Great tips on critical thinking...

 Great tips on critical thinking...

When I was in grade 7, my American history teacher gave my class the following advice:

Your high school teachers won't expect you to remember every little fact about American history. They can fill in details that you forgot. What they will be waiting for, however, is for you to think; know how to make connections between ideas and evaluate information critically.

I didn't know it at the time, but my teacher was doing a concise summary of critical thinking. My high school teachers gave similar speeches when describing what would be expected of us in college: it is not about the facts you know, but rather your ability to assess them.

And now that I'm in college, my professors often mention that the ability to think through and solve difficult problems is more important in the "real world" than specific content.

Although I've heard so much about critical thinking all these years, I realized that I still couldn't give a concrete definition of it, and I certainly couldn't explain how to do it. It seemed like something my teachers expected us to take up again during our studies. Even though I guess many of us have learned it, I prefer to approach learning deliberately, so I decided to investigate critical thinking on my own.

What is it, how do we do it, why is it important and how can we improve? This post is my attempt to answer these questions.

In addition to answering these questions, I'll also offer seven ways to start thinking more critically today, both inside and outside the classroom.

What is critical thinking?

“Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing and / or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication, as a guide to belief and action. "

- The Foundation for Critical Thinking

The above definition from the Critical Thinking Foundation website is quite wordy, but critical thinking, in essence, is not that complex.

Critical thinking is simply about deliberately and systematically processing information so that you can make better decisions and generally understand things better. The above definition includes so many words because critical thinking requires you to apply various intellectual tools to various information.

Ways of thinking critically about information include:

Conceptualize

Analyzing

Synthesize

Assess

This information may come from sources such as:

Observation

Live

Reflection

Reasoning

Communication

And all of this is meant to guide:

Beliefs

action

You can also define it this way:

Critical thinking is the opposite of ordinary, everyday thinking.

From moment to moment, most thoughts happen automatically. When you think critically, you are deliberately using one of the intellectual tools above to come to more precise conclusions than your brain would automatically (we'll talk about in a moment).

This is what critical thinking is. But then what?

Why is critical thinking important?

Most of our daily thoughts are not critical.

If you think about it, that makes sense. If we were to deliberately think through every action (like breathing, for example), we would run out of cognitive energy for important things like D&D. It's good that much of our thinking is automatic.

However, we can run into problems when we let our automatic mental processes govern important decisions. Without critical thinking it is easy for people to manipulate us and for all kinds of disasters to result. Wherever some form of fundamentalism led to tragedy (the Holocaust is a classic example), critical thinking was sorely lacking.

Even in everyday life, it's easy to get caught up in unnecessary arguments or say stupid things just because you haven't been able to stop and deliberately think.

But you're reading College Info Geek, so I'm sure you're interested in why critical thinking is important in college.

Here's why:

According to Andrew Roberts, author of The Thinking Student's Guide to College, critical thinking is important in college because students often adopt the wrong attitude when thinking about difficult questions. This attitudes include:

Ignorant Certain

Ignorant certainty is the belief that there are precise and correct answers to all questions - all you have to do is find the right source (102). It's understandable that a lot of students come to college thinking this way - it's enough to get you through most of your high school courses

In college and in life, however, the answers to the most meaningful questions are seldom straightforward. To go anywhere in college courses (especially higher level ones) you need to think critically about the materia

Naive relativism

Naive relativism is the belief that there is no truth and that all arguments are equal (102-103). According to Roberts, this is often a view that students adopt once they have learned the mistake of ignorant certainty. if it is certainly a more "critical" approach than an ignorant certainty, naive relativism is still insufficient because it misses the essential of critical thinking: arriving at a more complete answer, " less false ”

Part of critical thinking is assessing the validity of arguments (yours and those of others). Therefore, in order to think critically, you have to accept that some arguments are better (and some are just awful

Critical thinking is also important in college

This allows you to form your own opinions and engage with material beyond a superficial level. This is essential for writing a good essay and having an intelligent discussion with your teachers or classmates. Regurgitating what the manual says won't get you fa

This allows you to create valid arguments and save them. If you are planning to pursue graduate studies or pursue a doctorate, original and critical thinking is crucia

It helps you assess your own work. This leads to better grades (who doesn't?) And better habits of mind

Doing college-level work without criticism is a bit like walking blindfolded: you'll get somewhere, but it's unlikely to be the place you want

Bertrand-Russell-Citation

However, the value of critical thinking doesn't end in college. Once you step into the real world, critical thinking matters even more. This is due to the fact

It allows you to continue to develop intellectually after graduation. Progress shouldn't stop after graduation - you should keep learning as much as possible. When you come across new information, knowing how to think critically will help you assess and use.

It helps you make tough decisions. I've written before about how defining your values helps you make better decisions. Equally important in the decision-making process is the ability to think critically. Critical thinking allows you to compare the pros and cons of your available options, showing that you have more options than you imagine

People can and will manipulate you. At least they will if you take it at face value and allow others to think for you. Just look at the ads for the latest fad diet or the “miracle” drug: they rely on ignorance and false hope to get people to buy something that is at best unnecessary and at worst harmful. When you evaluate information critically (especially information intended to sell something), you can avoid falling prey to unethical businesses and people

It makes you more employable (and better paid). The best employees not only know how to solve existing problems, but they also know how to find solutions to problems that no one ever imagined. To get a great job after graduation, you need to be one of those employees, and critical thinking is the key ingredient in solving difficult.