General
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Critical Thinking

2 Modules 4 Chapters 14 Lessons Intermediate

About this course

The Trivium

General Grammar, Aristotelian Logic, and Classical Rhetoric comprise the first three rules-based subjects of the 7 Liberal Arts and Sciences. As these disciplines are learned and practiced together, they form the overarching, symbiotic system for establishing clarity and consistency of personal thought called the Trivium.

[Source http://www.triviumeducation.com ]

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Course Structure

3 Chapters

The Trivium

General Grammar, Aristotelian Logic, and Classical Rhetoric comprise the first three rules-based subjects of the 7 Liberal Arts and Sciences. As these disciplines are learned and practiced together, they form the overarching, symbiotic system for establishing clarity and consistency of personal thought called the Trivium.

1 Overview 4 Lessons

Knowledge

This is a Video about is the earth flat. Using shipping going past Mallacoota.

Who What Where and When

[1] GRAMMAR — (Answers the question of the Who, What, Where, and the When of a subject.)

Discovering and ordering facts of reality comprises basic, systematic Knowledge- not only the rules developed and applied to the ordering of word/concepts for verbal expression and communication, but our first contact with conscious order as such. This is the initial, self-conscious technique used in properly (discursively or sequentially) organizing a body of knowledge from raw, factual data for the purpose of gaining understanding (through logic) and; thus, also organizing the individual human mind. It is the foundation upon which all other “methods of organization and order” are built.

Special grammar properly relates words to other words within a specified language like English, Russian, or Latin.

General grammar relates words to objective reality in any language and applies to all subjects as the first set of building blocks to integrated or fully mindful, objective knowledge. A body of knowledge which has been gathered and arranged under the rules of general grammar can now be subjected to logic for full understanding, which, emphatically, is a separate intellectual procedure.

Why

[2] LOGIC — (Answers the Why of a subject.)

Developing the faculty of reason in establishing valid [i.e., non-contradictory] relationships among facts yields basic, systematic Understanding- it is a guide for thinking correctly; thinking without contradiction. More concisely, it is the art of non-contradictory identification. The work of logic is proof. Proof consists of establishing the truth and validity of a concept or proposition in correspondence with objective, factual reality by following a self-consistent chain of higher-level thought back down to foundational, primary concepts or axioms (i.e., Existence, Consciousness, and Causality). It is a means of keeping us in touch and grounded to objective reality in our search for valid knowledge and understanding. Logic brings the rhythm of the subjective thoughts of the mind, and the subsequent actions of the body, into harmony with the rhythm of the objective universe. The intention is to amicably synchronize individual mental processes, and their attendant actions, with the processes of our surrounding natural, factual existence over the period of a lifetime.

Logical Fallacies (common types of errors in reasoning): 
Fallacies are broken down into two categoriesformal and informal. Formal fallacies are based strictly on the logical formation of an argument (deductive). Informal fallacies, which are the most commonly recognized and easiest to learn, take into account the non-logical content of an argument (inductive); they are false for epistemological, dialectical or pragmatic reasons, and typically fall under three categoriesrelevancepresumption, and ambiguity. The first formation of logical fallacies comes to us from Sir Thomas Aquinas and “The Scholastics”.

How

[3] RHETORIC — (Provides the How of a subject.) 
Applying knowledge and understanding expressively comprises Wisdom or, in other words, it is systematically useable knowledge and understanding- to explore and find the proper choice of methods for cogently expressing the conclusions of grammar and logic on a subject in writing and/or oral argumentation (oratory). The annunciation of those conclusions is called a statement of rationale, the set of instructions deduced from the rationale for the purpose of application (of those conclusions) in the real world is called a statement of protocols.

Intellectual Self-Defence 5 Lessons

Presentation

Presentation by Tim Flynn on Intellectual Self Defense focusing on children.

Trivium Practice Exercise 1

In your own words explain how these 6 basic question fit in these 3 places.

What, Where, When, Who, Why, How. Then discuss these with a peer. Blog your summary.

Talk, Listen, Compare, Summarise.

Falacies Exercise 2

Give an example of each of these, compare your answers with a friend, record what you have learnt and white a blog post about this.

  1. Red Herring Kids love this, it’s fun to practice and they will soon be able to defend themselves
  2. Ad Hominem Name calling puts up barriers to relationships and positive action
  3. Faulty Appeal to Authority Unsolicited or predatory advice from faulty authority My teacher said…
  4. Tu Quoque All my friends are doing it! If your friends jumped off a bridge would you follow? (my Dad’s favorite!)

Commercials Exercise 3

  • Answer the 3 questions.
  • Compare your answers with a peer.
  • Blog your summary of what you have learnt.

4 Investigations 2 Lessons

Flat Earth

Once it was known that the world was flat, it was clearly true, the sun and mood orbited the flat earth. Most now people think that the world is a sphere and it orbits the sun but many are not convinced, Lets examine there arguments critically.

Flat Earth Part 2

More details on how to calculate the curvature of the earth, using Trigonometry. 

Now your turn, find a controversial issue and use critical thinking to decide what the truth is, compare your findings in Discord with a college and then Blog what you have found our.

1 Chapter

Committees

Working with groups and committees using logic and critical thinking skills to achieve the best outcomes. 

Yes, there is a free edition of mycommittee that has all the basic features and works well for small teams. The free edition is free forever but has some limitations.  https://mycommittee.com/

Structure 3 Lessons

4 Steps: Plan Discuss Accomplish Share

 Plan

Create professional looking meeting agendas using the step-by-step and best-practice guided agenda wizard.

  • Create a meeting agenda step-by-step using the best practice based "agenda wizard"
  • Upload and attach documents to the agenda or individual agenda items
  • Members can RSVP online and make notes or add comments to the agenda or specific agenda items after receiving the meeting notification
  • Members can download and review attached meeting documents

Discuss

Work together on policies, procedures, process and other projects using the built-in communication tools

  • Upload and share committee documents
  • Attach comments and personal notes to meetings, individual agenda items or documents
  • Threaded discussions at the item or document level can resolve conflicts even before the next meeting
  • Use messages to communicate with individual members or the entire team
  • Use quick-polls to quickly get feedback from everyone
  • Never lose important discussions or decisions

Accomplish

Don't lose track of important agenda items, commitments and actions items Create structured meeting minutes using the step-by-step minutes wizard.

  • Keep track and follow-through on actions items
  • Actions items are converted to tasks for committee members
  • Deferred agenda items and discussions will never be lost
  • Create personal or committee tasks for your members
  • Keep communicating and share a common collaboration space in between meetings

Share

Share information with committee members and members of parent committees or create a public web page for your committee.

  • Share documents with members via the private committee web site or with members and guests through meeting attachments
  • Share selected documents between parent and subcommittees
  • Parent committees have read-only access to sub-committee info, membership and meeting minutes
  • An optional public web page allows a committee to share selected information with the public.
  • Share internal committee news through status updates on the new committee time line.

Committee Process

The best way is to use an online cloud bases application like https://www.mycommittee.com/   It is free for up to 20 members.

Setup an account to practice with or use the account provided.

Action

Run a meeting, either role play or IRL. Record your observations.

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