CONTEXT

Consider the following sentence:

If you prefer small towns, New York City is a bad place to live.

Now imagine quoting only the part that says:

New York City is a bad place to live.

Strictly speaking, this is an accurate quote, because the quoted part is taken directly from the original
sentence with no changes. But it's very misleading, because the quote omits important information
that you need to understand what the speaker was really saying. That omitted information is context.

Context is the information necessary to correctly interpret a word or phrase that could otherwise be
interpreted in a number of different ways. Without context, the speaker appears to be simply saying
that New York is a bad place to live for everybody. When the context is supplied, it's clear that the
speaker is only saying that New York is a bad choice for people who prefer small towns. That's why
it's unfair to quote someone out of context—to repeat something the person says without enough
information to prevent readers or listeners from understanding the true meaning of the quote.

Similarly, if you ask a question about English here, you may be asked to provide additional context,
such as an example sentence that illustrates the problem you want to solve. Many words and phrases
can have different meanings based on context, so it may not be possible to answer the question
without more information that narrows down the possible answers.

Contextomy refers to the selective excerpting of words from their original linguistic context in a way
that distorts the source’s intended meaning; a practice commonly referred to as "quoting out of
context".

Condescension – attitude or behavior to be avoided – when you believe and insist that you are way
more intelligent and better than other people

21st CENTURY

Our society is modern and fast-paced, globally networked, technologically oriented, and
overwhelming with varied changes and development. It requires learners to think critically, make
judicious decisions, and act with prudence.

Utilizing emerging ways of doing things, learners today use various forms of technology for different
situations to address predicaments, analyze issues and problems, and come up with wise decisions.
Their expanded experiences are keys to their learning and success. 21st century learners are given
choices and options to survive the workplace and thrive in the modern world.

21st century (Jan. 1, 2001-Dec 31, 2100) – make or break century according to Dr. James Martin
 “Humanity’s demands on the planet are growing rapidly. If we are able to make the planet and
civilization work, we face a magnificent future. If we fail, we could be headed for a new dark age.”
(Martin, 2014)

According to Dr. James Martin, in his blog “JAMES MARTIN: The Meaning of the 21st Century”,
the following are the large-scale problems of the 21st century:
1. GLOBAL WARMING. Global warming will lead to severe climate change. Unless stopped,
it will upset the basic control mechanisms of planet Earth.
2. EXCESSIVE POPULATION GROWTH. World population may grow to 8.9 billion people,
with a growing demand for consumer goods and carbon-based energy, far exceeding what the
planet can handle.
3. WATER SHORTAGES. Rivers and aquifers are drying up. Many farmers will not have the
water essential for food growing. There will be wars over water.
4. DESTRUCTION OF LIFE IN THE OCEANS. Only 10% of edible fish remain in the oceans,
and this percentage is rapidly declining.
5. MASS FAMINE IN ILL-ORGANIZED COUNTRIES. Farm productivity is declining. Grain
will rise in cost. This will harm the poorest countries.
6. THE SPREAD OF DESERTS. Soil is being eroded. Deserts are spreading in areas that used
to have good soil and grassland.
7. PANDEMICS AIDS. is continuing to spread. Infectious pandemics could spread at
unstoppable rates, as they have in the past, but now with the capability to kill enormous
numbers of people.
8. EXTREME POVERTY. 2 to 3 billion people live in conditions of extreme poverty, with lack
of sanitation. The difference between rich and poor is becoming ever more extreme.
9. GROWTH OF SHANTYCITIES. Shantytowns (shantycities) with extreme violence and
poverty are growing in many parts of the world. Youth there have no hope.
10. UNSTOPPABLE GLOBAL MIGRATIONS. Large numbers of people are leaving the
poorest countries and shantycities, wanting to find a life in countries with opportunity.
11. NON-STATE ACTORS WITH EXTREME WEAPONS. Nuclear or biological weapons are
becoming easier to build by terrorist organizations, political groups or individuals, who are
not acting for a given state.
12. VIOLENT RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM. Religious extremism and jihads may become
widespread, leading to large numbers of suicide terrorists, and religious war between
Muslims and Christians.
13. RUNAWAY COMPUTER INTELLIGENCE. Computers will acquire the capability to
increase their own intelligence until a chain reaction happens of machines becoming more
intelligent at electronic speed.
14. WAR THAT COULD END CIVILIZATION. A global war like World War I or II,
conducted with today's vast number of nuclear weapons and new biological weapons, could
end civilization.
15. RISKS TO HOMO SAPIEN'S EXISTENCE. We are heading in the direction of scientific
experiments (described by Lord Martin Rees) that have a low probability of wiping out
Homo sapiens. The combination of risks gives a relatively high probability of not surviving
the century.

According to him, these problems are multinational. All countries participate, to varying degrees, in
causing most of the problems. None of these could be solved by one country, all countries should
participate in addressing the problems.
MAIN IDEAS:
• The onset of the 21st century world has greatly changed the lives and events of humanity.
• The kinds of jobs and the way people live will keep changing.
• The world faces many challenges in the new century.

Seven Cs (21st Century Lifelong Skills) to survive the 21st Century

Communication
Collaboration
Cross-cultural Understanding
Computing
Career & Learning Self-reliance
Creativity
Critical Thinking-and-Doing

• Shrewd – having or showing clever awareness or resourcefulness, especially in practical

matters
• Triage – a process in which things are ranked in terms of importance or priority
• Shrewd triage – having or showing clever awareness and sharp intelligence in identifying
which needs much attention

CRITICAL THINKING

How do you think of your thinking?

“To think incisively and to think for one's self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become
invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not
education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically
and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not
give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one
of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true
from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction. The function of education,
therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr.

We all think. We have no choice but to think. However, could we challenge ourselves to think at a higher
level? Is thinking a skill that can be improved? How often do we actually think about the way we think?

Critical Thinking by Richard Paul

How do we define something as seemingly complex as critical thinking? Firstly, ‘It’s thinking that
analyses thought, that assesses thought, and that transforms thought for the better’. We could say it
another way – we should be aware of the quality of our own thinking. We should try to continuously
evaluate our thinking in order to sharpen it.

But how do we do that? Well, we would need a way of assessing the quality of our thinking. We’d need a
set of standards to guide our thinking. Thinking that is logical, relevant, significant and complete.
Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. But much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted,
partial, uninformed, or down-right prejudiced. Yet the quality of our lives and that of what we produce,
make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought. Shoddy thinking is costly, both in money
and in quality of life. Excellence in thought, however, must be systematically cultivated.

The Result:
A well-cultivated critical thinker:
✓ raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely;
✓ gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively;
✓ comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and
standards;
✓ thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as need
be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences; and
✓ communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.

Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It requires

rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication
and problem-solving abilities, and a commitment to overcoming our native egocentrism and socio-
centrism.