commonsensevcrticalthinking

Common Sense and Critical Thinking

Robert Howrd Kroepel
Copyright © 2005
Lakeside Studios
20 South Shore Road
New Durham, New Hamposhire USA 03855-2107

Common Sense and Critical Thinking

Basic Philosophy

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Reality is comprised of people, organisms, objects, and events comprised of matter/energy.

People/Organisms/Objects = Unities which retain their identities for longer periods of time than relevant events.

Examples of People/Organisms/Objects: Jane, a ball, Dick.

Event = Relationship, esp. causal or coincidental, between/among people/organisms/objects.

Example of an Event: Jane throws the ball to Dick.

Concept = Mental representation/idea of a person/organism/object.

Examples of Concepts: Concept: Jane; Concept A ball; Concept: Dick.

True Concept = Accurate mental representation/idea of a person/organism/object.

False Concept = Inaccurate mental representation/idea of a person/organism/object.

Principle = Mental representation/idea of an/event.

Example of a Principle: Event: Jane is the cause of the ball being thrown to Dick.

True Principle = Accurate mental representations/idea of an event.

False Principle = Inaccurate mental representation/idea of an event.

Technique = Application of a concept or/and principle to solve a problem.

Problem = Learning how to achieve desires and avoid fears and thereby experience happiness and avoid experiencing unhappiness. [See Basic Psychology]

Example of a Technique: To solve the problem of getting the ball to Dick without Spot catching it and playing with it jane can use the technique of throwing the ball to Dick and not use the technique of asking Spot to carry the ball to Dick.

Practical Technique = Effective techqnique—a technique which solves a problem.

Impractical Technique = Ineffective technique—a techique which does not solve a problem.

Knowledge = A set of true concepts and principles and practical techniques.
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Basic Psychology

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People have minds inside of bodies.

Mind

Mind = A person’s set of desires, fears and priorities.

Desire = Wanting a person/organism/object/event.

Observations Confirming Desires: People/organisms approach desired people/organisms/objects/events.

Example of an Observation of a Desire: Jane has a desire for the event of getting a ball to Dick; she employs the technique of throwing the ball to Dick instead of the technique of asking her dog, Spot, to carry the ball to Dick.

Fear = Not-Wanting a person/organism/object/event.

Example of an Observation of a Fear: Jane has a fear of the event of trying to get a ball to Dick by giving it to her dog, Spot, but Spot runs away with the ball and plays with it.

Observations Confirming Fears: People/organisms avoid feared people/organisms/objects/events.

The Interrelationship of Desires and Fears

Desires and fears are interrelated by being opposites.

Example of an Interrelated Desire and Fear: The desire to live is interrelated with the fear of dying by being the opposite of the fear of dying.

Priorities = Desires for the achievement of certain desires/fears of not avoiding certain desires; the importance of each desire/fear compared to all other desires/fears.

Observations Confirming Priorities: People/organisms desire the achievement of certain desires more than other desires; people/organisms fear the non-avoidance of certain fears more than other fears.

Example of an Observation of a Priority: When Dick is around, Jane desires to play with Dick more than she desires to play with Spot because she plays more with Dick than she plays with Spot.

Types of Desires/Fears/Priorities: Physiological v Psychological

Desires/fears/priorities can be (1) physiological or (2) psychological.

Physiological Desires/Fears/Priorities

Physiological desires/fears/priorities are unlearned, inherent in the body, genetic in origin, and include desires/fears/priorities inre survival, getting food, water, and shelter, companionship, sex, reproduction, etc.

Physiological Desires/Fears/Priorities = Unlearned Desires/Fears/Priorities.

Psychological Desires/Fears/Priorities

Psychological desires/fears/priorities are learned in the individual's experiences with realizing his physiological desires/fears/priorities with people/organisms/objects/events in his environment.

Psychological Desires/Fears/Priorities = Learned Desires/Fears/Priorities.

Example:

3.	Specific Psychological Desire/Fear/Priority:			Seven-Up
2.	Generic Psychological Desire/Fear/Priority:			Soda
	Enviromental Choices:	Water	Milk White Chocolate	Soda Seven-Up Pepsi Coke
1.	Physiological Desire/Fear/Priority:	Ingest a liquid

Types of Desires/Fears/Priorities: Proactive v Reactive

Desires can be proactive or reactive.

Proactive Desires

Proactive Desires = Desires for Action to Achieve Desired Persons/Organisms/Objects/Events.

Proactive = For Action

Reactive Desires

Reactive Desires = Desires for Reactions to Realizations of Proactive Desires.

The Components of Reactive Desires

There are two components of reactive desires: (1) Emotional Reactions and (2) Impulsive Reactions.

Emotional Reactions

Emotional reactions include Happiness and Unhappiness as Sadness, Anger, and/or Fear.

[See Feelings for more information inre emotions and emotional reactions.]

Impulsive Reactions

Impulsive reactions include desires for action; these desires are linked to emotional reactions:

Happiness:
Emotional Reaction: The feeling/emotion of happiness.
Impulsive Reaction: To celebrate!

Unhappiness (consists of sadness, anger, or/and fear):

Sadness:
Emotional Reaction: The feeling/emotion of sadness.
Impulsive Reaction: To give up hope; become depressed; not take action to achieve a desire or avoid a fear.

Anger:
Emotional Reaction: The feeling/emotion of happiness.
Impulsive Reaction: To attack someone—oneself/someone else (the violator or a substitute); to attack something (the violator or a substitute).

Fear:
Emotional Reaction: The feeling/emotion of fear.
Impulsive Reaction: To run away from someone—oneself/someone else (the feared person or a substitute); to run away from something (the feared organism/object or a substitute)

Types of Reactive Desires

There are two reactive desires: (1) the subjective reactive desire; (2) the objective reactive desire.

The Subjective Reactive Desire

The Subjective Reactive Desire is comprised of

Emotional Reaction: Unhappiness—Sadness/Anger/Fear
Impulsive Reaction:

Sadness: Give up hope; become depressed; do not take action to acheive a desire/avoid a fear.
Anger: Attack someone or something (the violator or a substitute).
Fear: Run away from someone/something (the feared person/organism/object/events or a substitute).

The Objective Reactive Desire

The Objective Reactive Desire is comprised of

Emotional Reaction: Neutralize the feelings of unhappiness—sadness/anger/fear.
Impulsive Reaction:

Become hopeful: Seek to achieve realistic/achievable proactive desires/to avoid avoidable proactive fears.
Do not attack anyone/anything (exceptions: when attacked by animals, criminals or foreign soldiers).
Do not run away from anyone/anything (except when threatened by animals, criminals or foriegn soldiers).

Feelings

Feelings = Reactions to Realizations of Desires/Fears.

Feeling = Reaction to a Realization of a Desire/Fear.

Realization = Achievement of a Desire/Avoidance of Fear

Positive Realization = Achievement of a Desire/Avoidance of a Fear.

Negative Realization = Non-Achievement of a Desire/Non-Avoidance of a Fear.
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The Developmental Sequence of Feelings

Feelings develop in a sequence—The Developmental Sequence of Feelings:

1. Desire/Fear: _____ (?) [Wanting/Not-Wanting a Person/organism/Object/Event]

2. Realization: _____ (?) [The Achievement of the Desire/Avoidance of the Fear]

3. Feeling: _____ (?) [The Reaction to the Realization of the Desire/Fear]

Types of Feelings: Sensations v Emotions

Feelings = (1) Sensations v (2) Emotions.

Sensations

Sensations = Physical feelings as reactions to realizations of physiological/unlearned desires/fears/priorities.

Emotions

Emotions = Mental feelings as reactions to realizations of psychological/learned desires/fears/priorities.

Types of Emotions: Happiness v Unhappiness

Emotions = (1) Happiness v (2) Unhappiness

Happiness

Happiness = Reaction to the Positive Realization which is an Achievement of a Desire/Avoidance of a Fear.

Unhappiness

Unhappiness = Reaction to the Negative Realization which is a Non-Achievement of a Desire/Non-Avoidance of a Fear.

Types of Unhappiness: Sadness v Anger v Fear

Sadness

Sadness = Reaction to an actual loss of a person/organism/object/event, a accident, injury, illness, or verbal or physical attack;

Anger

Anger = Reaction to a violation of an expectation or a promise/contract/law or an ethic/moral principle.

Fear

Fear = Reaction to a threat of a loss of a person/organism/object/event, an accident, injury or illness, or a verbal or physical attack.

Mental Disorder/Problem

Mental Problem/Disorder = Unrealistic or/and Inappropriate Proactive/Reactive Desire/Fear/Priority.

Unrealistic and Inappropriate Proactive Desires/Fears/Priorities

Unrealistic Proactive Desires = Desires for action to achieve desired persons/organisms/objects/events who/which cannot be achieved.
Unrealistic Proactive Fears = Fears of threats from persons/organisms/objects/events who/which are not threatening a loss of life/limb/oiberty/property, an accident, injury, illness, or a verbal or physical attack.
Unrealistic Proactive Priorities = Priorities for action to achieve desires which are not as important as other desires.

Inappropriate Proactive Desire = Desire whose realization achieves a limited number of other desires.
Inapprioriate Proactive Fear = Fear whose realization achieves a limited number of other fears.
Inappropriate Proactive Priority = Priority which as not as important as other priorities.

Unrealistic and Inappropriate Reactive Desires/Fears/Priorities

Unrealistic Reactive Desire = Subjective Reactive Desire
Unrealistic Reactive Fear = Subjective Reactive Fear
Unrealistic Reactive Priority = Desire for a subjective reactive desire

Inappropriate Reactive Desire = Subjective Reactive Desire when the individual is not suffering an actual loss, attack, or threat.
Inappropriate Reactive Fear = Subjective Reactive Desire when the achievement of the fear is of little practical consequences.
Inappropriate Reactive Priority =

Mental Health/Solution

Mental Health/Solution = Realistic and Appropriate Desire/Fear/Priority.

Realistic and Appropriate Proactive Desires/Fears/Priorities

Realistic Proactive Desires = Desires for action to achieve desired persons/organisms/objects/events who/which can be achieved.
Realistic Proactive Fears = Fears of threats from persons/organisms/objects/events who/which are threatening a loss of life/limb/oiberty/property, an accident, injury, illness, or a verbal or physical attack.
Realistic Proactive Priorities = Priorities for action to achieve desires which are more important than other desires.

Appropriate Proactive Desire = Desire whose realization achieves a considerable number of other desires.
Apprioriate Proactive Fear = Fear whose realization achieves a considerable number of other fears.
Appropriate Proactive Priority = Priority which is more important than other priorities.

Realistic and Appropriate Reactive Desires/Fears/Priorities

Realistic Reactive Desire = Objective Reactive Desire
Realistic Reactive Fear = Subjective Reactive Fear
Realistic Reactive Priority = Desire for an objective reactive desire

Appropriate Reactive Desire = Objective Reactive Desire when the individual is not suffering an actual loss, attack, or threat.
Appropriate Reactive Fear = Objective Reactive Desire when the achievement of the fear is a little practical consequences.
Appropriate Reactive Priority =

Philosophy

If philosophy is (A) the process by which individuals develop concepts [mental representations/ideas of people/organisms/objects—unities which retain their identities longer than relevant events], principles [relationships, esp. causal/coincidental relationships, between/among people/organisms/objects], and techniques [applications of concepts and principles to solve problems], (B) an individual's or organization's set of concepts/principles/techniques, or (C) the discipline or study inre guidelines for developing concepts/principles/techniques, then we are all philosophers because we all develop concepts and principles and techniques for solving problems and achieving happiness and avoiding unhappiness.

We achieve common sense when we develop concepts and principles which appear to be accurate and techniques which are effective and therefore practical in solving problems and achieving happiness/avoiding unhappiness.

Operational Definition of Common Sense: Common sense is a set of concepts, principles, and techniques a person develops or a group of people develop for solving problems/achieving desires/avoiding fears/experiencing happiness/not experiencing unhappiness.

Operational Definition of Critical Thinking: Critical thinking occurs when people verify claims of facts by proof consisting of (1) physical evidence consisting of (A) causal explanations consisting of descriptions of people/organisms/objects who/which are comprised of matter/energy and who/which are causes cause the effects of changes of other people/organisms/objects or (B) coincidental descriptions of people/organisms/objects/events who/which are present when other people/organisms/objects/events are observed, (2) eyewitness reports of physical evidence from credible eyewitnesses [people not known to lie or deceive or to think irrationally] and which are corroborated by credible corroborators, or (3) logical arguments in which the premises are verifiable/falsifiable/verified by physical evidence and relevant to the conclusions which are avoid if relevant to the premises and true of the premises are verified/true.

Critical thinking occurs when an individual asks Is this claim true? and demands proof for verification of the claim.

Uncritical thinking occurs when an individuals does not ask Is this claim true? and does not demand proof for verification of the claim.

Summary:

Common sense is an individual’s or organization's philosophy which consists of concepts/principles/techniques which achieve desires/avoid fears/solve problems and enable individuals to experience happiness and to avoid experiencing unhappiness.

The concepts/principles/techniques of common sense must be continuously improved/updated by verification by physical evidence to remove/replace concepts/principles/techniques which are either unreliable or otherwise are less reliable for achieving desires/avoiding fears/solving problems/experiencing happiness/not experiencing unhappiness than the new/improved concepts/principles/techniques.