Assignment No # 01
How to become a critical thinker
Name:-
Muhammad Umair khan
Registration no:-
14pwind0311
Section:-
Submitted to;-
Sir fawad haidar
There is nothing more practical than sound thinking. No matter what your circumstance or goals,
no matter where you are, or what problems you face, you are better off if your thinking is skilled.
As a manager, leader, employee, citizen, lover, friend, parent — in every realm and situation of
your life — good thinking pays off. Poor thinking, in turn, inevitably causes problems, wastes
time and energy, engenders frustration and pain.
Critical thinking is the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable
of in any set of circumstances. The general goal of thinking is to “figure out the lay of the land”
in any situation we are in. We all have multiple choices to make. We need the best information to
make the best choices.
What is really going on in this or that situation? Are they trying to take advantage of me? Does
so-and-so really care about me? Am I deceiving myself when I believe that . . .? What are the
likely consequences of failing to . . .? If I want to do . . . , what is the best way to prepare for it?
How can I be more successful in doing . . .? Is this my biggest problem, or do I need to focus my
attention on something else?
Successfully responding to such questions is the daily work of thinking. However, to maximize
the quality of your thinking, you must learn how to become an effective "critic" of your thinking.
And to become an effective critic of your thinking, you have to make learning about thinking a
priority.
The following keys can be helped in becoming a good critical thinker;
1. Clarify Your Thinking
Be on the look-out for vague, fuzzy, formless, blurred thinking. Try to figure out the real
meaning of what people are saying. Look on the surface. Look beneath the surface. Try to
figure out the real meaning of important news stories. Explain your understanding of an
issue to someone else to help clarify it in your own mind. Practice summarizing in your
own words what others say. Then ask them if you understood them correctly. You should
neither agree nor disagree with what anyone says until you (clearly) understand them.
2. Stick to the Point
Be on the lookout for fragmented thinking, thinking that leaps about with no logical
connections. Start noticing when you or others fail to stay focused on what is relevant.
Focus on finding what will aid you in truly solving a problem. When someone brings up
a point (however true) that doesn’t seem pertinent to the issue at hand, ask, “How is what
you are saying relevant to the issue?” When you are working through a problem, make
sure you stay focused on what sheds light on and, thus, helps address the problem. Don’t
allow your mind to wander to unrelated matters. Don’t allow others to stray from the
main issue. Frequently ask: “What is the central question? Is this or that relevant to it?
How?”
3. Question Questions
Be on the lookout for questions. The ones we ask. The ones we fail to ask. Look on the
surface. Look beneath the surface. Listen to how people question, when they question,
when they fail to question. Look closely at the questions asked. What questions do you
ask, should you ask? Examine the extent to which you are a questioner, or simply one
who accepts the definitions of situations given by others.
4. Be Reasonable
Be on the lookout for reasonable and unreasonable behaviors — yours and others. Look
on the surface. Look beneath the surface. Listen to what people say. Look closely at
what they do. Notice when you are unwilling to listen to the views of others, when you
simply see yourself as right and others as wrong. Ask yourself at those moments
whether their views might have any merit. See if you can break through your
defensiveness to hear what they are saying. Notice unreasonableness in others. Identify
times when people use language that makes them appear reasonable, though their
behavior proves them to be otherwise. Try to figure out why you, or others, are being
unreasonable. Might you have a vested interested in not being open-minded? Might
they?
5. Internalize Intellectual Standards.
Each week, develop a heightened awareness of one of the universal intellectual
standards (clarity, precision, accuracy, relevance, depth, breadth, logicalness,
significance). Focus one week on clarity, the next on accuracy, etc. For example, if you
are focusing on clarity for the week, try to notice when you are being unclear in
communicating with others. Notice when others are unclear in what they are saying.
6. Redefine the Way You See Things.
We live in a world, both personal and social, in which every situation is “defined,” that is,
given a meaning. How a situation is defined determines not only how we feel about it,
but also how we act in it, and what implications it has for us. However, virtually every
situation can be defined in more than one way. This fact carries with it tremendous
opportunities. In principle, it lies within your power and mine to make our lives more
happy and fulfilling than they are. Many of the negative definitions that we give to
situations in our lives could in principle be transformed into positive ones. We can be
happy when otherwise we would have been sad.
7. Get in touch with your emotions
Whenever you feel some negative emotion, systematically ask yourself: What, exactly,
is the thinking leading to this emotion? For example, if you are angry, ask yourself, what
is the thinking that is making me angry? What other ways could I think about this
situation? For example, can you think about the situation so as to see the humor in it and
what is pitiable in it? If you can, concentrate on that thinking and your emotions will
(eventually) shift to match it.
8. Analyze group influences on your life
Closely analyze the behavior that is encouraged, and discouraged, in the groups to
which you belong. For any given group, what are you "required" to believe? What are
you "forbidden" to do? Every group enforces some level of conformity. Most people live
much too much within the view of themselves projected by others. Discover what
pressure you are bowing to and think explicitly about whether or not to reject that
pressure.
9. Open Minded
An outstanding critical thinker is always open minded to all possibilities, interpretations and
perspectives. They understand that unless they keep an open mind at all times, that they may
essentially miss important cues and pieces of information that will provide them with new
insights and understandings to successfully overcome the problems confronting their reality.
10. Has Flexibility of Thought
An outstanding critical thinker understands that a flexible and fluid thought process is required at
all times in order to successfully gain new insights and perspectives about events and
circumstances. They are fully aware that there are always a variety of ways to look at a
situation, and that there are an endless amount of possibilities and perspectives available to
them at any one moment in time. They therefore maintain their flexible nature and change
course with their thinking, decision making and actions whenever an opportunity presents itself
to move them forward in a more proficient way.
11. The Vocabulary of a Critical Thinker
An outstanding critical thinker’s vocabulary is focused on breaking down the problems
and circumstances from a multitude of angles and perspectives. Their words help bring
clarity and understanding to situations that at first may seem foggy and misdirected.
