After reading the Sept. 16 editorial, “Freedom under fire,” I have found a few errors in your thinking process, which can cause a hindrance in the critical thinking process. The errors in the critical thinking process addressed can be found in Vincent Ruggiero’s text, “Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking” (2012).

First, the article overgeneralized a group of people. When discussing the protests in the Middle East you stated, “they hate us, and wish us death,” which is not a truth. You cannot force an entire country or group of people to conform to the ways or views of some of the people in their society. There are others that do not feel any certain way. To avoid overgeneralizing be very specific in who exactly you are referring to.

Secondly, the entire article erred in the poverty of aspect perspective. Meaning, the article limited the Middle East issues down to the film and freedom. This limitation ignored or did not account for other reasons that could cause a dislike for us. The mysterious film did not begin the hate or else Sept. 11, 2001, would not have occurred and many other tragic events. In other words, there are numerous reasons a hate so strong can occur and all those reasons should be examined.

Further, the seventh paragraph warrants an absolutism error, or making the truth be neat and simple. In this paragraph, you simplify the truth by stating that the agitators in the Middle East want us to die, hate us, etc. all because of this video. As previously stated there are an overwhelming amount of reasons.

Furthermore, in the third to last paragraph the either/or outlook error is presented in the statement, “we wonder if we can ever reconcile our differences and live in peace.” It is implied that if we do not reconcile our differences then we will not live in peace. But there can be other alternatives. To avoid the error of the either/or outlook be sure to include a vast number of alternatives and if you cannot think of any simply state that there are other alternatives out there.

Finally, the article concludes with a hasty conclusion, or a premature judgment. You cannot state that free expression is the Middle East’s lost because you are not a part of their culture. The people over there may very well be happy and content without free expression. The unwarranted assumption that “mine-is-better” in the last sentence is a hindrance to our society’s critical thinking. It can be our loss to not be able to view the world in a different lens and be open to a vast number of ideas and perceptions.

This letter was not written to attack you in any shape or form. Instead, it was written to help you become a critical thinker so that in return you can help your readers critically think as well.

Chikela Owens
Gainesville