intellectual perseverance in critical thinking

Critical Thinking

• What is Critical Thinking?
• Intellectual Standards
• Elements of Thought

Intellectual Traits

• Intellectual Traits - What Are My Intellectual Habits?

Critical Thinking and The Intellectual Traits by Dr. Richard Paul

Quiz yourself on intellectual traits.

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If standards of thought are applied, a student has potential to grow into an individual who exhibits the intellectual character described by the Paul- Elder Intellectual Traits. These intellectual traits include intellectual integrity, independence, perseverance, empathy, humility, courage, confidence in reason and fair-mindedness (Figure 1). - By Crest + Oral-B Professional Community

Intellectual integrity  – this trait requires that the standards that guide actions and thoughts need to be the same standards by which others are evaluated. an individual exhibiting this trait treats others with kindness while avoiding harm and outwardly projects this trait. this trait eliminates double standards and hypocrisy., intellectual autonomy  – this trait requires an individual to use critical thinking tools, such as the paul-elder model, and to trust their own ability to reason critically. for example, a dental professional exhibiting intellectual autonomy will ask questions about new products and will critically think through all aspects of the products to determine their implications of use. these individuals do not have to rely on others to do their thinking., intellectual perseverance  – the tag phase for this trait is "never give up" and encourages individuals to work through any difficulties. a clinician exhibiting intellectual perseverance has to depend on their critical thinking toolkit to keep working through challenging patient issues or unfamiliar situations., intellectual empathy  – an individual achieves intellectual empathy when they actively put themselves in someone else’s shoes in terms of how they think and feel. for instance, a dental clinician may encounter a patient who has a different viewpoint about certain dental preventive agents such as fluoride. a clinician exhibiting intellectual empathy strives to understand the patient’s point of view in order to think fully about the situation before responding to it. while the clinician does not have to agree with your patient’s point of view, intellectual empathy demands that they accurately represent the thinking of a different view despite what they believe., intellectual humility  – individuals exhibiting intellectual humility accept they are human and that they do not know everything. they continue to learn and grow as they age. they acknowledge their limitations. dental professionals exhibiting intellectual humility are okay to tell patients they are not familiar with a certain product, technique, condition or research behind the product or technique, and acknowledge that they are an ongoing learner in the profession., intellectual courage  – individuals with intellectual courage stand up for their beliefs and the conclusions they have fully thought through, especially when it is difficult to do so. sometimes it will not be a popular or common thought, but if they stand up for their beliefs, change can occur., confidence in reason and fair-mindedness  - utilizing the elements of thought and the standards will lead to confidence in reason and fair-mindedness and requires individuals to look at all of the evidence and relevant points of views and arrive at conclusions that embodies the intellectual traits. this allows dental professionals with confidence in reason and fair-mindedness to trust, as thinkers, to come to sound conclusions for patient care simply by applying the framework to their thought process. 2-6.

Dr. Richard Paul briefly defines and discusses the Intellectual Traits and the importance of fostering their development in students. Excerpted from the Spring 2008 Workshop on Teaching for Intellectual Engagement. Apr 15, 2008 - (9:53)

• Quizlet on Intellectual Traits of Critical Thinking
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Ideas to Action (i2a)

• Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Framework

Critical thinking is that mode of thinking – about any subject, content, or problem — in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them. (Paul and Elder, 2001). The Paul-Elder framework has three components:

• The elements of thought (reasoning)
• The  intellectual standards that should be applied to the elements of reasoning
• The intellectual traits associated with a cultivated critical thinker that result from the consistent and disciplined application of the intellectual standards to the elements of thought

According to Paul and Elder (1997), there are two essential dimensions of thinking that students need to master in order to learn how to upgrade their thinking. They need to be able to identify the "parts" of their thinking, and they need to be able to assess their use of these parts of thinking.

Elements of Thought (reasoning)

The "parts" or elements of thinking are as follows:

• All reasoning has a purpose
• All reasoning is an attempt to figure something out, to settle some question, to solve some problem
• All reasoning is based on assumptions
• All reasoning is done from some point of view
• All reasoning is based on data, information and evidence
• All reasoning is expressed through, and shaped by, concepts and ideas
• All reasoning contains inferences or interpretations by which we draw conclusions and give meaning to data
• All reasoning leads somewhere or has implications and consequences

Universal Intellectual Standards

The intellectual standards that are to these elements are used to determine the quality of reasoning. Good critical thinking requires having a command of these standards. According to Paul and Elder (1997 ,2006), the ultimate goal is for the standards of reasoning to become infused in all thinking so as to become the guide to better and better reasoning. The intellectual standards include:

Intellectual Traits

Consistent application of the standards of thinking to the elements of thinking result in the development of intellectual traits of:

• Intellectual Humility
• Intellectual Courage
• Intellectual Empathy
• Intellectual Autonomy
• Intellectual Integrity
• Intellectual Perseverance
• Confidence in Reason
• Fair-mindedness

Characteristics of a Well-Cultivated Critical Thinker

Habitual utilization of the intellectual traits produce a well-cultivated critical thinker who is able to:

• Raise vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely
• Gather and assess relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively
• Come to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards;
• Think open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as need be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences; and
• Communicate effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems

Paul, R. and Elder, L. (2010). The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools. Dillon Beach: Foundation for Critical Thinking Press.

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8 Perseverance: Overcome Obstacles

• Published: March 2021
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This chapter explores intellectual perseverance, the virtue needed to overcome obstacles to our getting, keeping, and sharing knowledge. After locating perseverance as a virtue between the deficiency of irresolution and the vice of intransigence, the chapter considers the structure of the virtue in greater detail. It argues that perseverance involves a disposition to expend serious effort in order to overcome obstacles to the completion of our intellectual projects—particularly obstacles that make it difficult for us to achieve our intellectual ends. The chapter concludes by relating the notion of intellectual perseverance to recent work on grit, and to the concept of a growth mindset.

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Are you trying to learn something new but it's a struggle and you're tempted to give up? Are you trying to understand philosophy or level up your thinking and sometimes you just feel stuck and confused? Then this post is designed for you, philosophical lifer! I'm giving you the 5 best steps to develop intellectual perseverance and succeed intellectually.

What is Intellectual Perseverance?

Intellectual perseverance is a habit that comes from a love of learning. It's the tendency to not give up on learning when the learning gets tough. Instead, you embrace intellectual struggle. You persist toward greater understanding.

Intellectual perseverance is an intellectual virtue. What's an intellectual virtue and why is perseverance one of them?

For Aristotle, a virtue is a midway point between two extremes. For instance, moral courage is a virtue that lies in-between the tendency to act cowardly or rashly. A person having the moral virtue of courage takes just the right amount of risk given the circumstances. They do not foolishly rush into a battle when they are clearly outmatched or haven't planned their attack. They do not take unwise risks or act rashly. And they do not retreat from battle out of fear when victory was possible. They do not act cowardly. What's an intellectual virtue as opposed to a moral one?

An intellectual virtue is a habit that comes from a desire to gain knowledge. It involves seeking the truth about what you're learning. But, it isn't an all-out desire for truth no matter the costs. Enter movie quote from A Few Good Men , "You can't handle the truth!" It involves correct moderation. It's a midway point. Between what?

Intellectual perseverance lies in-between the tendency to give up on learning too easily and the tendency to keep banging your head against a problem when no reasonable progress is in sight. However, we tend to give up too easily. So it's usually better to lean toward keeping going.

Now onto developing this awesome intellectual habit!

Step 1: Connect What You're Learning to the Real World!

Develop the habit of intellectual perseverance by connecting your subject to the real world.

Keep learning when the learning gets tough by seeing your subject in 3-D. If a subject is flat and one-dimensional it's boring to look at. When you get bored you tend to move onto something else. Bring your subject to life by connecting it to the real world. How?

Take ethics, for instance. Reading Jeremy Bentham on utilitarianism can be...well...boring. The text is old school.

To make reading utilitarianism come to life you can connect your learning to the real world. There's a movement called Effective Altruism . It's utilitarianism in action. Reading about the movement or attending meetups may keep you engaged in learning about utilitarianism. It will motivate you to keep going even when reading Bentham gets tough or boring.

Step 2: Ignite Your Curiosity!

Spark your curiosity to keep learning when the learning gets tough.

Curious people learn because learning is rewarding. They don't just learn to get kudos or rewards. They learn for learning's sake. Curiosity keeps you focused on this pursuit.

If you find yourself tempted to quit an intellectual project, try to your ignite your curiosity. 

Sticking with the example of learning utilitarianism. If you find reading John Stuart Mill on Utilitarianism is difficult you can ignite your curiosity by looking at a general article on utilitarianism, such as this one on The History of Utilitarianism .

Or, if learning about about the history of ideas doesn't spark your curiosity, watch a fun video on your subject. For example, you could watch a video on utilitarianism by Crash Course Philosophy . This helps you think about interesting scenarios relevant to utilitarianism, such as whether it's permissible to kill one person to save five people.

Step 3: Break Free from What's Holding You Back!

There are predicable things that are preventing you from persevering intellectually. Recognize these roadblocks. Don't let them stop you from learning.

Intellectual laziness prevents learning. Learning requires mental effort. If you find yourself unwilling to exert yourself mentally, you're prone to intellectual laziness. Like the habit of physical laziness makes your muscles atrophy the habit of intellectual laziness makes your mind atrophy. It makes your intellectual skills grow dull and flabby.

Another big roadblock is the P-word...procrastination. It involves putting off what's hard by distracting yourself with what's easy and less important in moving your learning forward. Instead of forcing yourself to do what's hard, you occupy yourself with busy work.

Yet another P-word that's a roadblock is perfectionism. This is the one I struggle with most. I tend to fuss over details. I tend to endlessly tweak things. If I cannot learn something and learn it perfectly, I think "why bother." I've learned it's better to take small steps over time than to try to take huge leaps of improvement in one fell swoop. If you're a perfectionist like me, you may be waiting for the perfect moment to learn, the perfect school or teacher, or the perfect method. Get learning and stay learning. Even if it's messy. Even if it's not perfect. It's better to get it done.

The last roadblock to intellectual perseverance I'll mention is closed-mindedness. When you're closed-minded you're unwilling to think outside the box. Learning something new requires going out on a limb. It requires thinking new thoughts. If you are unwilling to entertain new ideas and perspectives, this will make you give up when you encounter something new, especially something that challenges your preexisting beliefs. To overcome this roadblock, become open-minded. 

To help you become open-minded I created a video. It contains 3 tips to boost your open-mindedness so you can better learn and think critically. Click here to watch the video.

Step 4: Remember Your Past Intellectual Achievements!

When you're tempted to give up on learning something it's helpful to remember your past successes. Did you succeed in learning a new skill at work? Did you learn a new language? Did you learn a new theory or philosophy? Did you achieve a degree? Did you complete a training course? 

On a sheet of paper write down some of your past intellectual successes. Remember these successes. Let them give you strength to keep going because you've done so in the past. 

Step 5: Think About Frederick Douglass!

Frederick Douglass went from being a slave to being an adviser to the President. How did he escape slavery and become an activist for the abolition of slavery? He learned to read and write. But, it wasn't easy.

Frederick first learned the alphabet when he was a young boy. The wife of his slave owner and master began teaching him the ABC's. When the slave owner discovered his wife was teaching Frederick to read, he forbid his wife from continuing. But this did not prevent Frederick from persisting in becoming literate. He did not give up.

He used ingenuity to achieve literacy. While running household chores, such as going to the store, Frederick would bring bread with him. He would get poor white boys to spell out words. He would offer them bread in exchange for a spelling lesson.

Frederick learned to write in an ingenuous way. One day while passing by a shipyard he noticed letters on the wood used to build the ships. Carpenters would write in chalk where the wood was to be placed on the ship. Frederick used discarded chalk to practice tracing the letters he found on the wood. It took him a long time to learn. But, his persistence paid off.

Thus, after a long, tedious effort for years, I finally succeeded in learning how to write. 

Frederick Douglass

When you're tempted to give up on an intellectual project, think about Frederick Douglass. Think about the ingenuity and perseverance he displayed in learning to read and write. Let that encourage you to find new ways to overcome your struggles in learning.

For a video version of this post, check out the video below!

The 5 steps for developing the habit of intellectual perseverance will help you succeed in your intellectual projects. When the learning gets tough, you will persist through those challenges. In the end, it's worth it. Completing your intellectual projects is satisfying and rewarding. It gives you confidence. It sharpens and expands your mind.

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Thinking Skills – If You’re Missing These Skills, Your Thinking Will Fail You

About the Author

I'm a philosopher, content creator, and entrepreneur. I strive to provide entertaining educational experiences that transform your thinking and learning. When I'm not teaching I enjoy taking my fluffy Golden Doodle for walks on the beach and watching movies and TV shows with my wife.

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Chapter 3. evolving into a balanced critical thinker, chapter 3. evolving into an evenhanded thinker, weak versus strong critical thinking.

Critical thinking involves basic intellectual skills, but these skills can be used to serve two incompatible ends: self-centeredness or fair-mindedness. As we develop the basic intellectual skills that critical thinking entails, we can begin to use those skills in a selfish or in a fair-minded way. In other words, we can develop in such a way that we learn to see mistakes in our own thinking, as well as the thinking of others. Or we can merely develop some proficiency in making our opponent's thinking look bad.

Typically, people see mistakes in other's thinking without being able to credit the strengths in those opposing views. Liberals see mistakes in the arguments of conservatives; conservatives see mistakes in the arguments of liberals. Believers see mistakes in the thinking of nonbelievers; nonbelievers see mistakes in the thinking of believers. Those who oppose abortion readily see mistakes in the arguments for abortion; those who favor abortion readily see mistakes in the arguments against it.

We call these thinkers weak-sense critical thinkers. We call the thinking "weak" because, though it is working well for the thinker in some respects, it is missing certain important higher-level skills and values of critical thinking. Most significantly, it fails to consider, in good faith, viewpoints that contradict its own viewpoint. It lacks fair-mindedness.

Another traditional name for the weak-sense thinker is found in the word sophist. Sophistry is the art of winning arguments regardless of whether there are obvious problems in the thinking being used. There is a set of lower-level skills of rhetoric, or argumentation, by which one can make bad thinking look good and good thinking look bad. We see this often in unethical lawyers and politicians who are merely concerned with winning. They use emotionalism and trickery in an intellectually skilled way.

Sophistic thinkers succeed only if they do not come up against what we call strong-sense critical thinkers. Strong-sense critical thinkers are not easily tricked by slick argumentation. As William Graham Sumner ( -->1906) said almost a century ago, they

cannot be stampeded ... are slow to believe ... can hold things as possible or probable in all degrees, without certainty and without pain ... can wait for evidence and weigh evidence ... can resist appeals to their dearest prejudices....

Perhaps even more important, strong-sense critical thinkers strive to be fair-minded. They use thinking in an ethically responsible manner. They work to understand and appreciate the viewpoints of others. They are willing to listen to arguments they do not necessarily hold. They change their views when faced with better reasoning. Rather than using their thinking to manipulate others and to hide from the truth (in a weak-sense way), they use thinking in an ethical, reasonable manner.

We believe that the world already has too many skilled selfish thinkers, too many sophists and intellectual con artists, too many unscrupulous lawyers and politicians who specialize in twisting information and evidence to support their selfish interests and the vested interests of those who pay them. We hope that you, the reader, will develop as a highly skilled, fair-minded thinker, one capable of exposing those who are masters at playing intellectual games at the expense of the well-being of innocent people. We hope as well that you develop the intellectual courage to argue publicly against what is unethical in human thinking. We write this resource with the assumption that you will take seriously the fair-mindedness implied by strong-sense critical thinking.

To think critically in the strong sense requires that we develop fair-mindedness at the same time that we learn basic critical thinking skills, and thus begin to "practice" fair-mindedness in our thinking. If we do, we avoid using our skills to gain unfair advantage over others. We avoid using our thinking to get what we want at the expense of the rights and needs of others. We treat all thinking by the same high standards. We expect good reasoning from those who support us as well as those who oppose us. We subject our own reasoning to the same criteria we apply to reasoning to which we are unsympathetic. We question our own purposes, evidence, conclusions, implications, and points of view with the same vigor that we question those of others.

Developing fair-minded thinkers try to see the actual strengths and weaknesses of any reasoning they assess. This is the kind of thinker we hope this resource will help you become. So, right from the beginning, we are going to explore the characteristics that are required for the strongest, most fair-minded thinking. As you read through the rest of the book, we hope you will notice how we are attempting to foster "strong-sense" critical thinking. Indeed, unless we indicate otherwise, every time we now use the words "critical thinking," from this point onward, we will mean critical thinking in the strong sense.

In the remainder of this chapter, we will explore the various intellectual "virtues" that fair-minded thinking requires (Figure 3.1) . Figure 3.1 ).--> There is much more to fair-mindedness than most people realize. Fair-mindedness requires a family of interrelated and interdependent states of mind.

Figure 3.1. Critical thinkers strive to develop essential traits or characteristics of mind. These are interrelated intellectual habits that lead to disciplined self-command.

In addition to fair-mindedness, strong-sense critical thinking implies higher-order thinking. As you develop as a thinker and internalize the traits of mind that we shall soon discuss, you will develop a variety of skills and insights that are absent in the weak-sense critical thinker.

As we examine how the various traits of mind are conducive to fair-mindedness, we will also look at the manner in which the traits contribute to quality of thought (in general). In addition to the fairness that strong-sense critical thinking implies, depth of thinking and high quality of thinking are also implied. Weak-sense critical thinkers develop a range of intellectual skills (for example, skills of argumentation) and may achieve some success in getting what they want, but they do not develop any of the traits highlighted in this chapter.

It is important to note that many people considered successful in business or in their profession are, in fact, selfish thinkers. In self-indulgent and materialistic cultures, the idea "if it is good for me it is good for everyone" is tacitly assumed when not overtly stated. The pursuit of money, often at the expense of the rights and needs of others, is considered not only acceptable, but also commendable. Nevertheless when the pursuit of wealth and power is unbridled, injustice often results. The human mind is readily able to justify its own selfishness and lack of consideration for others. The powerful find many reasons to ignore the interests of the weak (Figure 3.2) . Figure 3.2 ).-->

Figure 3.2. These are the opposites of the intellectual virtues. They occur naturally in the mind and can only be countered through culturalization of intellectual virtues.

True critical thinkers, in the strong sense, realize the ease with which the mind can ignore the rights and needs of others. They recognize that to be reasonable and just is not to comply with nature but to defy it. They recognize the difficulty of entering into points of view different from our own. They are willing to do the work that is required to go beyond selfish thinking.

Let us turn to the component traits of the strong-sense critical thinker. After we take up each individual trait as it stands in relation to fair-mindedness, we will highlight its significance as a contributor to the general development of high levels of thinking.

What Does Fair-Mindedness Require?

First, the basic concept:

Fair-mindedness entails a consciousness of the need to treat all viewpoints alike, without reference to one's own feelings or selfish interests, or the feelings or selfish interests of one's friends, company, community, or nation. It implies adherence to intellectual standards (such as accuracy and sound logic), uninfluenced by one's own advantage or the advantage of one's group.

To be fair-minded is to strive to treat every viewpoint relevant to a situation in an unbiased, unprejudiced way. It entails a consciousness of the fact that we, by nature, tend to prejudge the views of others, placing them into "favorable" (agrees with us) and "unfavorable" (disagrees with us) categories. We tend to give less weight to contrary views than to our own. This is especially true when we have selfish reasons for opposing views. For example, the manufacturers of asbestos advocated its use in homes and schools, and made large profits on its use, even though they knew for many years that the product was carcinogenic. They ignored the viewpoint and welfare of the innocent users of their product. If we can ignore the potentially harmful effects of a product we manufacture, we can reap the benefits that come with large profits without experiencing pangs of conscience. Thus, fair-mindedness is especially important when the situation calls on us to consider the point of view of those who welfare is in conflict with our short-term vested interest.

The opposite of fair-mindedness is intellectual self-centeredness. It is demonstrated by the failure of thinkers to treat points of view that differ significantly from their own by the same standards that they treat their own.

Achieving a truly fair-minded state of mind is challenging. It requires us to simultaneously become intellectually humble, intellectually courageous, intellectually empathetic, intellectually honest, intellectually perseverant, confident in reason (as a tool of discovery and learning), and intellectually autonomous.

Without this family of traits in an integrated constellation, there is no true fair-mindedness. But these traits, singly and in combination, are not commonly discussed in everyday life, and are rarely taught. They are not discussed on television. Your friends and colleagues will not ask you questions about them.

In truth, because they are largely unrecognized, these traits are not commonly valued. Yet each of them is essential to fair-mindedness and the development of critical thinking. Let us see how and why this is so.

Intellectual Humility: Having Knowledge of Ignorance

We will begin with the fair-minded trait of intellectual humility:

Intellectual humility may be defined as having a consciousness of the limits of one's knowledge, including a sensitivity to circumstances in which one's native egocentrism is likely to function self-deceptively. This entails being aware of one's biases, one's prejudices, the limitations of one's viewpoint, and the extent of one's ignorance. Intellectual humility depends on recognizing that one should not claim more than one actually knows. It does not imply spinelessness or submissiveness. It implies the lack of intellectual pretentiousness, boastfulness, or conceit, combined with insight into the logical foundations, or lack of such foundations, of one's beliefs.

The opposite of intellectual humility is intellectual arrogance, a lack of consciousness of the limits of one's knowledge, with little or no insight into self-deception or the limitations of one's point of view. Intellectually arrogant people often fall prey to their own bias and prejudice, and frequently claim to know more than they actually know.

When we think of intellectual arrogance, we are not necessarily implying a person who is outwardly smug, haughty, insolent, or pompous. Outwardly, the person may appear humble. For example, a person who uncritically believes in a cult leader may be outwardly self-effacing ("I am nothing. You are everything"), but intellectually he or she is making a sweeping generalization that is not well founded, and has complete faith in that generalization.

Unfortunately, in human life people of the full range of personality types are capable of believing they know what they don't know. Our own false beliefs, misconceptions, prejudices, illusions, myths, propaganda, and ignorance appear to us as the plain, unvarnished truth. What is more, when challenged, we often resist admitting that our thinking is "defective." We then are intellectually arrogant, even though we might feel humble. Rather than recognizing the limits of our knowledge, we ignore and obscure those limits. From such arrogance, much suffering and waste result.

It is not uncommon for the police, for example, to assume a man is guilty of a crime because of his appearance, because he is black for example, or because he wears an earring, or because he has a disheveled and unkempt look about him. Owing to the prejudices driving their thinking, the police are often incapable of intellectual humility. In a similar way, prosecutors have been known to withhold exculpatory evidence against a defendant in order to "prove" their case. Intellectually righteous in their views, they feel confident that the defendant is guilty. Why, therefore, shouldn't they suppress evidence that will help this "guilty" person go free?

Intellectual arrogance is incompatible with fair-mindedness because we cannot judge fairly when we are in a state of ignorance about the object of our judgment. If we are ignorant about a religion (say, Buddhism), we cannot be fair in judging it. And if we have misconceptions, prejudices, or illusions about it, we will distort it (unfairly) in our judgment. We will misrepresent it and make it appear to be other than it is. Our false knowledge, misconceptions, prejudices, and illusions stand in the way of the possibility of our being fair. Or if we are intellectually arrogant, we will be inclined to judge too quickly and be overly confident in our judgment. Clearly, these tendencies are incompatible with being fair (to that which we are judging).

Why is intellectual humility essential to higher-level thinking? In addition to helping us become fair-minded thinkers, knowledge of our ignorance can improve our thinking in a variety of ways. It can enable us to recognize the prejudices, false beliefs, and habits of mind that lead to flawed learning. Consider, for example, our tendency to accept superficial learning. Much human learning is superficial. We learn a little and think we know a lot. We get limited information and generalize hastily from it. We confuse cutesy phrases with deep insights. We uncritically accept much that we hear and read - especially when what we hear or read agrees with our intensely held beliefs or the beliefs of groups to which we belong.

The discussion in the chapters that follow encourages intellectual humility and will help to raise your awareness of intellectual arrogance. See if you, from this moment, can begin to develop in yourself a growing awareness of the limitations of your knowledge and an increasing sensitivity to instances of your inadvertent intellectual arrogance. When you do, celebrate that sensitivity. Reward yourself for finding weaknesses in your thinking. Consider recognition of weakness an important strength, not a weakness. As a starter, answer the following questions:

Can you construct a list of your most significant prejudices? (Think of what you believe about your country, your religion, your company, your friends, your family, simply because others - colleagues, parents, friends, peer group, media - conveyed these to you.)

Do you ever argue for or against views when you have little evidence upon which to base your judgment?

Do you ever assume that your group (your company, your family, your religion, your nation, your friends) is correct (when it is in conflict with others) even though you have not looked at the situation from the point of view of the others with which you disagree?

Intellectual Courage: Being Willing to Challenge Beliefs

Now let's consider intellectual courage:

Intellectual courage may be defined as having a consciousness of the need to face and fairly address ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints toward which one has strong negative emotions and to which one has not given a serious hearing. Intellectual courage is connected to the recognition that ideas that society considers dangerous or absurd are sometimes rationally justified (in whole or in part). Conclusions and beliefs inculcated in people are sometimes false or misleading. To determine for oneself what makes sense, one must not passively and uncritically accept what one has learned. Intellectual courage comes into play here because there is some truth in some ideas considered dangerous and absurd, and distortion or falsity in some ideas strongly held by social groups to which we belong. People need courage to be fair-minded thinkers in these circumstances. The penalties for nonconformity can be severe.

The opposite of intellectual courage, intellectual cowardice, is the fear of ideas that do not conform to one's own. If we lack intellectual courage, we are afraid of giving serious consideration to ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints that we perceive as dangerous. We feel personally threatened by some ideas when they conflict significantly with our personal identity - when we feel that an attack on the ideas is an attack on us as a person.

All of the following ideas are "sacred" in the minds of some people: being a conservative, being a liberal; believing in God, disbelieving in God; believing in capitalism, believing in socialism; believing in abortion, disbelieving in abortion; believing in capital punishment, disbelieving in capital punishment. No matter what side we are on, we often say of ourselves: "I am a (an) [insert sacred belief here; for example, I am a Christian. I am a conservative. I am a socialist. I am an atheist]."

Once we define who we are in relation to an emotional commitment to a belief, we are likely to experience inner fear when that idea or belief is questioned. Questioning the belief seems to be questioning us. The intensely personal fear that we feel operates as a barrier in our minds to being fair (to the opposing belief). When we do seem to consider the opposing idea, we subconsciously undermine it, presenting it in its weakest form, in order to reject it. This is one form of intellectual cowardice. Sometimes, then, we need intellectual courage to overcome our self-created inner fear - the fear we ourselves have created by linking our identity to a specific set of beliefs.

Intellectual courage is just as important in our professional as in our personal lives. If, for example, we are unable to analyze the work-related beliefs we hold, then we are essentially trapped by those beliefs. We do not have the courage to question what we have always taken for granted. We are unable to question the beliefs collectively held by our co-workers. We are unable to question, for example, the ethics of our decisions and our behavior at work. But fair-minded managers, employers, and employees do not hesitate to question what has always been considered "sacred" or what is taken for granted by others in their group. It is not uncommon, for example, for employees to think within a sort of "mob mentality" against management, which often includes routinely gossiping to one another about management practices, especially those practices that impact them. Those with intellectual courage, rather than participating in such gossip in a mindless way, will begin to question the source of the gossip. They will question whether there is good reason for the group to be disgruntled, or whether the group is irrational in its expectations of management.

Another important reason to acquire intellectual courage is to overcome the fear of rejection by others because they hold certain beliefs and are likely to reject us if we challenge those beliefs. This is where we invest the group with the power to intimidate us, and such power is destructive. Many people live their lives in the eyes of others and cannot approve of themselves unless others approve of them. Fear of rejection is often lurking in the back of their minds. Few people challenge the ideologies or belief systems of the groups to which they belong. This is the second form of intellectual cowardice. Both make it impossible to be fair to the ideas that are contrary to our, or our group's, identity.

You might note in passing an alternative way to form your personal identity. This is not in terms of the content of any given idea (what you actually believe) but, instead, in terms of the process by which you came to it. This is what it means to take on the identity of a critical thinker. Consider the following resolution:

I will not identify with the content of any belief. I will identify only with the way I come to my beliefs. I am a critical thinker and, as such, am ready to abandon any belief that cannot be supported by evidence and rational considerations. I am ready to follow evidence and reason wherever they lead. My true identity is that of being a critical thinker, a lifelong learner, and a person always looking to improve my thinking by becoming more reasonable in my beliefs.

With such an identity, intellectual courage becomes more meaningful to us, and fair-mindedness more essential. We are no longer afraid to consider beliefs that are contrary to our present beliefs. We are not afraid of being proven wrong. We freely admit to having made mistakes in the past. We are happy to correct any mistakes we are still making: Tell me what you believe and why you believe it, and maybe I can learn from your thinking. I have cast off many early beliefs. I am ready to abandon as many of the present beliefs as are not consistent with the way things are.

Intellectual Empathy: Entertaining Opposing Views

Next let's consider intellectual empathy, another trait of mind necessary to fair-mindedness:

Intellectual empathy is an awareness of the need to imaginatively put oneself in the place of others so as to genuinely understand them. To have intellectual empathy is to be able to accurately reconstruct the viewpoints and reasoning of others and to reason from premises, assumptions, and ideas other than one's own. This trait also correlates with the willingness to remember occasions when one was wrong in the past despite an intense conviction of being right, and with the ability to imagine being similarly deceived in a case at hand.

The opposite of intellectual empathy is intellectual self-centeredness. It is thinking centered on self. When we think from a self-centered perspective, we are unable to understand others' thoughts, feelings, and emotions. From this natural perspective, we are the recipients of most of our attention. Our pain, our desires, and our hopes are most pressing. The needs of others pale into insignificance before the domination of our own needs and desires. We are unable to consider issues, problems, and questions from a viewpoint that differs from our own and that, when considered, would force us to change our perspective.

How can we be fair to the thinking of others if we have not learned to put ourselves in their intellectual shoes? Fair-minded judgment requires a good-faith effort to acquire accurate knowledge. Human thinking emerges from the conditions of human life, from very different contexts and situations. If we do not learn how to take on the perspectives of others and to accurately think as they think, we will not be able to fairly judge their ideas and beliefs. Actually trying to think within the viewpoint of others is not easy, though. It is one of the most difficult skills to acquire.The extent to which you have intellectual empathy has direct implications for the quality of your life. If you cannot think within the viewpoint of your supervisor, for example, you will have difficulty functioning successfully in your job and you may often feel frustrated. If you cannot think within the viewpoints of your subordinates, you will have difficulty understanding why they behave as they do. If you cannot think within the viewpoint of your spouse, the quality of your marriage will be adversely affected. If you cannot think within the viewpoints of your children, they will feel misunderstood and alienated from you.

Intellectual Integrity: Holding Ourselves to the Same Standards to Which We Hold Others

Let us now consider intellectual integrity:

Intellectual integrity is defined as recognition of the need to be true to one's own thinking and to hold oneself to the same standards one expects others to meet. It means to hold oneself to the same rigorous standards of evidence and proof to which one holds one's antagonists - to practice what one advocates for others. It also means to honestly admit discrepancies and inconsistencies in one's own thought and action, and to be able to identify inconsistencies in one's own thinking.

The opposite of intellectual integrity is intellectual hypocrisy, a state of mind unconcerned with genuine integrity. It is often marked by deep-seated contradictions and inconsistencies. The appearance of integrity means a lot because it affects our image with others. Therefore, hypocrisy is often implicit in the thinking and action behind human behavior as a function of natural egocentric thinking. Our hypocrisy is hidden from us. Though we expect others to adhere to standards to which we refuse to adhere, we see ourselves as fair. Though we profess certain beliefs, we often fail to behave in accordance with those beliefs.

To the extent that we have intellectual integrity, our beliefs and actions are consistent. We practice what we preach, so to speak. We don't say one thing and do another.

Suppose I were to say to you that our relationship is really important to me, but you find out that I have lied to you about something important to you. My behavior lacks integrity. I have acted hypocritically.

Clearly, we cannot be fair to others if we are justified in thinking and acting in contradictory ways. Hypocrisy by its very nature is a form of injustice. In addition, if we are not sensitive to contradictions and inconsistencies in our own thinking and behavior, we cannot think well about ethical questions involving ourselves.

Consider this political example. From time to time the U.S. media discloses highly questionable practices by the CIA. These practices run anywhere from documentation of attempted assassinations of foreign political leaders (say, attempts to assassinate President Castro of Cuba) to the practice of teaching police or military representatives in other countries (say, Central America or South America) how to torture prisoners to get them to disclose information about their associates. To appreciate how such disclosures reveal a lack of intellectual integrity, we only have to imagine how the U.S. government and citizenry would respond if another nation were to attempt to assassinate the president of the U.S or trained U.S. police or military in methods of torture. Once we imagine this, we recognize a basic inconsistency common in human behavior and a lack of intellectual integrity on the part of those who plan, engage in, or approve of, such activities.

All humans sometimes fail to act with intellectual integrity. When we do, we reveal a lack of fair-mindedness on our part, and a failure to think well enough as to grasp the internal contradictions in our thought or life.

Intellectual Perseverance: Working Through Complexity and Frustration

Let us now consider intellectual perseverance:

Intellectual perseverance can be defined as the disposition to work one's way through intellectual complexities despite the frustration inherent in the task. Some intellectual problems are complex and cannot be easily solved. One has intellectual perseverance when one does not give up in the face of intellectual complexity or frustration. The intellectually perseverant person displays firm adherence to rational principles despite the irrational opposition of others, and has a realistic sense of the need to struggle with confusion and unsettled questions over an extended time to achieve understanding or insight.

The opposite of intellectual perseverance is intellectual laziness, demonstrated in the tendency to give up quickly when faced with an intellectually challenging task. The intellectually indolent, or lazy, person has a low tolerance for intellectual pain or frustration.

How does a lack of intellectual perseverance impede fair-mindedness? Understanding the views of others requires that we do the intellectual work to achieve that understanding. That takes intellectual perseverance-insofar as those views are very different from ours or are complex in nature. For example, suppose you are a Christian wanting to be fair to the views of an atheist. Unless you read and understand the reasoning of intelligent and insightful atheists, you are not being fair to those views. Some intelligent and insightful atheists have written books to explain how and why they think as they do. Some of their reasoning is complicated or deals with issues of some complexity. It follows that only those Christians who have the intellectual perseverance to read and/or understand atheists can be fair to atheist views. Of course, a parallel case could be developed with respect to atheists' understanding the views of intelligent and insightful Christians.

Finally, it should be clear how intellectual perseverance is essential to all areas of higher-level thinking. Virtually all higher-level thinking requires some intellectual perseverance to overcome. It takes intellectual perseverance to reason well through complex questions on the job, to work through complex problems in intimate relationships, to solve problems in parenting. Many give up during early stages of working through a problem. Lacking intellectual perseverance, they cut themselves off from all the insights that thinking through an issue at a deep level provides. They avoid intellectual frustration, no doubt, but they end up with the everyday frustrations of not being able to solve complex problems.

Confidence in Reason: Recognizing that Good Reasoning Has Proven Its Worth

Let us now consider the trait of confidence in reason:

Confidence in reason is based on the belief that one's own higher interests and those of humankind will be best served by giving the freest play to reason. Reason encourages people to come to their own conclusions by developing their own rational faculties. It is the faith that, with proper encouragement and cultivation, people can learn to think for themselves. As such, they can form insightful viewpoints, draw reasonable conclusions, and develop clear, accurate, relevant, and logical thought processes., In turn, they can persuade each other by appealing to good reason and sound evidence, and become reasonable persons, despite the deep-seated obstacles in human nature and social life. When one has confidence in reason, one is "moved" by reason in appropriate ways. The very idea of reasonability becomes one of the most important values and a focal point in one's life. In short, to have confidence in reason is to use good reasoning as the fundamental criterion by which to judge whether to accept or reject any belief or position.

The opposite of confidence in reason is intellectual distrust of reason, given by the threat that reasoning and rational analysis pose to the undisciplined thinker. Being prone toward emotional reactions that validate present thinking, egocentric thinkers often express little confidence in reason. They do not understand what it means to have faith in reason. Instead, they have confidence in the truth of their own belief systems, however flawed their beliefs might be.

In many ways we live in an irrational world surrounded by many forms of irrational beliefs and behaviors. For example, despite the success of science in providing plausible explanations based on careful study of evidence gathered through disciplined observations, many people still believe in unsubstantiated systems such as astrology. Many people, when faced with a problem, follow their "gut" impulses. Many follow leaders whose only claim to credibility is that they are skilled in manipulating a crowd and whipping up enthusiasm. Few people seem to recognize the power of sound thinking in helping us to solves our problems and live a fulfilling life. Few people, in short, have genuine confidence in reason. In the place of faith in reason, people tend to have uncritical or "blind" faith in one or more of the following (often as a result of irrational drives and emotions):

• Faith in charismatic national leaders (think of leaders such as Hitler, able to excite millions of people and manipulate them into supporting genocide of an entire religious group).
• Faith in charismatic cult leaders.
• Faith in the father as the traditional head of the family (as defined by religious or social tradition).
• Faith in institutional authorities (employers, "the company," police, social workers, judges, priests, evangelical preachers, and so forth).
• Faith in spiritual powers (such as a "holy spirit," as defined by various religious belief systems).
• Faith in some social group, official or unofficial (faith in a gang, in the business community, in a church, in a political party, and so on).
• Faith in a political ideology (such as communism, capitalism, Fascism).
• Faith in intuition.
• Faith in one's unanalyzed emotions.
• Faith in one's gut impulses.
• Faith in fate (some unnamed force that supposedly guides the destiny of us all).
• Faith in social institutions (the courts, schools, charities, business communities, governments).
• Faith in the folkways or mores of a social group or culture.
• Faith in one's own unanalyzed experience.
• Faith in people who have social status or position (the rich, the famous, the powerful).

Some of the above are compatible, under some conditions, with faith in reason. The key factor is the extent to which some form of faith is based on sound reasoning and evidence. The acid test, then, is: Are there good grounds for having that faith? For example, it makes sense to have faith in a friend if that friend has consistently acted as a friend over an extended time. On the other hand, it does not make sense to have faith in a new acquaintance, even if one finds oneself emotionally attracted to that individual and that person professes his or her friendship.

As you examine and evaluate your own thinking on the nature of different kinds of faith, and the extent to which you have appropriate confidence in reason and evidence, ask yourself to what extent you can be moved by well-reasoned appeals. Suppose you meet someone who shows so much of an interest in your significant other that you feel intensely jealous and negative toward that person. Would you shift your view if you receive evidence by a dependable friend that the person you are negative about is actually exceptionally kind, thoughtful, and generous? Do you think you could shift your view, even when, deep down, you want your significant other to reject this person in favor of you? Have you ever given up a belief you held dear because, through your reading, experience, and reflection, you became persuaded that it was not reasonable to believe as you did? Are you ready and willing to admit that some of your most passionate beliefs (for example, your religious or political beliefs) may in fact be "wrong?"

Intellectual Autonomy: Being an Independent Thinker

The final intellectual trait we will consider here is intellectual autonomy:

Intellectual autonomy may be defined as internal motivation based on the ideal of thinking for oneself; having rational self-authorship of one's beliefs, values, and way of thinking; not being dependent on others for the direction and control of one's thinking.

Autonomous persons are persons in charge of their lives. They are not irrationally dependent on others and not controlled by infantile emotions. They have self-control. They are competent. They complete what they begin. In forming beliefs, critical thinkers do not passively accept the beliefs of others. Rather, they think through situations and issues for themselves and reject unjustified authorities while recognizing the contributions of reasonable authority. They mindfully form principles of thought and action and do not mindlessly accept those presented to them. They are not limited by the accepted way of doing things. They evaluate the traditions and practices that others often accept unquestioningly. Independent thinkers strive to incorporate knowledge and insight into their thinking, independent of the social status of the source. They are not willful, stubborn, or unresponsive to the reasonable suggestions of others. They are self-monitoring thinkers who strive to amend their own mistakes. They function from values they themselves have freely chosen.

Of course, intellectual autonomy must be understood not as a thing-in-itself. Instead, we must recognize it as a dimension of our minds working in conjunction with, and tempered by, the other intellectual virtues.

The opposite of intellectual autonomy is intellectual conformity, or intellectual or emotional dependence. Intellectual autonomy is difficult to develop because social institutions, as they now stand, depend heavily on passive acceptance of the status quo, whether intellectual, political, or economic. Thinking for oneself almost certainly leads to unpopular conclusions not sanctioned by dominant groups. There are always many rewards for those who simply conform in thought and action to social pressure.

Consequently, the large masses of people are unknowing conformists in thought and deed. They are like mirrors reflecting the belief systems and values of those who surround them. They lack the intellectual skills and the incentive to think for themselves. They are intellectually conforming thinkers (Figure 3.3).

Even those who spend years getting a Ph.D. may be intellectually dependent, both academically and personally. They may uncritically accept faulty practices in the discipline as it stands, uncritically defending the discipline against legitimate critics. The result often is unwarranted human harm and suffering.

One cannot be fair-minded and lack intellectual autonomy, for independent thinking is a prerequisite to thinking within multiple perspectives. When we intellectually conform, we are only able to think within "accepted" viewpoints. But to be fair-minded is to refuse to uncritically accept beliefs without thinking through the merits (and demerits) of those beliefs for oneself.

Recognizing the Interdependence of Intellectual Virtues

The traits of mind essential for critical thinking are interdependent. Consider intellectual humility. To become aware of the limits of our knowledge, we need the intellectual courage to face our own prejudices and ignorance. To discover our own prejudices, in turn, we often must intellectually empathize with and reason within points of view with which we fundamentally disagree. To achieve this end, we typically must engage in intellectual perseverance, as learning to empathically enter a point of view against which we are biased takes time and significant effort. That effort will not seem justified unless we have the necessary confidence in reason to believe we will not be tainted or "taken in" by whatever is false or misleading in the opposing viewpoint.

Furthermore, merely believing we won't be harmed considering "alien" viewpoints is not enough to motivate most of us to consider them seriously. We also must be motivated by an intellectual sense of justice. We must recognize an intellectual responsibility to be fair to views we oppose. We must feel obliged to hear them in their strongest form to ensure that we are not condemning them out of ignorance or bias on our part. At this point, we come full circle to where we began: the need for intellectual humility.

To begin at another point, consider intellectual integrity or good faith. Intellectual integrity is clearly a difficult trait to develop. We are often motivated - generally without admitting to or being aware of this motivation - to set up inconsistent standards in thinking. Our egocentric or sociocentric tendencies, for example, make us ready to believe positive information about those that we like and negative information about those that we dislike. We likewise are strongly inclined to believe what serves to justify our selfish interests or validate our strongest desires. Hence, all humans have some innate mental tendencies to operate with double standards, which is typical of intellectual bad faith. These modes of thinking sometimes correlate well with getting ahead in the world, maximizing our power or advantage, and getting more of what we selfishly want.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to operate explicitly or overtly with a double standard. We therefore need to avoid looking at the evidence too closely. We need to avoid scrutinizing our own inferences and interpretations too carefully. At this point, a certain amount of intellectual arrogance is quite useful. I may assume, for example, that I know just what you're going to say (before you say it), precisely what you are really after (before the evidence demonstrates it), and what actually is going on (before I have studied the situation carefully). My intellectual arrogance makes it easier for me to avoid noticing the unjustifiable discrepancy between the standards I apply to you and the standards I apply to myself. Not having to empathize with you makes it easier to avoid seeing my self-deception. I also am better positioned if I lack a need to be fair to your point of view. A little background fear of what I might discover if I seriously consider the inconsistency of my own judgments can be quite useful as well. In this case, my lack of intellectual integrity is supported by my lack of intellectual humility, empathy, and fair-mindedness.

Going in the other direction, it will be difficult to use a double standard if I feel a responsibility to be fair to your point of view. This responsibility requires me to empathetically view things from your perspective, and to do so with some humility, recognizing that I could be wrong, and that you could be right. The more I dislike you personally, or feel wronged in the past by you or by others who share your way of thinking, the more pronounced in my character the trait of intellectual integrity and good faith must be to compel me to be fair.

We can begin to analyze the extent to which we have developed these interdependent traits of mind by focusing on our reactions to situations in the workplace. Imagine, for example, that your company decides to reorganize your division and some people lose their jobs. To what extent are you able to intellectually empathize, not only with your colleagues who lost their jobs, but also with the managers who made the decision? To what extent do you see intellectual humility operating in your thinking, so that you recognize what you do know and what you do not know about the situation? To what extent are you able to think autonomously so that you are not trapped in the group's reaction to the situation? To what extent is your thinking driven by an intellectual sense of justice to all parties involved? To what extent are you able to think with integrity so that you apply the same standards to all parties involved in the situation?

True excellence in thinking is not simply the result of isolated intellectual skills. There are inevitable problems in the thinking of persons who, without knowing it, lack intellectual virtues. Instead, they frequently display the traits of the undisciplined mind. To the extent one is unconsciously motivated to believe what one wants to believe, what is most comfortable to believe, what puts one in a good light, what serves one's selfish interest, one is unable to function as a rational person. As you work through this resource, we hope you find yourself internalizing the essential traits. We hope you will resist the influence of both the conformist thinkers around you and the egocentric thinker within you. We hope you will recognize that skilled thinking can be used for good or for ill. We hope you will see that it is the intellectual virtues that guide thinking toward fair-mindedness. Such virtues enable us to enter, in good faith, all viewpoints relevant to a complex issue before coming to final conclusions, to seek out weaknesses in our thinking, to be moved by reasoning that is superior to our own. When possible we have the advantage in seeing all sides and are able to work with them, supporting in each what we see as sound and respectfully disagreeing with that which we see as flawed.

Natural versus Critical Thinking

As humans we think; as critical thinkers we analyze our thinking.

As humans we think egocentrically; as critical thinkers we expose the egocentric roots of our thinking to close scrutiny.

As humans we are drawn to standards of thinking unworthy of belief; as critical thinkers we expose inappropriate standards and replace them with sound ones.

As humans we live in systems of meanings that typically entrap us; as critical thinkers we learn how to raise our thinking to conscious examination, enabling us to free ourselves from many of the traps of undisciplined, instinctive thought.

As humans we use logical systems whose root structures are not apparent to us; as critical thinkers we develop tools for explicating and assessing our participation in the logical systems in which we live.

As humans we live with the illusion of intellectual and emotion freedom; as critical thinkers we take explicit intellectual and emotional command of who we are, what we are, and the ends to which our lives are tending.

As human thinkers we are governed by our thoughts; as critical thinkers we learn how to govern the thoughts that govern us.

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Intellectual perseverance

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The critical thinking community defines intellectual perseverance as a disposition to overcome obstacles and continue to perform intelligent actions when pursuing mental goals. It is based on the fact that some intellectual problems are complex and will present challenges for any college student to solve, regardless of their brilliance. In this regard, a person needs intellectual perseverance that entails not giving up in the face of the complexity of frustrations in class. A person with this trait displays firm adherence to rational principles with a realistic sense of the need to struggle despite the irrational opposition.

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Literature review

Intellectual ability has been discussed in the literature as an important factor in predicting academic achievement. Researchers have been examining the different personality variables such as grit in attempting to explain differences in academic achievement between college students. The Grit scale is often used to measure the level of persistence for individuals in the school. Angela Duckworth defined grit as the perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Individuals with grit maintain an interest in a goal over the years regardless of failures or adversity along the way. Such individuals show the willingness to withstand challenges and stay on the course of their intellectual goals. According to Duckworth (2007), individuals with intellectual perseverance tend to have a higher GPA in their academic scores

Previous studies have been written on this topic of intellectual perseverance and how it is important for college students. Duckworth (2007) wrote a paper explaining the link between intellectual ability and academic achievement, though this ability does not guarantee success in completing a college degree. As such, the author mentioned personality variables such as intellectual perseverance is crucial in determining the goal accomplishment in life. The grit was also identified as a crucial factor for students to finish their college education and accomplish their academic goal. Duckworth (2007) on researching the relationship between perseverance and academic achievement concluded that grittier students score better results than the less gritty students in college. The intellectual perseverance was reported to be crucial for students to accumulate a higher GPA and crucial to the success of summer training programs.

Moustafi et al. (2005) also examined intellectual perseverance and general intelligence and how they relate to academic performance. The study demonstrated that less intelligent students could perform better in academics when they develop intellectual perseverance. Another study was conducted to determine how intellectual perseverance affects critical thinking and academic performance. Jaeger et al. (2010) reported that women tend to have a higher grit than men in college, though it did not predict their academic level for first years. However, it was more vital for students in their last years of study, especially when there are many obstacles to their academic performances.

At the same time, De Vera et al. (2015) conducted a study on factors that contribute to grit among college students. They revealed that social support was a crucial element of developing intellectual perseverance in a person and accomplish academic goals. Social support system such as family and friends, together with internal factors of motivation were crucial in developing perseverance. The study explained how perseverance was related to the ability to show consistency, determination and drive to succeed, as well as showing commitment to growth and excel in whatever activity presented. At the same time, the study stated that a person’s inner and personal strength could lead to intellectual perseverance

The literature review entails studies that provide individual stories and experiences of students who displayed this trait of intellectual perseverance. There have been numerous cases of school dropout for high school and college students that speak a lot about intellectual perseverance. The cases of school dropouts are attributed to intellectual laziness and a lack of grit to continue with their journey. Intellectual perseverance is based on the notion that winners never quit regardless of the troubles and frustrations experienced along the way.

Intellectual perseverance is different from moral perseverance that deals with sustaining the pain and showing courage. The intellectual form of perseverance has to do with how students show their character to succeed and accomplish their goals. An inquiry into the nature of intellectual perseverance is worthwhile because of its importance in the history of inquiry. Perseverance is closely related to other intellectual virtues such as courage and practical wisdom that have already been examined in the literature. Therefore, an examination of different intellectual virtues lays a foundation for understanding intellectual perseverance.

There are many questions that still exist regarding the virtue of intellectual perseverance for college students. For example, research has yet answered the question of how to develop intellectual perseverance in college students. For example, students don’t know whether they can develop through practice or through habituation. However, studies on how to develop intellectual perseverance have mentioned factors such as accepting that this trait is a result of habits and behaviours. This means the cognitive abilities and actions associated with intellectual perseverance can be changed by developing a growth mindset

Key marks of intellectual perseverance

Intellectual perseverance is an intellectual virtue that forms the traits of excellent thinkers. The perseverance is described by working through complexity and frustration by withstanding challenges and sticking with intellectual projects. It is a matter of continuing in the intellectual pursuits for an appropriate amount of time, including facing obstacles to achieve the goal. The trait of intellectual perseverance is sometimes referred to as tenacity or grit in different literature. It describes the need to use intellectual insights and truths in spite of difficulties while striving for the truth or better understanding despite frustrations and difficulties

Individuals with intellectual perseverance are shown by an ability to learn from difficulties by making logical strategies to overcome complex problems. The best thinkers are individuals who do not believe everything they hear without using intellectual standards to decide what to believe. Intellectual perseverance must aim at the right goals to make the perseverance intellectual. The goal allows college students to persevere in seeking the truth even when doing so if hard. At the same time, intellectual perseverance entails seeking to overcome obstacles and achieve the goals of intellectual pursuits. This is a crucial part because perseverance is measured by the ability to overcome any hindrances to intellectual success, such as cognitive difficulty, poverty or racism.

Successful college students are known by their use of intellectual intelligence to complete their endeavours, shown by the time and effort they put into their academic work. However, spending a lot of time on school projects is not a sign of intellectual persevering due to chances of lollygagging. Intellectual perseverance is more than the time spent to complete a goal, rather the endurance to overcome obstacles in fulfilling it. In most cases, students who demonstrate intellectual perseverance have a high chance of registering better grades and finish school. Intellectual perseverance is a crucial predictor of academic success compared to other standard indicators such as raw intelligence. At the same time,

Examples of people who showed intellectual perseverance

The history of intellectual perseverance in the western tradition is largely a history of perseverance. Numerous examples of success stories exhibit aspects of intellectual perseverance from individuals who demonstrated the importance of grit as a factor for success. Michelangelo and Da Vinci, the famous painters in history did not produce masterpieces within the first trial. Instead, they started by producing numerous sketches before becoming the best they could be. Similarly, Albert Einstein attributed much of his success to intellectual perseverance as opposed to being genius. He laboured tirelessly on the way to scientific achievements that made him famous. Isaac Newton is another example of intellectual perseverance showed when developing calculus needed for revolutionizing the system of physics.

In essence, there is no shame in failing as Nelson Mandela once said, the shame lies in accepting the fall as a defeat. The essence of perseverance is to find the will to get up after experiencing obstacles. For example, Thomas Edison is known to have shown intellectual perseverance when he endured thousands of failures in developing the incandescent light bulb. In the modern world, people like Steve Jobs have shown attributes of intellectual perseverance, where they were not brought down by obstacles in their way to becoming a great entrepreneur. All these examples emphasize the importance of intellectual perseverance as opposed to brilliance or intelligence as an ingredient to success. A majority of intellectual success stories in the world are largely about perseverance as opposed to brilliance in work, especially when talking about long-term projects. Even geniuses need to show resilience and hard work to make it in life

Importance of intellectual perseverance

Students need to show intellectual perseverance to overcome obstacles of intellectual success. Some of the major obstacles that college students experience include repeated failures, discouragement from peers, fatigue, a project’s sheer difficulty, poor funding and social injustice. These are obstacles to intellectual success that often affects college students from achieving academic goals. Since they won’t go away any time soon, college students need intellectual perseverance to navigate them.

Intellectual perseverance is a unique personality trait for college students and anyone with an academic goal to achieve. This trait is crucial in developing a strong character in college students that propels them to academic excellence. Every good student needs a mental toughness and the intellectual perseverance not to quit at a sign of trouble. They need the ability to apply rational thinking and decision making despite the rejection or adulation of others. At the same time, college students need intellectual perseverance and mentally prepare for all the obstacles that will get in the way of their success. It entails being mentally tough throughout the course of education

The intellectual perseverance is also characterized by managing the different tasks in life without anything suffering from neglect. It entails being versatile in handling different situations and finding a way out of trouble. This is the key to success for anyone who is determined to succeed and accomplish the goal despite many complications.

The lack of intellectual perseverance has been associated with impeding fair-mindedness in college students. Fair-mindedness is described as considering all relevant viewpoints equally without referring to selfish interests. The ability to understand the views of another person requires that someone engages in intellectual work to achieve understanding. College students can achieve this through intellectual perseverance to understand that a person can have divergent views that might be complex. For example, a Christian scholar looking to understand the views of atheists need intellectual perseverance to understand their reasoning without being judgmental.

Intellectual perseverance is vital in all areas of higher-level learning that require high-level thinking. Without perseverance, it will be difficult for college students to reason well through complex questions and work through all the difficult intellectual problems. Many college students who lack intellectual perseverance give up during the early stages of working through an intellectual problem by cutting themselves from any insight that thinking through a problem can present solutions. Students without intellectual perseverance try to avoid any frustration of going through difficulties to get a solution for the problem.

Intellectual laziness

There is a difference between individuals who have the mental toughness to go through obstacles and achieve their educational goals, and those who are not able to persist. The difference lies in the push to persist after enduring an obstacle. Intellectual laziness is the vice on the other side of intellectual perseverance, which involves quitting a project or failing to progress in a course after any slight resistance. It is the opposite of intellectual perseverance, described by quitting at the very first sign of trouble or n intellectually challenging task. It often suggests a lack of effort for college students, who will be characterized by a lack of imagination, assumptions and generalizations, as well as gross factual inaccuracies.

An intellectually lazy student is someone who shows low tolerance for frustration or intellectual pain. Students with intellectual laziness have the habit of abandoning their projects when the going starts getting tough. They lack the motivation to overcome frustrations in their intellectual career, which plunges them into procrastination in their school work. For example, a person will drop a class after failing the first homework assignment or quit a research project upon being criticized by a referee. Intellectual laziness is described with factors such as distraction, procrastination and

According to Mortimer J. Alder, an American philosopher, the vice of intellectual sloth or laziness consists of habitual neglect of one’s intellect. This means an intellectually lazy person will fail to pursue the more challenging task of discovering the truth. At the first sign of challenge, individuals with intellectual laziness will capitulate and look for excuses towards not pursuing the academic goal. An example of intellectual laziness is when a college student does not contribute or do any thinking in school work. Such people rely on others to do their work and are quick to give up whenever they face obstacles.

It is dangerous for college students to be intellectually lazy as it leads to a low ceiling for career ambitions and feelings of inferiority. The laziness has seen individuals fail to accomplish their career and life goals, failing their examinations and failing to secure their dream jobs. At the same time, students who show intelligent laziness are at risk of being replaced in their workplace. People who are intellectually lazy tend to be toxic both in business and academics. They often hand their thinking responsibilities off to someone else who they feel can do it better. The laziness makes them believe they cannot deliver satisfactory results and easily give up at every obstacle that presents itself.

Intellectual laziness is also described with the inability to engage in truth-seeking and fact-checking when performing research. Most students who are intellectually lazy tend to be smart, though they engage in generalizations and narrow perspectives as opposed to truth-seeking to challenge non-factual information. The intellectual laziness is becoming more pervasive among college students who do not engage in fact-checking. They are sometimes too lazy to engage in critical thinking of the information, instead of engaging in generalization and assumptions.

How students can learn intellectual perseverance

Intellectual perseverance comes from a love of learning and the tendency of not giving up on learning whenever it gets tough. This is because it is impossible for students to achieve personal success without having a direction that propels them to achieve in life. Perseverance allows students to forge ahead despite any setback that threatens to undermine their efforts to succeed.

At the same time, students can keep the habit of intellectual perseverance by connecting the subject to the real world. They need to be real in their ambitions and show their character in overcoming any distractions or frustrations. Students need intellectual perseverance to develop a strong character by not giving up. Instead, they can build intellectual perseverance by continuing to perform and work on something even when change does not seem to appear until they achieve the goal. Secondly, students need to ignite their curiosity to keep learning despite exhibiting obstacles along the way. The curiosity to continue pursuing and learning can drive a person towards perseverance until they accomplish the goal.

It takes tremendous sacrifice and hard work to overcome obstacles and accomplish something great in life. Students should understand that success does not come without perseverance and hard work; as there will be obstacles, difficulties and frustrations. However, these obstacles should be used as a larder to climb to the top and accomplish the goal. At the same time, colleges need to teach this intellectual virtue of perseverance and how to think critically and analytically. It is the role of a school to instil this personality trait in individuals to develop the virtue of grit and perseverance/

In conclusion, the best thinkers are known by working their way through complexities and not giving up easily when facing obstacles or danger. College students striving to succeed in their academic endeavours need to show characteristics of intellectual perseverance. This will give them an edge over other people as they can display their determination to overcome all obstacles that come in the way of academic excellence. Students can use the skills of intellectual perseverance to their advantage to work even better in their lives. At the same time, the essay discussed intellectual laziness ass an opposite of grit in college. Intellectual laziness is not associated with lower IQ neither is intellectual perseverance associated with high IQ. For example, a smart student who dwells on his students may exhibit intellectual laziness when he quits on his homework for finding it hard. The lack of intellectual perseverance can lead someone into quitting to complete.

Perseverance beats genius in individuals who want to succeed in their academics. A gritty student who is not brilliant but works diligently through a math problem will be in a pole position to succeed in academic endeavours. In fact, even a genius student needs intellectual perseverance and working hard to make it to the graduation list. A majority of college students are described by having more physical and less intellectual perseverance. This means they are easy to persevere through physical pain but will give up quickly when faced with a frustrating intellectual problem. This essay will stimulate further interest in the important trait of intellectual perseverance and other intellectual traits. In this regard, educators need to emphasize more on instilling intellectual character in students more than raising test scores or sifting data about the IQ of students

The Critical Thinking Community. (2016, January 18). Valuable Intellectual Traits . Retrieved from The Critical Thinking Community: http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/valuable-intellectual-traits/528

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