Thinking Challenges by Chris

Chris’s questions to hone Critical Thinking

Welcome to the resource dedicated to sharpening critical thinking skills. Each thinking exercise is formatted as a “RESOLVED” statement, much like the format used in formal debate. Select a category and click to view the current resolutions. Some selections also have an image () button to access an image of the same content. Selections with a brief tutorial have (🎓) button for click access.

Click here for more commentary.

Here is our catalogue of “Thinking Exercises” which begin with stating a conclusion, ie “RESOLVED: …” and then challenging that conclusion through the process of personal debate.

Family

RESOLVED: Family … Matters …

RESOLVED: Puberty blockers are the latest profit centre for Big Pharma.

RESOLVED: “Love is giving someone the power to destroy your life and trusting them not to use it.” attributed to Simon Sinek

RESOLVED: Frugal

RESOLVED: If we are to spare some kids from puberty we must have a reliable way to choose whom to spare. The diagnosis of juvenile gender dysphoria is far too inaccurate to support medical intervention.

RESOLVED: A guy makes his choice before a baby is conceived.

RESOLVED: The discussion of Parents’ Rights distracts from the vital discussion of Parents’ Responsibilities and the commiserate Authority and Accountability.

RESOLVED: The best family unit for kids under 18 is two parents, one earning the income, the other managing the household including homeschooling.

RESOLVED: A poignant experience of love, for a couple growing old together, is considering that one of them must go last.

RESOLVED: Fathers should be encouraged to homeschool their children.

RESOLVED: We will depend on the kids when we are old, either ours or someone else’s.

RESOLVED: When a family eats at a fast food establishment the biggest cost is the flavour for the tap water.

Faith

RESOLVED: This is probably not a good time to reject the existence of a Risen Jesus.

RESOLVED: The Love of Jesus is experienced most powerfully through the spirit of a humble confessed sinner.

RESOLVED: Jesus was merely a great human teacher so I have to carry my sin through all eternity.

RESOLVED: Jesus Christ is inclusive, but we must decide if we want to include Him.

RESOLVED: Those who read the Bible know that the ending is fantastic!

RESOLVED: Those who don’t sin, don’t need a saviour.

RESOLVED: I am in awe of the magnitude of my sin that God has forgiven and forgotten because of the work of Jesus Christ.

RESOLVED: Jesus Christ is best viewed through the eyes of a confessed sinner.

RESOLVED: A Christian surrenders all earthly rights in order to claim the right to eternity with Jesus.

RESOLVED: For every Christian, their sin reality more closely resembles the standards of Trudeau and Putin and Trump than it does the Standard of God.

RESOLVED: When Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to “go and sin no more,” she didn’t.

RESOLVED: “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” From <https://biblehub.com/galatians/2-21.htm>

RESOLVED: He is risen.

RESOLVED: Love God and do as you please.

RESOLVED: Jesus Christ is best viewed through the eyes of a confessed sinner.

RESOLVED: Christian Churches are comprised entirely of sinners.

Community

RESOLVED: High food costs can be eased by adopting the H.A.M* Diet. (*half as much)

RESOLVED: Scott Moe must call a provincial election to address the issue of authority in the public school system in Saskatchewan.

RESOLVED: Reconciliation demands spending time in each other’s daily life.

RESOLVED: The life of the poor has never been improved after being given money taken from the rich.

RESOLVED: We need more laws to sanction the toxically impolite.

RESOLVED: The public education system has been sabotaged by complexity.

RESOLVED: The survival of humanity depends on the creation and survival of the fetus.

RESOLVED: Ending profits will help the poor.

RESOLVED: Healthcare costs will drop dramatically when profit is removed from every aspect of it’s delivery.

RESOLVED: Disagreeing with a solution isn’t the same as being part of the problem.

RESOLVED: Electric powered transportation requires decades to mature to the same greenness as carbon powered.

RESOLVED: Confrontation strengthens resolve (of both the confronter and the confrontee)

RESOLVED: Determining eligibility for Women’s sports is a Women’s Issue.

RESOLVED: Gender Affirming Care is not a threat to vulnerable persons.

RESOLVED: Micro-nuclear generation will spur the settlement of vast areas of wilderness.

Socialism vs For-Honest-Profit

RESOLVED: Honest Profit improves the economic life of everyone …

RESOLVED: A world free of profit is a world without mass entertainment..

RESOLVED: A world free of profit is a world without electronics.

RESOLVED: A world free of profit is a world without pharmaceuticals.

RESOLVED: A world free of profit is a world without retirement pensions.

RESOLVED: Imagine a world free of profit.

RESOLVED: Remove profit from the supply process so things will cost less.

Bigotry

RESOLVED: Safe Space is not an effective defence against bigots.

RESOLVED: You can fight fire with fire, but to fight bigotry with bigotry is the way of the fool.

RESOLVED: A unified battle against bigotry is better than a myriad of battles against: racism, sexism, islamophobia, anti-semitism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, misandry …

Politics

DEEP THOUGHT: In a world where Truth is what you Identify it to be, Trump is a perfect leader.

RESOLVED: One of the weaknesses of democracy is when elected politicians support their friends. This is not an issue with Trump.

RESOLVED: The best solution to any problem is one that doesn’t involve funding.

RESOLVED: I feel safer with a politician whose faults are visible as opposed to veiled.

RESOLVED: A skilled politician triggers the bigotry in opponents.

RESOLVED: When all is said and done, there is more said.

Critical Thinking

RESOLVED: There are some thoughts that are a waste of our thinking capacity.

RESOLVED: Free Thinking now available for the low introductory price of $100/thought (3 for $500).

RESOLVED: ♫ Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood. ♫– Bennie Benjamin, Horace Ott and Sol Marcus

RESOLVED: Sarcasm is when you dis all over my cause.

RESOLVED: It’s OK to think.

RESOLVED: Critical Thinking is a demanding skill so it is best to entrust it to a professional.

RESOLVED: Critical Thinking and Formal Debate require mastery of the same skill set.

RESOLVED: I will stand out as an over-thinker in a world of under-thinkers.

RESOLVED: If the thought of an infinite universe is daunting, consider a finite one.

Commentary

I first heard the term “critical thinking” within the last couple of decades. When I googled the term, my first thought was “Oh Yeah, we learned that in school in the 1960s, but I think we just called it thinking!” Back then we learned both public speaking and formal debate. The debate format required us to research and then prepare to both support and oppose an issue, or resolution. We had to prepare with balanced research because we didn’t know if we were “opposers” or “supporters” until the coin was flipped immediately prior to the contest.

I always felt vulnerable because I grew up in a home that held very strong political views. I was worried that I would be assigned a position which conflicted with what I had been taught!

As I began to think about the concept of critical thinking, I realized that my high school debate skills were very useful in today’s social media world of instant and ongoing debate. (click to see the current Manitoba Grade 12 curriculum re Debate)