Critical Thinking

1. Critical thinking is the one skillset you can't afford not to master 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. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness. 2. It entails the examination of those structures or elements of thought implicit in all reasoning: purpose, problem, or question-at-issue; assumptions; concepts; empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions; implications and consequences; objections from alternative viewpoints; and frame of reference. Critical thinking — in being responsive to variable subject matter, issues, and purposes — is incorporated in a family of interwoven modes of thinking, among them: scientific thinking, mathematical thinking, historical thinking, anthropological thinking, economic thinking, moral thinking, and philosophical thinking. 3. Critical thinking can be seen as having two components: A.) a set of information and belief generating and processing skills, and B.) the habit, based on intellectual commitment, of using those skills to guide behavior. It is thus to be contrasted with: the mere acquisition and retention of information alone, because it involves a particular way in which information is sought and treated; the mere possession of a set of skills, because it involves the continual use of them; and the mere use of those skills ("as an exercise") without acceptance of their results. 4. Critical thinking varies according to the motivation underlying it. When grounded in selfish motives, it is often manifested in the skillful manipulation of ideas in service of one’s own, or one's group’s, vested interest. As such it is typically intellectually flawed, however pragmatically successful it might be. When grounded in fair-mindedness and intellectual integrity, it is typically of a higher order intellectually, though subject to the charge of "idealism" by those habituated to its selfish use. 5. Critical thinking of any kind is never universal in any individual; everyone is subject to episodes of undisciplined or irrational thought. Its quality is therefore typically a matter of degree and dependent on, among other things, the quality and depth of experience in a given domain of thinking or with respect to a particular class of questions. No one is a critical thinker through-and-through, but only to such-and-such a degree, with such-and-such insights and blind spots, subject to such-and-such tendencies towards self-delusion. For this reason, the development of critical thinking skills and dispositions is a life-long endeavor. 6. 13 ways to start thinking critically Whether you’re aiming to improve your performance at work or simply trying to live a more fulfilling life, you’ll need a variety of hard and soft skills to move the needle. Some skills come naturally to some people, while others need to develop them actively. One of these skills is critical thinking. But critical thinking itself is made up of several types of skills that contribute to solving problems more effectively. Let’s explore the different types of critical thinking skills and how you can start improving them to level up your career. 7. What is critical thinking? Critical thinking is the ability to analyze facts and form a judgment. It is a form of emotional intelligence. Someone with critical thinking skills can think clearly and rationally when the situation demands it. It allows them to perform problem-solving and decision-making more effectively. As a result, you can look further than what you see at face value. You’re able to analyze what you see from a situation and gain some insight that goes further than what’s obvious to anyone from the outside. 8. Critical thinking also requires being able to understand the logical connection between two or more ideas or concepts. For example, a team working on a company’s pricing strategy needs to think critically about several concepts. Critical thinking is different from creative thinking. Creative thinking is the ability to generate brand new, innovative ideas. On the other hand, critical thinking requires you to carefully and logically analyze what information is given to you. Both are important to maximize results in any given situation. 9. 5 characteristics of critical thinking What defines critical thinking? How does it affect the decision-making process? Here are five characteristics that make up the ability to think critically. Dispositions Critical thinkers have specific traits that allow them to think the way they do. Some people are predisposed to these traits, while others need to develop them actively. Some of these dispositions include: Open-mindedness Respecting evidence and reasoning Being able to consider different perspectives and points of view: in other words, having cognitive flexibility Not being stuck in one position Skepticism Clarity and precision 10. . Argument Good critical thinkers need to make solid arguments. An argument is making a statement aided by supporting evidence. It’s important to use well thought-out arguments when you’re in a constructive conflict. When analyzing a situation critically, you’ll need to make several arguments in your own mind to come to a judgment. Reasoning In addition to arguments, critical thinking also requires inferring conclusions. From the facts and arguments presented to you, you need to use reasoning skills to come to a logical conclusion. This conclusion will determine the best course of action to take. woman-thinking-at-computer-critical-thinking-skills 11. Criteria Critical thinking is sometimes a matter of discerning truth from fiction. Not all facts presented to you may have the same level of truth. Certain conditions need to be met for something to be considered believable, and a critical thinker needs to be able to understand that. Metacognition Metacognition is the ability to think about your own thinking. Critical thinkers should be able to analyze their thoughts so that they can judge whether or not they’ve thought everything through. This helps them come up with better hypotheses. 12. What are critical thinking skills, and why are they important? The critical thinking skills definition is: soft skills that help you in the critical thinking process. Developing these skills can improve your ability to think critically. Critical thinking skills are considered one of many durable skills in the workplace. Many of these are soft skills that are also useful in other situations. 13. According to research by America Succeeds, critical thinking is in the top five most requested durable skills in job postings. Those top five durable skills get requested 2.6x more often than the top five hard skills. This goes to show that soft skills like critical thinking skills are in demand in the workplace. 14. Critical thinking skills are important for several reasons. These include helping you work independently and solve problems. Not all positions require ongoing critical thinking. But, those skills definitely matter to anyone who wants to up level their career. And even the most easygoing positions require at least some level of critical thinking skills. 15. For example, working as an accountant can be straightforward in most cases. But it may require critical thinking skills. For instance, what if certain expenses aren’t easily distributed in simple categories? Without critical thinking skills, an accountant will struggle to work independently and solve problems on their own. 16. Critical thinking abilities also matter in everyday life. Having a foundation for critical thinking can help you analyze several possible solutions for problems that pop up in the home. It can also help you: Analyze different viewpoints Come up with the best solution for complex problems Become a better learner The key critical thinking skills are identifying biases, inference, research, identification, curiosity, and judging relevance. Let’s explore these six critical thinking skills you should learn and why they’re so important to the critical thinking process. 17. Identifying biases This critical thinking skill is necessary for metacognition, which is the fifth characteristic of critical thinking. It involves knowing when others have a cognitive bias and when you have one yourself. Biases can influence how someone understands the facts presented to them. But when you’re aware of those biases, you can question yourself on those biases and consider other points of view. 18. Identifying biases is especially important for people who make hiring decisions. That’s because biases against groups of minorities can lead to inequalities in the workplace when not identified. For example, imagine a hiring manager comparing two resumes. Their gut feeling could guide them to discount one of the resumes due to a bias against the opposite gender. But let’s say this hiring manager realizes they have this bias. They can then question themselves on whether or not this bias is influencing their judgment. 19. Inference Inference is the ability to draw conclusions based on the information you have. Without inference, it can be difficult to take action once you’ve analyzed the facts presented to you. Processing information is key to coming up with a reasoned judgment. For example, let’s go back to the accountant struggling to assign the correct category to a business expense. They can analyze other similar situations and infer the most logical category based on that information. 20. Research Before you analyze facts and infer a conclusion, you need to find out what those facts are. Researching skills allow you to discover facts and figures to make an argument. Not all situations will have the required information available to you. Researching skills are necessary to dig into a situation and gather the information you need to think critically. Some situations don’t require further research. For example, a first responder who arrives on the scene of an automobile accident won’t perform further research. They’ll have to analyze what they see in front of them and decide which injuries are the most urgent to care for. On the other hand, someone performing a market analysis will need to research competitors and gather information before coming up with an opinion. 21. Identification Identification is different from inference and research. It involves being able to identify a problem but also what’s influencing that problem. In short, identification is necessary for someone to realize that they need to think critically about something. Without proper identification skills, it will be difficult for someone to know when it’s time to analyze a situation. 22. For example, let’s say you’re entering numbers in a spreadsheet. The numbers aren’t coming out as they usually do. Without identification skills, you could easily keep going without realizing there’s an issue. But when you identify what’s going on, you can see that something is broken in the spreadsheet’s formula. Only once you identify the fact that the formula is broken can you start analyzing what’s going on to solve the issue. 23. Curiosity Don’t be afraid to question everything and explore what you’re curious about. That’s because intellectual curiosity is a valuable skill, especially when it comes to critical thinking. One way to practice curiosity is to adopt a beginner’s mindset. When you come into every situation with the mindset of a beginner, you’re able to keep an open mind. You’ll be able to perceive things you may not have noticed when keeping your mind closed. 24. Judging relevance Not all information is equally pertinent. In order to make a critical judgment, it’s important to be able to judge the relevance of the information you have. Take, for instance, basic online researching skills. You have access to a plethora of information on virtually every topic imaginable. But performing online research requires you to constantly judge the relevance of what you see. Without judging relevance, you’d spend too much time on details that don’t matter as much for the final desired outcome. But when you’re able to discern what’s most pertinent, you can give that information more weight as you’re thinking critically. 25. So what would critical thinking skills look like in a real-life situation? Let’s imagine you’re working in software quality assurance (QA) as a team lead. But every time your team needs to enter bug regression, everyone gets bottle necked because you must manually populate the spreadsheet used for the regression. While you do this task, your team cannot be productive without you. This process happens once a week and easily wastes half an hour for each team member. First, you must identify what’s going on. The team gets bottle necked because only you, as the team lead, can access the information required to fill in the regression spreadsheet. 26. Next, you can research information. You can inquire to higher-ups about the reason why only you have access to this information. You can also speak to other teams about what potential solutions they’ve come up with to solve this problem. Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to analyze the information and judge relevance. Some teams have solutions that don’t apply to you, so that information isn’t relevant anymore. Figure out if there are any personal biases before you analyze your information. 27. For example, it’s possible that you don’t get along with one of the other team leads. As a result, you could discount the information they’ve given you. But by identifying this bias, you can look past your personal opinion of this person and see how valuable their solution is. Based on what you’ve analyzed, it’s time to brainstorm and come up with a solution. You realize that creating a simple, automated script will save your team’s time. And it will do so without consuming too many resources from the engineering department. Next, present your solution to your manager. Explain how you came to this conclusion. 28. Now, let’s say your spreadsheet automation solution is approved. It’s important to go back and analyze what happens after implementing the solution. But only do this once the spreadsheet has been in place for long enough to gather plenty of information. Here’s an example. You could realize that the solution did solve the bottleneck. But, the script also slows down the spreadsheet and makes it difficult to work with. This would require you to go back to the drawing board and start the process all over again. 29. 13 ways to start thinking critically Want to start improving your own critical thinking skill sets? Here’s how you can improve critical thinking skills using 13 techniques: Play games that require critical thinking skills Ask more questions, even basic ones Question your assumptions Develop your technical skills so that you can identify problems more easily Find ways to solve more problems (at work and at home) Become aware of your mental processes, like the availability heuristic Think for yourself: don’t adopt other people’s opinions without questioning them first Seek out diversity of thought Start developing foresight Try active listening Weigh the consequences of different actions before you act Seek a mentor who can help you develop these skills Get professional coaching young-woman-using-phone-and-laptop-critical-thinking-skills 30. How to improve your critical thinking skills Critical thinking skills aren’t always easy to develop. But it’s much easier to start thinking critically when you have someone to work with. A set of information and beliefs, generating and processing skills, and the habit of using those skills to guide behavior. Critical thinkers: Ask questions Gather relevant information Think through solutions and conclusions Consider alternative systems of thought Communicate effectively They’re willing to admit when they’re wrong or when they don’t know the answer, rather than digging into a gut reaction or emotional point of view. 31. 7 Habits of Critical Thinkers Truth-Seeking Ask questions and follow the evidence Judicious Able to make judgements amid uncertainty Inquisitive Strive to be well-informed on a wide range of topics Confident in Reasoning Trustful of own skills to make good judgements Systematic Organized and thoughtful problem solving Analytical Identify potential consequences of decisions Open-Minded Tolerant of different views and sensitive to own biases 32. While there is no official standard list of the skills that make up critical thinking, here is the list of core characteristics that we like best! Interpretation Recognizing a problem and describing it without bias​ Distinguishing the main idea from a text​ Constructing a tentative categorization or organization structure​ Clarifying the meaning of a sign, chart, or graph Analysis Identifying similarities and differences between two approaches to a solution Isolating the main claim made in an editorial or statement and tracing it back to the supporting reasons for that claim Evaluation Judging an author or speaker’s credibility​ 33. Determining whether the evidence at hand supports the conclusion being drawn Recognizing whether an argument’s conclusion follows with certainty or confidence from its premises Inference Identifying the implications of the position someone is advocating Predicting what will happen next in a given situation Developing a workable plan to gather information to resolve an uncertainty Explanation Constructing a chart or graph to organize your findings​ Stating research results and describing the required methods and criteria Citing the evidence that led you to accept or reject another person’s position on an issue 34. Self-Regulation Checking for understanding of an author or speaker without injecting your own views and ideas Reminding yourself to separate personal opinions and assumptions from those of the author of a text Reconsidering your interpretation in view of new analyses or facts or errors discovered in your work