’s post at the Chiron blog, Superstition,  by Rory Miller I had to admit to myself that I really don’t know the two although I felt, at the time, I understood the two. Sounds ludicrous doesn’t it saying I understood but could not actually layout the skill sets required for both. It gave me the motivation to pull up definitions of both. 

Critical thinking: the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

Scientific method: a method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses. The scientific method is a way to ask and answer scientific questions by making observations and doing experiments. The steps of the scientific method are to: Ask a Question; Do Background Research; Construct a Hypothesis; Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment; Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion.

I think I addresses this or something similar a while back but cannot remember. Regardless, I have to admit that for this blog about martial arts and self-defense I am a little lacking on the use of these two skill sets in discovering the truth or falseness of what I train, practice and apply. It and other things similar are actually the motivation that I have tried to achieve these last eight or so years and the one thing I have come to understand is, “this stuff really does need more emphasis in teaching, training and practicing any discipline or we end up filling ourselves with self-serving beliefs to boost our own egos and fill ourselves with that same self-serving pride.”

I would suggest, as I am starting to gain momentum on, that anyone who endeavors to study and learn a discipline, especially something like self-defense, should take time to learn about both critical thinking and scientific method. As to CT, all to often students “assume” that their sensei is of such knowledge and expertise they can take what is taught at face value. Big mistake if for no other reason then everyone is subject to being fallible. We are, after all, human and fallible. 

As to a SM, it seems within the physical of the SD world another one of those critical training aspects where we question and test everything. We don’t assume anything even if it comes from an expert, especially an expert. As I am coming to understand more each day I study assuming what you are taught in SD without some form of both CT and SM and other methods you expose yourself to failing when failing has such catastrophic consequences as SD would. 

It is another addition to the sensei’s tool box to teach. It is about providing all the tools one would need because not having a hammer in the tool box when you really need to drive a nail in the board means you may have to resort to using something ineffective and dangerous - such as your bare hand. 

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