Role of Organizing in Critical Thinking
T.S. Eliot "The only method is to be very intelligent." (Websters) Critical thinking is a process of discovery, analysis and conclusion. As in any process, order is key to the completion. In this paper I will attempt to explain the important role organizing plays in the critical thinking process. This paper will include the following: origins of order, nature and mental orders, steps in organizing, and using orders.
For millennia, thinkers have tried to understand how complex systems like living organisms originated, developed and evolved. That is, how does order happen? When things are laid out in some sort of order, we can work with them more easily. If we can impose some kind of order on information, the information is easier to talk about, easier to understand, and easier to remember.
We can choose to organize using a topical order, analogical order, chronological order, or a causal order. A topical order organizes a subject into groupings. An analogical order organizes a subject according to a concept already understood. Chronological order organizes a subject according to its occurrence in time. A causal order organizes a subject by cause and effect such.
Topical order refers to organization that emerges from the topic itself. For example, a description of a computer might naturally involve the separate components of the central processing unit, the monitor, and the keyboard, while a discussion of a computer purchase might discuss needs, products, vendors, and service. A discussion of a business might explore product, customer, and location, and so on. Topical order, then, simply means an order that arises from the nature of the topic itself. (Gordon)
Analogical order is recognizing similarities such as when I was a child I would take comfort in getting a kiss on an injury to "make it better". When I would routinely come
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