Critical thinking = the ability to be skeptical, literally it is the ability to criticize.
Great critical thinkers become lawyers, post modernist intellectuals, and other parts of the "talking" class of intellectuals. Unfortunately, it's far easier to talk shit than it is to build things. We've massively over-valued critical thinking over constructive thinking.
Most people want to dunk on science. Few people want to submit their own papers to conferences. Many people act like submitting papers is impossible for non-Ph.D's. We have a lack of constructive oriented thinking.
>Many people act like submitting papers is impossible for non-Ph.D's.
I agree. But academia reinforces this perception. I feel like PhD's only give serious consideration to the utterances of other PhD's. The rest of the public consists of the unwashed masses, and at best gets the smiling-nod treatment from teh PhD.
PS I (a non-PhD) managed to publish a paper during the pandemic (doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.909945 ). One of the biggest barriers was the item you mentioned quoted above, and the bogeyman of "epistemic trespass" in general, as operating in my own psychology. I've since become noisy in advocating for the #DeSci movement.
Great critical thinkers become lawyers, post modernist intellectuals, and other parts of the "talking" class of intellectuals. Unfortunately, it's far easier to talk shit than it is to build things. We've massively over-valued critical thinking over constructive thinking.
Most people want to dunk on science. Few people want to submit their own papers to conferences. Many people act like submitting papers is impossible for non-Ph.D's. We have a lack of constructive oriented thinking.