How can you distinguish from right and wrong as a critical thinker?

I'll tell you something I've found in my years. There is no "right" and "wrong". There are a lot of opinions and a lot of smart people who have come up with what they believe are good answers or useful philosophies. But there is no absolute, logical "right" thing. There is only that which works to reach your chosen goal and that which does not. I'd even go so far as to say that even a choice to be "moral" or "ethical" can still run the risk of losing in effectiveness compared to someone who simply chooses to be "immoral" or "unethical" if they can get away with it. So the best thing to do is to FIRST decide on the real goal you want to achieve. In most cases, being what others would call a "good" person or someone who follows what they consider ethical principles tends to make society work better. So that's the answer. First define the problem. Then decide how to best achieve it. And that will allow you to decide what's "right".

Hello!

What a great question! Maybe I am not the biggest fan of being "right" or "wrong" because in psychology we rarely work in absolutes. In psychology, two of the most frustrating answers are:

"It depends."

and

"Causation does not mean correlation".

So, from a subjective standpoint, only you can really make that decision. However, being in tune with an argument's framework (logos, pathos, ethos) can help you come to a proper conclusion. Lastly, what about objective/data driven support? (or lack of support?)

These are all elements that can help you think critically about your own stance. Can you justify you point of view and also be able to comprehend while others may also logically have the same stance? If you are solely insisting that your POV is the "correct" one without looking at other perspectives, then perhaps that is the "wrong" way of developing a critical thinking approach.

Cheers!

Tiffanie

PS: Oakland represent...Home of Peet's, Homeroom, Peter's Kettle Korn...Yum!