Critical Thinking and Compassion

In this text, the apostle Paul says that some people need help with burden-bearing. So what is keeping us from exercising such compassion? Could it be that we’re lazy, sloppy thinkers?

Let’s start with a little quiz question: A bat and a ball cost $1.10 total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? (If possible, post this question on a screen or other visible location. And have a bat and a ball in your hands.)

If you’re like many people, the obvious answer is 10 cents.

But if you’re like a smaller number of people, a flag may wave in your mind signaling that you have answered too quickly, triggering you to consider the question a bit longer.

Not to prolong this unnecessarily, you can reveal that the ball costs 5 cents.

Even if your first answer was 10 cents, thinking the question through should help you see that that answer cannot be correct. If the ball cost 10 cents, and the bat cost $1.00 more, the price of the bat would be $1.10, and the total cost would be $1.20.

But since the total of both bat and ball is only $1.10, then the ball price must be 5 cents. The bat price, a dollar more than that, would be $1.05. ...