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The ability to analyze arguments, evaluate evidence, and distinguish between fact and opinion is a valuable skill that most people term critical thinking. In this article, I will be tutoring you on learning how to think critically. Stay with me.
A simple definition is that critical thinking is the analysis of factual evidence to form a judgment. However, a closer inspection of the term and its meaning shows there are other meanings. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy defines critical thinking as the core concepts of the process of ‘careful goal-directed thinking’. Another university’s definition is that ‘good critical thinking includes recognizing good arguments even when we disagree with them, and poor arguments even when these support our point of view’.
In my opinion, I can say that critical thinking is the art and act of analyzing, interpreting, inference, explaining, self-regulating, open-mindedness, and problem-solving skills one acquires to tackle a situation.
There are some benefits of critical thinking and some of them include:
There are other benefits of critical thinking and some of them include increasing memory and retention capabilities, open-mindedness, emotional control, handling criticism especially criticisms at the workplace, schools, home amongst others. Critical thinking has a million sides to it and there are lots of benefits to learning how to think critically.
When faced with a situation or problem, determine what has caused it.
There will usually be several sides to an argument, so it’s important to understand who is saying what and how valid each position is.
It’s essential to separate the facts from the opinions and assess how accurately the evidence is presented.
Ask yourself whether or not you’re making assumptions, why you believe a certain point, and whether you’re letting confirmation bias, heuristics, framing, or common fallacies impact your thinking.
Each side of an argument will likely have supporting evidence. Deciding which information is most important, deductive, valid, and has a sound premise will help decide the significance of each.
The various steps above will lead and help you to decide which option or argument (if any) is the most relevant. You can also weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of all options.
Honestly, learning how to think critically is very essential in our daily lives and there are a million and one ways to think critically.
After you must have reached this column and understood what critical thinking entails, your question then shifts from ‘what does critical thinking mean?’ to ‘how do I improve critical thinking skills?’
There are several ways that you can achieve the benefits of critical thinking, including:
Requires little effort to accept things at face value and believe what you’re being told.
Can be difficult to make effective decisions or draw informed conclusions when you’re surrounded by inaccurate information.
When you’re researching a topic to make an informed decision, always pay attention to the source. Look at evidence-based information from reliable outlets and be careful of how statistics are presented to you.
Active Listening is a technique that ensures the listener concentrates, understands, responds to, and remembers what’s being said. It’s also about observing behaviour and body language.
Being able to put yourself in the shoes of another person allows you to understand their point of view, motivations, and aspirations.
Most people fail to realize that critical thinking has its root ineffective communication. Communicating well helps one to look at not only the speech of an individual but also the body language and tone of that individual to know your next words. Critical thinking uses communication as a skill to make better decisions.
As I said earlier, critical thinking as a skill is a valuable skill that can help us make better decisions and judgments. It helps us as individuals make life-changing decisions and also see through things that aren’t real.
Critical thinking should not be seen as a concept, but as a skill to acquire, it’s very relevant in our lives and should be treated as such.
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