My modest goal for this column is to challenge the way you think in the next 500 words.

Some of the key moments in the history of humanity were moments of great critical thinking: A sun-centered planetary system, evolution and relativity, to name a few. These ideas, which fundamentally changed our view of reality and our place in the universe, all seemed preposterous at the time and counter to our intuition. Some of these ideas were so opposed to what most wanted to believe, they were met by mockery, scorn and sometimes persecution.

I start with these extraordinary examples of critical thinking because I believe it helps to define what it means. First, I believe the cornerstone of critical thinking is setting aside ego and common assumptions to evaluate the information before you. Second, I believe it requires looking at this information from new perspectives and frameworks. Finally, I believe it often requires courage to let it take you to conclusions which may seem counter intuitive or uncomfortable.

So where am I going with all of this?

While developing your ability to critically think about the world around you is an often-stated goal for universities, I would like to challenge you to apply some critical thinking toward the world within you.

So keeping in mind what it means to think critically, let me ask you to try to apply it to a couple of sets of questions. I encourage you to put down the paper (or turn away from the monitor, if that’s the case), close your eyes and think after each set of questions. See if you have the courage to be honest and to think critically about your inner world.

First, do you think you would hold your current religious beliefs if you were born to parents of a different religion? Do you see young children of Christian parents wearing a hijab? Do you see young children of Muslim parents wearing a cross? Do you see young children of Jewish parents chanting Hare Krishna?

If your religious beliefs are a matter of the circumstance of your birth, what does that say about your beliefs? Are your beliefs founded on a well-explored survey of many beliefs and perspectives?

How about political beliefs and national loyalties? Where do they come from? Are these also born from circumstance?

Do you tend to hang out with people and listen to media which agree with your point of view, or do you seek out different perspectives? Do you automatically dismiss those who disagree with your point of view, or do you make a sincere effort to look at issues from alternate frameworks?

Finally, are your beliefs based on wishful thinking? Does you belief about death involve going to a better place, or have you been willing to entertain the possibility that the experience of death may be similar to your state of nonexistence before you were born? Are you willing to contemplate the unknowable and consider that, “I do not know and there is no way for anyone else to know”?

Like the ideas of Copernicus, Darwin and Einstein, I believe critically thinking about our inner world can be initially unsettling, but can eventually lead to a more coherent and consistent understanding. I believe it can provide us with a more effective way of dealing with reality, and maybe a world which would be a bit less divisive.

Richard Zipper is a Golden ID student taking classes in biology. He can be reached at zipper@umdbk.com.