What Is Critical Thinking?
The process of conceptualizing, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and applying, information actively and skillfully, which is gathered from or generated by observations, experiences, or communication, is termed as Critical thinking. It intellectually works as a guide to belief and action.
It’s a tool that one should unwind when they need to make important decisions or solve different problems but don’t need to think critically about everything. Thus, in short, critical thinking is an effective tool for professionals as well as students that enforce to analyze things objectively.
When we’re trying to think about a new idea, solve an existing problem, or just analyzing how & why something went wrong, critical thinking leads to a better solution. Here are some ways to think about a piece of information critically:
1. Express yourself in various ways
It is a known fact that different people have different styles of thinking and learning. One may have a strong preference for visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learning.
If you have been talking about a problem out, try to draw diagram of it. If you’ve been staring at charts all day, try to write down your interpretations of them. The new perspective can be quite enlightening.
2. Practice often
Thinking is like a skill, but practice leads to improvement. Once you practice something often enough, it will become a habit. You’ll think critically and logically about everything.
Practice makes a man perfect. Also, working on a problem backward can help you address those minor issues, which otherwise you tend to forget.
3. Take help from others
Talk to other people about the problem you are facing & trying to solve. This is so because different people have different opinions & solutions to solve the issue. Addressing different approaches to the problem while understanding those processes can help you refine & expand yours.
4. Understand and challenge your partisanship
Each of us is affected by numerous cognitive biases, some of which affect how we value things and some of which affect how we think. Identifying and challenging these cognitive biases can allow us to work around them. For example, if you know you’re affected by confirmation biases, you can specifically look for evidence that contradicts your main assumption.
5. Expose yourself to new content
Well, it’s time to come out of your comfort zone & expose yourself to different types of contents & some new creators. This is because every writer, author, speaker, or thinker teaches us some new things. Doing this introduces us to new thoughts, facts & ideas which can be integrated into one’s critical thinking skills.
6. Experiment with brain teasers
You can use some brain teasers to strengthen your critical thinking skills. For example, the problem requires you to think about the value of life and the impact of the action on decision-making ability. Many brain teasers require you to think “outside of the box” to solve them adequately. These pose a good challenge to the minds of individuals.
So, by following these practices & mental exercises, anyone can become a better critical thinker.
