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One primary aspect separating humans from other animals is our ability to analyze our own thoughts and emotions. It’s a remarkable trait if you think about it.
You don’t have to take everything you hear, read, see, or feel at face value and label it as truth. You have the option to question, analyze, and make your own decisions. In other words, you have the choice to think critically.
I think therefore I am. ~ Rene Descartes
What is Critical Thinking
First and foremost, critical thinking is a skill. This means anyone can learn how to do it, but it isn’t necessarily instinctual at first.
Critical thinking is your ability to clearly think, analyze, and rationalize information you receive — and thoughts you have — in order to form your own opinion.
Thanks to technology, we receive an absurd amount of information every day. From the moment you open your eyes until you close them again to sleep, your brain is processing information. You then continue to process it while you dream. But you’re not a robot. You’re capable of more than simply gathering information. Critical thinking is about what you do with the information when you get it.
Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. ~ Francis Bacon
Why Do We Need to Think Critically?
There’s literally no downside to it and there’s no area of your life that critical thinking can’t help.
Thinking critically is what makes you an individual instead of a machine or clone. When you analyze and question information instead of blindly taking everything you’re told as fact, you discover your own opinions and beliefs, which are not based on your emotional reaction to the information, but through asking questions.
It’s especially important in today’s society when we have misinformation spreading like wildfire. How do you know what to believe and what decisions you should make? You question it, analyze it, look for flaws and trustworthy sources.
Without critical thinking, science and the economy fail. It’s the lifeblood of democracy. Theories, statements, and “facts” need to be backed up, otherwise, anyone can waltz in and say anything they want and you’ll believe them. Without critical thinking, you won’t know they’re lying to you.
As an adult, you make an estimated 35,000 decisions a day, most of which you don’t consciously realize you’re making. So, it’s safe to say that the quality of your life can be reflected in the decisions you make. When you use your critical thinking skills, it helps you make the right decisions for you.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” — Aristotle
How to Do it
It would be nice if there were a universal checklist for critical thinking. Unfortunately, it’s a little more complex than that because no situation is the same. Critical thinking can be applied to any topic, person, or situation. It’s not a one-size-fits-all concept. However, Stanford University points out there are common mental events that happen during the process of thinking critically.
Observation
We’re keen observationalists and our brains are wired to notice patterns. You might notice inconsistencies in the information you’re receiving, or in the behavior of the person talking.
Feeling
Feeling puzzled or uncertain about something. You want to solve the mystery behind the inconsistencies and feel satisfaction when you do. We don’t enjoy feeling like we’re out of the loop or being tricked. We like to understand what’s going on and if we don’t, then our feelings and curiosity often won’t leave us alone until we do.
Wondering
Daydreaming is notorious for this. It’s through wondering and curiosity that we form questions in order to better understand our situation or environment.
Imagining
When we don’t know the answer to something, our brains love coming up with possibilities. Our imagination allows us to fill in the gaps, ask more questions, and work through problems with an open mind.
Inferring
You create a plausible reason to explain the answer. If you learn that one of your coworkers isn’t coming back to work, your brain works to try and come up with a reason to explain it. You might assume they showed up late one too many times and got fired. Maybe they moved or had an emergency that required them to quit.
You might not know for sure, but that doesn’t stop you from trying to think of reasons.
Knowledge
When in doubt, we refer to what we already know. Using preconceived knowledge helps you differentiate fact from fiction. You know the sky is blue and the grass is green, so if someone tries to tell you otherwise you can revert back to your knowledge on the topic to raise questions about the validity of their claims saying the sky isn’t blue or the grass isn’t green.
Experimenting
Experiments are one of our favorite ways to determine what’s true or not. If someone told you that your forearm is the same length as your foot, you can measure both to see if it’s true. (spoiler alert, it’s true.)
Consulting
If you don’t know the answer, then you consult other sources of information to find out. You might ask someone you think might know the answer or you refer to Google for a solution. Either way, you acknowledge you don’t know the answer, so you go searching for it.
Identifying and analyzing arguments
This one is especially important. When you’re having a debate or an argument with someone, you can tell when their defense is flimsy or maybe there’s a hole in their logic. Noticing flaws or weak points gives you an opportunity to ask further questions or rebut their stance.
Judging
After accumulating evidence and rationalizing both sides of an argument, you’re able to form your own judgment about a situation.
Deciding
Finally, you make your decision based on the evidence you’ve found instead of taking someone else’s opinion as fact. Even if you do end up agreeing with someone else, you can do it knowing it’s because you decided to agree on your own, and not because you blindly followed along.
The important thing is to never stop questioning. ~ Albert Einstein
Final Thoughts
Each of us has a right to decide for ourselves what we believe. We’ve been told for a long time not to question authority, not ask questions, and to believe what we’ve been told with little to no reason other than trust.
The ability to think critically is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. The world we’re living in is a chaotic mess right now. If we want anything to get better, we have to start asking questions. It’s how we solve problems, make decisions, and keep our creativity going.
We humans are too smart to accept everything we’re told. Thinking for ourselves distinguishes us from other mammals. Don’t let anyone tell you what to think, figure it out for yourself.
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This post was previously published on Medium.
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Photo credit: Juan Rumimpunu on Unsplash