Tommy Paez

My name is Tommy Paez, and I’ve been involved in international education efforts for over ten years. I currently work in International Student Services (ISS) servicing our vast international student population. I can also be found trying to save the world in front of my PlayStation or going off on numerous tabletop adventures.

1. How do you teach or exemplify Applied Critical Thinking?

I always enjoy resorting to Philosophy when it comes to employing critical thinking strategies – specifically, being able to target and interpret logical fallacies and inconsistencies in reasoning as they occur. Whether I am attempting to break down an argument into its parts or self-reflecting on my own thought processes, being able to pinpoint gaps and flaws in reasoning are crucial components of successfully analyzing any given situation.

I oftentimes find my emotions clouding my deductive reasoning, which in turn can affect my ability to properly rationalize my positions on a given matter. Being able to separate emotion from the matter at hand can not only lead to a more logical conclusion to a situation, but also lead to further self-reflection and development.

2. Why do you think Applied Critical Thinking is important in your domain or role?

Through engaging with such a diverse population of international students here at RIT, it has been an essential piece of my job to think critically about how I interact with students in my particular line of work. One's own cultural upbringing has a huge impact on how they view and interact with the world, and this becomes all the more evident when immersed in a foreign culture. It's an indispensable trait to be able to read the room accurately and respond accordingly when in doubt about cultural contexts and social cues when communicating with a culture outside of your own. What's more, putting yourself in their position as an outsider of an established in-group can further help you resonate with their personal circumstances, concerns, and frustrations.

3. Can you share a story where quality Applied Critical Thinking was key to your success?

Reflecting back on my own experiences as an English education teacher in Japan, I often found myself having to take a step back from my own lived experiences, seeing as how I was now a stranger in a strange land. There were many times that I found myself questioning my own merits and values as an outsider in a foreign culture, both in the classroom and attempting to fit in to society as a whole.

Regardless of how much I thought I knew about cultural competence, I oftentimes found my emotions clouding my train of thought. I not only failed to consider how my impact as a foreign entity had on those around me, but also on how I might have failed to consider the various cultural components of my surroundings that I simply wasn't accustomed to. In a society built around non-verbal and indirect communication cues, I had to think critically about how my boisterous and direct approach to certain situations might have been perceived. No amount of trainings or book readings could have prepared me for the real-life social context of leaving everything I knew behind for a world I had only known through movies and media.

I had to break down many of my own walls and biases in order to accept that I was no longer Dorothy in Kansas -- much of what I thought I knew about my life in the United States no longer applied. The way I ate, the way I spoke, down to the way I dressed all had to be specifically catered to my new identity in this new realm, one rooted in the collective rather than the self. Being able to accept this as part of my transition into my new life in Japan was very much a road of self-exploration and thinking outside of my established comfort zones.

4. How do you use critical thinking in other areas of your life outside of RIT?

I grew up in the 90s when society wasn't as interconnected as it is today. Throughout the course of my youth, I watched the world grow and evolve as the internet became faster by the day and as cellphones became smarter and more innovative by the minute. My generation was the last to witness a time before all of the world's data was readily available to you in the palm of your hand. Indeed, we now live in a world where if a tick farted in Antarctica, you'd be the first to know.

All of this information comes at a heavy cost. In our current age of countless influencers amassing millions of followers, an ever-growing divide between political ideologies, and the ability to deep-fake misinformation to sway and stoke emotional responses from the masses, it is indeed a pressing task to think critically at all times about what is being specifically curated to you, your newsfeed, and your digital space.

Who is the primary beneficiary of any given viewpoint or opinion piece? What is the intended target audience? Where was the funding sourced? These, among others, are countless considerations one needs to make in the digital age to effectively see through the looking glass.

It was Obi-Wan Kenobi who said that "many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view." Sometimes, those truths are so ingrained in who we are that we forget to think outside of ourselves -- and our beliefs in turn become our reality due to our own deep-seated biases. Being able to recognize that our viewpoints may be challenged and accepting that our long-held belief systems might not be supported on as strong of a foundation as we originally perceived is a cornerstone to personal growth, empowerment, and critical analysis.

5. Any last critical thoughts?

Think about how your words and actions impact others. Various cultures respond differently to direct vs. indirect communication styles, as well as verbal vs. nonverbal communication cues. As a habit of mindful listening, I typically do not interject when being spoken to and allow the speaker to complete their thoughts as a sign of courtesy and respect to them. That being said, I remember being told by one of my Japanese peers that my silence was taken as a form of aloofness and inattentiveness to the speaker, and to interject often to confirm my engagement.

Oftentimes it's difficult to stop the conscious mind from falling into a state of autopilot, but keeping from doing so is a major component to thinking critically.