Barriers to Critical Thinking

Barriers to Critical Thinking

        The two barriers that influence my critical thinking are Enculturation and Emotional Influences. Both are barriers that I truly struggle with on a daily basis, and work really hard to overcome them.

        The first barrier that influences my critical thinking is Enculturation. In this country we are made to feel me must be one way or another, either you are an American or you are an outsider. Being a follower of Islam has been a very complicated journey, there is always more to learn and many things in my faith which I don’t fully understand. It is hard to discuss religion with people of other religions, who chose to believe stereotypes about you and your religion. I’ve had many people tell me that because I am a Muslim that I am a terrorist and a threat to this country. This is not a true statement, because all Muslims are not terrorists, majority of Muslims are very peaceful and stray away from violence. The ways that I have overcome this barrier is by being true to my faith and beliefs just like Socrates; I choose not to judge another for his or her beliefs. We each live for ourselves, and must in turn die by ourselves, so who am I to judge.

        The second barrier is Emotional Influences, mainly depression and stress. Due to personal situations in my life, I have been diagnosed with severe depression and my stress level can greatly increase or decrease my depression. Each day is a struggle when you deal with depression, there are days when you can’t even get out of bed, take care of your kids or even yourself. Each day I have to make a conscious decision how I want my day to go because I want my kids to see as a strong woman, and not weak. The ways that I worked to overcome this barrier are by reaching out for help by going to regular therapy, and by utilizing my support system of my friends and family.