Chapter 12

Thinking Critically, Living

Creatively
Course Textbook:
Thinking Critically
12th Edition / 2019
John Chaffee
CENGAGE
 CHAPTER 7 OBJECTIVES
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Live a Life Philosophy
2. Choose Freely
3. Decide on a Career
4. Choose the “Good Life”
5. Discover Who You are
 Living Creatively Thinking Critically
Developing ideas that are Carefully examining our
unique, thinking in order to clarify
useful, and worthy of and
further elaboration improve understanding

Creating a Life Philosophy

• Establishing harmonious
relationships
• Choosing freely
• Choosing a meaningful life
• Choosing a satisfying career
 LIVING A LIFE PHILOSOPHY
As the artist of your own life, your brush strokes express
your philosophy of life, a vision that incorporates your
most deeply held values, aspirations, and convictions.
The challenge you face is to create a coherent view of the
world that expresses who you are as well as the person
you want to become.
It should be a vision that not only guides your actions but
also enables you to understand the value of your
experiences, the significance of your relationships, and
the meaning of your life.
 THINK CRITICALLY
 When used properly, your thinking process acts like a powerful beacon
of light, illuminating the depths of your personality and the breadth of
your experience.
 Clear thinking is a tool that helps you disentangle the often-confused
jumble of thoughts and feelings that compose much of your waking
consciousness.
 By becoming a more powerful critical thinker, you are acquiring the
abilities you need to achieve your goals, solve problems, and make
intelligent decisions.
 Critical thinkers are people who have developed thoughtful and well-
founded beliefs to guide their choices in every area of their lives. In
order to develop the strongest and most accurate beliefs possible, you
need to become aware of your own biases, explore situations from many
different perspectives, and develop sound reasons to support your
points of view.
 LIVE CREATIVELY
 Creativity is a powerful life force that can infuse your existence with
meaning. Working in partnership with critical thinking, creative thinking
helps you transform your life into a rich tapestry of productivity and
success.
 When you approach your life with a mindful sense of discovery and
invention, you can continually create yourself in ways limited only by
your imagination.
 A creative lens changes everything for the better: Problems become
opportunities for growth, mundane routines become challenges for
inventive approaches, relationships become intriguing adventures.
 When you give free rein to your creative impulses, every aspect of your
life takes on a special glow. You are able to break out of unthinking
habitual responses and live fully in every minute, responding naturally
and spontaneously. It sounds magical, and it is.
 CHOOSE FREELY
 People can transform themselves only if they choose to take different
paths in their lives—and only if their choices are truly free.
 To exercise genuine freedom, you must have the insight to understand
all of your options and the wisdom to make informed choices.
 When you fully accept your freedom, you redefine your daily life and view
your future in a new light. By working to neutralize the constraints on your
autonomy and guide your life in positive directions, you see alternatives
that were not previously visible, having been concealed by the limitations
of your previous vision.
 Your future becomes open, a field of rich possibilities that you can
explore and choose among. A life that is free is one that is vital and
exciting, suffused with unexpected opportunities and the personal
fulfillment that comes from a life well lived.
WHY DO PEOPLE MAKE THE
CHOICES THAT THEY DO?
 MYTHS OF FREEDOM
Myth #1:
Freedom Means Simply Making a Choice
Myth #2:
Freedom Is Limited to Choosing from Available Options
Myth #3:
Freedom Means Simply “Doing What You Want”
 THINKING ABOUT YOUR
CAREER PLANS
Describe in a two-page paper your current thoughts and feelings
about your career plans. Be very honest, and include the
following:
1. A specific description of the career(s) you think you might
enjoy
2. A description of the history of this choice(s) and the reasons
why you think you would enjoy it (them)
3. The doubts, fears, and uncertainties you have concerning
your choice(s)
4. Th e problems you will have to solve and the challenges you
will have to overcome in order to achieve your career goal
 IDENTIFYING YOUR
INTERESTS
Interest Group #1
• I enjoy helping people solve their problems.
• I am interested in subjects like hypnotism and mental
therapy.
• I have always been interested in the behavior of people.
• I enjoy reading books on psychology.
Possible Careers: clinical psychologist, occupational
therapist, social worker, behavioral scientist, community
mental health worker, industrial psychologist
 IDENTIFYING YOUR
INTERESTS
Interest Group #2
• I am interested in developing websites, for myself and my friends.
• I love blogging and have created one for the Honor Society at
school.
• I have always enjoyed playing virtual reality games like World of
Warcraft .
• I have built a number of applications for my iPhone that I have
shared with others.
Possible Careers: e-business consultant, website designer, blogger,
programmer, applications analyst, technical support specialist
 IDENTIFYING YOUR
INTERESTS
Interest Group #3
• I am interested in the sciences, especially chemistry and anatomy.
• I like going to hospitals and observing doctors and nurses at work.
• When I was in high school, I always enjoyed biology and anatomy labs.
• I am interested in hearing about people’s illnesses and injuries.
Possible Careers: doctor, nurse, physical therapist, paramedic,
biomedical worker, chemical technician, medical laboratory technician
 IDENTIFYING YOUR
INTERESTS
Interest Group #4
• I enjoy going to museums and theaters.
• I enjoy painting and drawing in my free time.
• I enjoy listening to music: classical, jazz, and romantic.
• I enjoy reading magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair etc.
Possible Careers: actor, publicist, advertising executive,
interior designer, fashion designer
 CHOOSING THE “GOOD
LIFE”
Good Life is:
 NOT a fixed state like virtue, contentment, nirvana, or happiness
 NOT a condition like being adjusted, fulfilled, or actualized
 NOT a psychological state like drive or tension reduction

Instead, the good life is a process rather than a state of being, a direction
rather than a destination.
The heart of the good life is creating yourself through genuinely free
choices once you have liberated yourself from external and internal
constraints.
 DISCOVER WHO YOU ARE
How do you exercise
your critical-thinking
abilities to determine
your own path in a
world full of choices,
obstacles, and
possibilities?
 TIME TO LOOK BACK
The challenge to an enlightened critical thinker is
to develop a philosophy of life that expresses who
you are as well as the person you want to become.
The quality of our life philosophy is a direct result
of our ability to think critically, think creatively, and
choose freely.
Discovering the “right” career for us involves
finding the best match between our abilities and
interests with careers that are available.
In order to envision and achieve “the good life” for
ourselves we must continually exercise our critical
thinking abilities to determine our own path in a
world full of choices, obstacles, and possibilities.
 SUGGESTED FILMS
Shine (1996)
Based on a true story, this film recounts the life of an Australian piano
virtuoso who overcame childhood trauma and a mental breakdown by
using his art to live a passionate and meaningful life.

Waking Life (2001)

In this innovative and dynamic animated film, a young man who is
unsure if he is dreaming or awake discusses the meaning and purpose
of the universe with a variety of intellectuals, artists, and vibrant
thinkers. Th e conversations inspire questions that get to the core of
the mysteries of human existence.
QUIZ TIME