Barriers to Critical Thinking Essay

Identify three barriers that influence your thinking and write at least 100 words for each, describing how you can overcome them. 1. Self-Concept is one of the three barriers that influence my thinking. Self-Concept is the way a person views themselves. It can be unhealthy if a person see’s themselves in a negative light. Such as not being very intelligent, not thinking you are attractive, or even maybe that you simply don’t matter. This is a struggle for me because when you watch television you see what the ideal woman is supposed to look like. Which causes me to feel like I am not very pretty, or that certain qualities about me should be changed. I sometimes do not feel very smart either and this can become a problem. It can make a person depressed and unable to shed light on other things and to think clear. Some ways I could overcome this is by looking into getting some anti-depressants, but those will not work alone. I could write a list of things that are good about myself, and pay myself compliments every day. Another thing I do is look up pictures of these beautiful women minus the photo shop, and expensive airbrush make up they use. I also like to think I am beautiful because I have a man that thinks the world of me. 2. Ego Defenses is another one of my barriers. Ego Defenses are psychological coping skills that will distort reality in order to protect themselves from guilt, anxiety, and other bad feelings. Some of the more basic ones that impact on our thinking are denial, projection, and rationalization. (Definition was taken from book) When I was 18 years old to 20 years old and still living in Michigan I never wanted to face the fact that I was lazy and suffering from being an alcoholic. I thought that just because I wasn’t dependent on alcohol that I did not have a problem. I spent my days drinking till I went to bed with friends, and then going to sleep waking up and doing it all over again. Maybe a day or two out of the week I would have for recovery. I blamed everyone else but myself for not going and getting a job or bettering my life. I moved to Georgia right before I turned 21 and I got my life on track, got a job, and started college. I still have a problem with being lazy, or I would rather go every Saturday to my parents’ house next door and drink till 3 in the morning instead of doing my homework. It gets in the way of my thinking even though it is only one time a week.