In The King and I, the king sings:

When I was a boy
World was better spot.
What was so was so,
What was not was not.
Now I am a man;
World have changed a lot.
Some things nearly so,
Others nearly not.
As a student, I have studied to procure,
In my head are many facts.
Of which I wish I was more certain I was sure!

There are times I almost think
I am not sure of what I absolutely know.
Very often find confusion
In conclusion I concluded long ago
In my mind are many facts that

In the course of this brief lyrical turn, the king takes us through the predictable sense of comfort when during our youth, we have little need for critical thinking because we KNOW far too much to be distracted by inquisitiveness and conflicting perspectives.

Then, one would hope, that we move to the King’s “confusion.”  The cognitive discomfort that suffuses our sense of the world, as we encounter “difference” and perspectival diversity may not be pleasureful at Aristotle’s appetitive level of happiness, but the effect on our willingness to listen and consider is a gift.

The dichotomization of “yes” and “no” gives way, as the king says so well, to matters of degree.  Some things are nearly so; others nearly not.

We may never reach a point where certitude loses its beguiling security, but we can through force of will and logic tolerate confusion and even welcome it as a platform for learning.

Bob Seger in “Lock and Load” sings “I wish I had a nickel for every time I fell and blamed somebody else.”

The human tendency to be defensive, to protect the image of competence we would like to project to the world, leads us to give reasons for our behavior that make us look good. The self-enhancement bias is one way to study this phenomenon. In most walks of life we maintain a public image of being far better than average in whatever we choose to do.

One warning for critical thinkers when listening to the arguments of others should be: is the person putting forth the argument working extra hard to provide reasons that are consistent with our thinking more positively about the person making the argument? While there is certainly no good reason why such a reason is not a strong one, it needs to be consumed with special care because we know how tempting it is for any of us to destroy evidence and reasons to build up ourselves in the eyes of others.