BP Oil Spill apology

On May 31, 2010, Tony Hayward (CEO of BP) told reporters that he was sorry how the spill was disrupting so many lives; however, he finished it off with how he would like his own life back. The reason this was so controversial was because it came soon after 11 men lost their lives in one of his oil pipe accidents. Also, it made it seem like he was personally suffering as much as the people whose livelihood depended on the Gulf. It made him come off as arrogant and ignorant of the severity of the situation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/02/bp-ceo-tony-hayward-apologizes-life-back_n_597966.html

How my engineering field incorporates critical thinking

My engineering field does a really good job of incorporating critical thinking. Many of the times, the professor only gives a simple explanation of a problem in class, requiring us to figure out the more complex homework problems ourselves. This requires a lot of critical thinking on our part. Also, the hands-on projects also require us to apply our learning to real-life problems. This requires us to critically analyze these problems and relate what we learned in class to solving them. I feel like my engineering classes could do more though in this respect; however, this could just be due to the fact that I am only in introductory classes at this point.

Critical Thinking

The most important skill in critical thinking is the ability to comprehend the material/question. If you are unable to do this, all following conclusions and analysis becomes irrelevant. Understanding the material/question is the foundation for all the critical analysis that follows. What logically comes next after that in terms of importance is the ability to critically analyze. One needs to approach a problem with an open and unbiased mind. They have to be able to think about the issue clearly and in a logical progression. The third most important skill is the ability to communicate your conclusions clearly. It doesn't matter how brilliant your idea is if no one understands what it is. To be able to communicate your idea/conclusion so that other people can also comprehend it is a vital skill.