How are you thinking today?

First!

You’re wondering what critical thinking is or you already know and you’re wondering what this blog is all about.

The Critical Thinking Asylum seeks to foster critical thinking by providing tools and methods for individual self-analysis of thoughts, ideas, and decisions. We believe that the fundamentals of critical thinking are independent of nationality or ideology. We do not comment on religion, politics, organizations, or individuals.

It’s kind of like IQ.

How often do you think twice? If you find yourself thinking “Why did I do that?” or “Man, I could have handled that better!” Maybe your i? needs a little help.

Well, here’s the place.

Nondenominational.
Critical thinking can be done by anybody.

Nonpolitical.
Although politics deserves a lot of critical thinking, the Asylum doesn’t take sides.

Nonconfrontational.
We’re here to challenge our own thinking and to help you to challenge yours. We’re not here to abuse people.

Our focus is on accessibility and simplicity. Even the simplest tools can make a difference.

Why “asylum” and not “society” or “consortium” or “collective” or “amalgamation” or just plain “club”? The word asylum means “safe haven”. Believe it or not, it is still safe to think in this world. The trouble is, a lot of people just don’t seem to know how to think critically. Knowing how to practice critical thinking is a simple thing. Turning a nut with a wrench is a simple thing, too, but you still need to know how to do it. The goal here is to show you in simple terms how to twist your ideas around so you can see them more clearly. Plus, I’m sure the feedback will help me twist my own ideas.

About the logo: No, that’s not an interrobang. The “i” symbolizes an idea. As much as I hate to follow fads, the “i” also ties in to the modern-day “i” trend. The question mark symbolizes, well, questioning. 5 points to anyone who noticed that the question mark is an upside-down, twisted “i”, snaking off into a new direction. (At least I’m questioning the “i” syndrome…that’s my rationalization for today…I know I’ll never get away with it…) The i and ? are both derived from the Trebuchet MS typeface, and the text is also Trebuchet MS. Colors are Pantone Hexachrome Cyan and Pantone Hexachrome Green, chosen because I think they look nice.

Critical thinking is the questioning of our own ideas.

How we can do that, and simple ways to do that, will be the ongoing subject here.

Artfully. With color.