how to improve critical thinking skills

how to improve critical thinking skills

The Importance of Critical Thinking

1. Definition of Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is an ability to think rationally and clearly. Critical thinkers are able to understand logical links between issues. Critical thinkers do not fear identifying and solving problems, by confronting complex obstacles, and by doing so, make the right decision. Another aspect of critical thinking is the ability to approach a problem or situation rationally. This means one will approach a problem with only the relevant information and will not be swayed by emotions or personal interests. Considering the possible consequences of a decision being made is an important aspect of critical thinking. If a person can evaluate the possible outcomes of a decision and how they may affect an issue, then they will be able to make a choice to solve the problem with the most positive effect. The abilities of analyzing and applying are present in a critical thinker. A critical thinker can analyze a problem using his own reasoning and come up with a solution to solve that problem by himself. These solutions are based on long-term effects. Applying these solutions to the problem requires prudence and integrity, which most often critical thinkers possess. These solutions also have quality in that they are based on evidential facts and are able to be justified. There are many advantages of critical thinking and a lot of disadvantages as well. A good example of critical thinking is the case of a car mechanic trying to solve a problem with a car. The malfunction might have been trivial and a result of poor maintenance, the mechanic could have taken this reason and stuck to it, but he didn’t. He used his reasoning to realize that the area of the problem was inconsistent with his original prediction, coping to find the real problem and modifying the car so it wouldn’t reoccur. The solution achieved results in saving time in the future because the maintenance wasn’t performed. A disadvantage to critical thinking is that it can often lead to a complex decision-making process that is often hard to implement. This would be a problem situation for someone who is not in business studying critical thinking in decision making.

2. Benefits of Developing Critical Thinking Skills

An advancement in critical thinking ability would also come a long way in preventing the spread of misinformation. If the populace could be trained to evaluate and analyse information and arguments effectively, a good deal of credulity could be averted. Critical thinkers would be able to uncover subtle deceits in the manipulative language of politicians, advertisers, and unsavory characters of all sorts. They would be able to think independently and to question the consensus, an ability that is surely of great value in our democratic society. It is all too often that a patient is misdiagnosed or given improper medical treatment because the physicians are unable or unwilling to think critically. In fact, one can see, in these situations, the potential consequences of the loss of critical thinking skills; sometimes it is literally life and death.

To consider the potential effects of developing critical thinking skills, we must begin with the words, and hence the thoughts, behind the actions. With the deluge of information that we are exposed to, lowering standards in education, and a mass media whose sole purpose is entertainment, we as a society are losing our grip on the vital skills of logic, reason, and analysis. If the trend continues, our very livelihood will be in danger. There will always be a number of people who think they are thinking but are merely rearranging their prejudices.

3. Examples of Critical Thinking in Everyday Life

When you observe the definition of critical thinking, it is clear that the term requires an array of mental traits that are functioned in harmony with each other to solve problems in a methodological way. Critical thinking is sometimes talked about as a near-mystical skill that exercises unfathomable power to solve complex problems. In fact, critical thinking is best understood as the ability of thinkers to take charge of their own thinking. It involves skills in reasoning, such as the ability to identify problems, gather and interpret relevant information, come to well-reasoned conclusions, and test those conclusions against relevant criteria and standards. Critical thinking also involves the ability to reason through the problems with a view to make a best solution that is sustainable in such a manner that the thinker can self-monitor and self-regulate the entire process. These traits of critical thinking are often stated as a direct support to problem solving. There are many ways of displaying critical thinking and some are often easier to observe than others. We will start with the lower cognitive level of critical thinking, for example, understanding and applying, to show a broad range of everyday life problems where critical thinking can be applied.

4. Strategies for Enhancing Critical Thinking Abilities

Make the decision. Critical thinking is an active, purposeful, organized, and systematic process which a person employs to make decisions. It involves a higher level of thinking; a person must be willing to reflect on and make a judgment about the way things are. A person must decide what to believe or do, in any situation, but at the same time that person must be aware of what he is doing, and thus requires the higher order thinking of critical thinking. Therefore, the key to decision making is deciding to employ critical thinking about a matter. This would involve making a conscious decision to think through the issues at a deeper level, and to be more disciplined and self-guided in assessing the pros and cons before coming to a judgment. Be informed. Decisions are only as good as the information that the decisions are based on. Often, what passes for a decision is a plan to act on an intuition or a long held but never examined belief. Critical thinking requires a person to be informed about a matter to the best of the person’s ability. Another strategy for enhancing critical thinking is to pursue a high level of information clarity and a broad assessment of the situation before even attempting to come to a judgment. This would include asking any relevant parties for their views on the matter, as well as taking time to examine the assumptions that they are working from, because an informed decision is built on clear information and assumptions.

5. Conclusion: Embracing Critical Thinking for Success

Society is currently entrenched in a world of information. This information overload has led to an emphasis on information processing as a field of study in its own right. The importance of studying such a field is none other than arming individuals with a better understanding of how to separate the truth from the untruth – an essentially more refined method of critical thinking. This point is especially significant for the survival of democracy. An essential ingredient for democracy is the requirement of citizens to make informed decisions on issues of great importance. Failure to achieve this will mean that the decisions made will not be conducive to the greater good of society. A shortfall in this context has been attributed to poor methods of decision making which were a result of inadequate reasoning and selective acceptance of ‘evidence’ based on bias. This has led to poor decisions in the past based on rushed conclusions from insufficient information. An embodiment of this is the former Australian Prime Minister’s commitment of Australian troops to the Vietnam War without proper consultation of the cabinet. In a world where decisions with global implications are now becoming the norm, it is imperative that leaders equip themselves with superior decision-making skills. A pragmatic approach in the consideration of alternative solutions and prediction of the outcomes resulting from each is the hallmark of critical thinking. It is clear that society will benefit in many ways by encouraging the employment of critical thinking.

Even before its inclusion in the American Declaration of Independence, influential thinkers have recognized the importance of critical thinking. Critical thinkers have a positive influence on the world around them. They tend to be more successful in a variety of professional positions and generally are seen as problem solvers. The vast array of methods for overcoming problems indicates that success is more likely due to the dynamic obstacles one overcomes rather than the static accumulation of credentials. Any bridging of the gap between a problematic situation and a positive resolution is employed by a method. The method employed is often the result of many hours of deliberation involving the weighing of options in the quest for a logical and consequential outcome. This pragmatic development is essentially the quest for the most efficient problem-solving method and is the process of critical thinking. In recognizing the methods utilized in the past for the solution of difficult problems, it becomes clear that the evolution of society is highly dependent on its capability to think critically. Whether it be a new logistical system for an old organization, or legislation for preventing warfare between states, every positive change is a result of a solution for a specific problem. Thus, the correlation of success and problem resolution indicates the plausible assertion that society improves through the successful employment of critical thinking.