Are You Lazy When It Comes to Critical Thinking?

While it is true the United States has experienced a recent surge in productivity, driven by a combination of factors that have contributed to the rise in output per worker, I believe we have an epidemic of laziness.

I see and experience the epidemic of laziness in critical thinking.

“Critical thinking is the process of analyzing available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to make sound conclusions or informed choices. It involves recognizing underlying assumptions, providing justifications for ideas and actions, evaluating these justifications through comparisons with varying perspectives, and assessing their rationality and potential consequences. The goal of critical thinking is to form a judgment through the application of rational, skeptical, and unbiased analyses and evaluation.” – Wikipedia

Jumping to conclusions, running people down, pushing conspiracy theories, and sidestepping research seem to be the primary forms of exercise in the United States these days. Fake, false, bogus, and phony information have become so normal that people are offended by truth, facts, and authentic, accurate information.

Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow, writes that 90% of our thinking is fast. While fast thinking can be a lifesaver and has its place in our daily lives, fake, false, bogus, and phony information thrives on fast thinking. Slow thinking requires time, effort, and more energy. Critical thinking is slow thinking. This short YouTube video clip explains the concepts of fast and slow thinking.

Are you curious? Curiosity is the critical tool of critical thinking. Curiosity leads to possibilities and stimulates our imagination, leading to creativity. Pessimism is devoid of critical thinking.  Science relies on critical thinking.

Having returned from my DePauw University 50th college reunion, President White emphasized that a key purpose and desired outcome of a DePauw education is to learn and embrace critical thinking. The studies I took at DePauw, which included anthropology, art, economics, English, foreign languages, history, music, philosophy, religion, and psychology (my major), have influenced my critical thinking and continue to do so today.

Have you engaged in critical thinking to discover your purpose and core values? Critical thinking is at the core of learning and living your life on purpose and in alignment with your core values. Know what you stand for and don’t stand for.

Critical thinking is acknowledging your flawed thinking in terms of bias and logical fallacies. Do you have confirmation bias, belief bias, self-serving bias, groupthink bias, or negativity bias? Do you have logical fallacies like ad hominem, tu quoque, loaded questions, appeal to authority, or black-or-white thinking? If you’re willing to explore your biases and logical fallacies, consider getting a deck of Critical Thinking Cards.

Critical thinking is an essential tool in coaching, counseling, and therapy.

Critical thinking is a vital cognitive process for individuals in leadership roles, including those in Scout troops, civic clubs, organizations, corporations, politics, and the POTUS.

Coaching, counseling, therapy, and leadership are founded on love! Love is a verb. The opposite of love is fear. Unlike fear, love requires critical thinking. 

Mel Robbins defines love as a combination of consideration and admiration. To consider someone is to be mindful and accepting of someone with all their warts, scars, and imperfections. It is a slow, conscious choice not to be controlling or trying to change someone. Consideration involves recognizing when and where someone needs you and your help, from something as simple as opening a door when their hands are full, to being with them during a challenging experience, and refraining from trying to fix or heal them. Admiration is about respect, approval, and wonder. This requires slow thinking, as it involves admiring people with whom you may disagree on beliefs and opinions, recognizing that you have more in common than you are uncommon.

Are you lazy when it comes to love? Are you lazy in loving your neighbor, your leadership followers, your teammates, members of your commUNITY who look different and believe differently? Are you lazy in loving yourself just as you are, with all your imperfections and failures?

My next blog will focus on the laziness of understanding, building, and maintaining trust.

 

 

 

 

Fifty Years Later… The Boulder Got Moved and So Did I!

Returned to my Alma Mater, DePauw University, for my 50th class reunion. As I walked past the infamous boulder at East College, I noticed it had been moved since my previous visit in 2015! This was a foreshadowing of other changes I would discover!

2015 DePauw University Boulder at East College

The Lows…

Remembering over 70 classmates who have died.

Meeting international students at my Delta Upsilon fraternity and learning about their concerns about ICE and deportations.

At the Saturday morning Convocation of Alumni, an opinion was shared that the one word that best described our class was apathy. Here we were, sitting in the beautiful Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts, specifically in Kresge Auditorium. The lead benefactor of this $29 million facility was Joyce Green, a member of our class, and her late husband, Judson, Class of ’74. Their gift was one of empathy and compassion, stemming from their experience at DePauw and their desire for future DePauw students to have an incredible learning experience. In surveying some members of our class after the convocation, I heard better one-word summaries of our class: concern, uncertainty, change, and gratitude. A lot happened in 1975, including the end of the Vietnam War, the release of Jaws in theaters, the signing of the Helsinki Accords, the United Nations’ declaration of 1975 as International Women’s Year, the premiere of Saturday Night Live, and the first email being sent.

The highs…

It was great to connect with classmates and learn about their life journeys over the past 50 years. Lots of connections leading to a lot of smiles, “me, too,” and “WOW!”

One special highlight was sipping Old Pogue bourbon from Old Pogue Distillery.  Classmate Paul Pogue’s family revived its family’s distilling tradition, which had been shut down during Prohibition, dating back to 1876. The 5th and 6th generation Pogues created easy-sipping bourbon. Thank you, Paul Pogue! (The check is in the mail!)

Our class broke bread, sipped adult beverages, and connected at Bridges – Craft Pizza & Wine Bar rooftop on Friday evening, located off Greencastle Square. (Five stars!) It was there that I met classmate Holbrook Hankinson, PhD, Executive Director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at DePauw. As a white, heterosexual, privileged facilitator of diversity, equity, and inclusion, it was great to connect with Holbrook and visit the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. He gave me a tour! One of the many highlights of the tour was discovering a second-floor library filled with “banned” books.

When I graduated from DePauw University in 1975, it was primarily a white institution run by white males. While I do credit DePauw with challenging my critical thinking, it is a bold initiative today.

“We will be an institution where all students—regardless of background, identity, or ideology—who desire to learn with us are welcomed, supported, and have access to DePauw’s rich academic and social opportunities.”– DePauw Bold and Gold 2027 Strategic Plan.

The core values of DePauw University are:

  • Student Focus
  • Collaboration
  • Curiosity
  • Diversity
  • Inclusion

Today, DePauw University is led by President Dr. Lori S. White. She is a strong, bold, visionary! She shared during her breakfast remarks about a key question she was asked during her interview process. Could she learn to love DePauw? Her answer resonates not just in her one word, “YES!” but in her actions! Her leadership team is diverse, as are the faculty, staff, and students

I am prouder of DePauw University today than I was 50 years ago! If I had an upcoming high school graduate or knew of one, I would encourage them to put DePauw University at the top of their college list.

To my ’75 DePauw classmates, if you are coming to Asheville, NC, please reach out and let’s connect! We love sharing our guest bedroom!

 

 

 

 

What If There Were a Project 2026?

​Liz Cheney challenges Democrats with A Remarkable Message.

As a registered independent voter, I pay attention to both parties in the news, podcasts, and streaming.

It is obvious the Democratic Party is a “ship without a rudder.” If the Democrats want my opinion, they need to create Project 2026 – clearly state who they represent, stand for, and don’t stand for, plans of action for creating a better world for tomorrow’s child, and save the United States and Planet Earth from destruction.

Project 2026 needs to commit to compassion for the most vulnerable among us and demand inclusivity. It needs to challenge elected officials to represent constituents and not corporations, oligarchs, and the wealthy.

Project 2026 needs to recognize our past ugly behavior and history, and demonstrate the need for change, including how to overcome white-male-heterosexual-Christian Nationalism. Turn shame into a promise to be better.

Project 2026 needs to draw inspiration from John F. Kennedy’s 1961 challenge to put a person on the moon by 1969. It needs to rally us to find common ground and commUNITY we experienced after 9/11. I want democracy and accountability, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution, to be a reason to get up in the morning and work towards.  It needs to be based on love, giving hope rather than fear, and individualism.

Tuesday, June 24, 2025, NYC Democratic Primary shows a crack in the stodgy-old-white-man-elitist mentality plaguing the Democrats. It’s a start!

After attending and reflecting on an address to my DePauw 50th Class Reunion, I have concluded that if I could summarize in one word the description of the United States today, it would be lazy.

I am going to write a blog series, Are You Lazy? beginning with Are You Lazy at Critical Thinking?

I welcome your thoughts, suggestions, and ideas.

 

NOTE: Someone emailed me, “I love this idea! Where do we start?”

Let’s begin just as they did with Project 2025, in collaboration with the Heritage Foundation. We identify think tanks, such as the Brookings Institution, the Roosevelt Institute, and the Institute for Policy Studies, and reach out to them. Perhaps we start a letter, email, or phone call campaign!?