Field Day Assignment

Baxter Bailey

M01C

Hasson

Conversation Topic-

Universal Health Care?

Interviewee-Sara Bailey (younger sister)

Checklist of Characteristics of a Critical Thinker-

1-Asking appropriate questions.

She would react with a nervous look when unsure of a term. I would then go on to elaborate as best I could. This was apparent when talking about the private option, as well as malpractice.

2-Control of ones mind.

She seemed to stay very focused for our short five minute conversation.

3-Watchful of errors/honest with themselves.

She did admit when she was unsure of topics or terms.

4-Regard challenges/controversial topics as challenges.

Enjoyed debating the controversial topic, though, she admitted to not having much knowledge concerning the matter.

5-Patient with complexity, curiosity.

She was eager to understand unknown terms.

6-Prefer evidence over personal preference to prove points.

Here I would say she based her conclusions more on emotion rather than facts or statistics.

7-Interested in other's ideas.

I didn't try to refute her idea too much during the conversation, but did get the sense that she was preparing to argue against any point I made.

8-Extreme views are seldom right.

She walked the line fairly well on the matter coming up with a system of health care that was for the under privileged only, not for everyone.

9-Practice restraint with feelings.

She is a very passionate person, but remained calm and relaxed throughout the conversation.

Paragraph-

Does the interviewee demonstrate the above characteristics? Evaluate.

She did a good job of thinking critically. She did base many of her ideas on assumptions but has an interesting view on public health care. Much of her arguments rely on pathos rather than logos or ethos. Her points mostly play off of ones emotions. She attempted to portray an underprivileged class that is in desperate need of medical insurance and is unable to currently receive it. She admitted to not knowing a tremendous amount about the topic and formulated her idealized version of health care based solely on her own ideas and emotions. I would say that in order for her to become a better critical thinker she would have to learn a little bit more about the topic. Otherwise, she conducted herself in a very thoughtful manner and had interesting points on the subject.