The world is rapidly changing. New modes. New systems. New procedures. New attitudes. Indeed, in virtually all human disciplines and institutions, new models are emerging, and we are all sort of afraid of what the next big change is going to be.
I am afraid, too. Everything has gotten incredibly competitive. We can’t beat it.
The fear of the unknown may be more heightened and pronounced among the members of the disability community in Nigeria and the United States. For a minority group who have difficulties with employment, economic and political opportunities, and who face a high degree of marginalization, discrimination, and underrepresentation—individuals who have trouble engaging within the larger, non-disabled society, people with disabilities may have more to worry about in highly unpredictable and dynamic systems than just about any other minority group.
We are afraid of a rapidly advancing economic system. We are anxious about newly-emerging skills that are needed for survival today.
We have had three industrial revolutions before this one, according to Daniel Kahnemanin’s Thinking, Fast and Slow. The first was marked by the mechanization of processes (the industrial revolution), the second by standardization, the third by digitization and automation, and finally, we are in the era that I choose to describe as the re-engineering of processes.
In a fast-paced world that has become a highly innovative economy—away from the long-existing industrial economy, made even tougher by the pandemic, there is nothing more important than for all persons with disabilities in our nation to be equipped with more and more practical knowledge and information about the dynamics in the world around them.
We also need a new model of thinking to beat today and the future.
How are we, as people with disabilities, to avail ourselves of the vast opportunities that today’s world presents—quality information, access to communications technology, and a chance to think and act independently?
Given our unremarkable social-economic threshold and general achievement in society, what can we do to take hold of today and the future—an era marked by increased competition and unpredictability?
In short, what strategy or innovative attitude is necessary to become our best in this rapidly altering economy?
What we need is nothing technical. What we need is simple. The new model is critical thinking.
Let us look at what critical thinking is, as well as the significance of this quality to our personal and professional development.
Critical thinking
Imagine looking at what everyone is looking at to see if a different pattern comes out for you. Imagine moving away from the norm in your approach to a situation by formulating relevant, pertinent questions, and raising sensible theories to resolve a problem.
Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information critically, to see if a different pattern emerges. It is so much fun to look at what everyone is looking at to see if something distinct—different than the norm– comes out for you. Critical thinking is the capacity to analyze information objectively and make out a rational, reasoned judgment.
Critical thinking is thinking out of the box. It is about analyzing an issue from a distinct, “never-been-explored-angle”. It is about, according to Author Tom Chatfield “thinking open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as need be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences; and communicating effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.”
Critical thinking and People with disabilities
People with disabilities must use critical thinking today—in this “hardened” socioeconomic system that’s never been more competitive. We ought to be able to ask vital questions and raise problems, formulating them clearly and precisely; and developing logical solutions.
Whether we are corporate workers in a corporate environment or civil servants under the power and weight of a bureaucratic government, or we are just trying to make our way into the world—as artisans or students or businesspersons, we need critical thinking skills for mobility.
We need good critical thinking skills for survival.
We need to be good critical thinkers to be able to draw reasonable conclusions from a set of information and discriminate between significant and less significant details to solve a problem or make a decision.
Critical thinking can help us to improve our communication and presentation skills. Good critical thinking can help us to increase our job prospects. It can help us promote healthy relationships and enhance our emotional wellbeing because we are analyzing information, thinking objectively, and making out, rational, reasoned judgments despite how hard truth might be.