Just had a discussion with a software engineer that stated the younger generation of college kids, and to a larger extent people in general, are having difficulty with their thinking processes. Namely, the difference between critical thinking and cynical thinking.
Critical thinking is where you analyze a problem and determine a solution using cause and effect of various processes. You take “no sides” of an issue and move forward with what’s best toward a vision of what’s possible.
Cynical thinking is where you lack or do not take into consideration various aspects of a problem and consider all of the alternatives to come to a logical and appropriate answer to a problem. A contemptuous or mocking attitude of various ideas or solution is developed toward ALL solutions. Henry Ford told his engineers to work on an eight cylinder engine and they stated it could not be done. He said work on it until you solve it. It took them over a year, but they did it.
Too often those in “political circles,” and we’re not just talking liberal versus conservative, but we also need to include both start-up businesses and Fortune 500 companies in this, swap the definition of cynical and critical to fit their purposes. You also find this among workers and management, men and women, and a host of other “sides” that are taken. What is critical soon becomes cynical.
So, which thinking do you have?
