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What Is Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about topics, understand connections between ideas, and recognize strengths and weaknesses in arguments. It involves skills like analysis, evaluation, problem solving, and decision making. The process of critical thinking requires objectively considering issues, identifying different perspectives, assessing the strength of various viewpoints, and providing structured reasoning to support conclusions. While critical thinking does not come naturally, it can be improved through practice and awareness of personal biases.

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123 views2 pages

What Is Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about topics, understand connections between ideas, and recognize strengths and weaknesses in arguments. It involves skills like analysis, evaluation, problem solving, and decision making. The process of critical thinking requires objectively considering issues, identifying different perspectives, assessing the strength of various viewpoints, and providing structured reasoning to support conclusions. While critical thinking does not come naturally, it can be improved through practice and awareness of personal biases.

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الزعيم العربي
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally, understanding the logical connection
between ideas.  Critical thinking has been the subject of much debate and thought since the time of
early Greek philosophers such as Plato and Socrates and has continued to be a subject of discussion
into the modern age, for example the ability to recognise fake news

Someone with critical thinking skills can:

 Understand the links between ideas.

 Determine the importance and relevance of arguments and ideas.

 Recognise, build and appraise arguments.

 Identify inconsistencies and errors in reasoning.

 Approach problems in a consistent and systematic way.

 Reflect on the justification of their own assumptions, beliefs and values.

Critical thinking is thinking about things in certain ways so as to arrive at the best possible solution in
the circumstances that the thinker is aware of. In more everyday language, it is a way of thinking
about whatever is presently occupying your mind so that you come to the best possible conclusion.

The Skills We Need for Critical Thinking

The skills that we need in order to be able to think critically are varied and include observation,
analysis, interpretation, reflection, evaluation, inference, explanation, problem solving, and decision
making.

Specifically we need to be able to:

Think about a topic or issue in an objective and critical way.

Identify the different arguments there are in relation to a particular issue.

Evaluate a point of view to determine how strong or valid it is.

Recognise any weaknesses or negative points that there are in the evidence or argument.

Notice what implications there might be behind a statement or argument.

Provide structured reasoning and support for an argument that we wish to make.

The Critical Thinking Process


You should be aware that none of us think critically all the time.

Sometimes we think in almost any way but critically, for example when our self-control is affected by
anger, grief or joy or when we are feeling just plain ‘bloody minded’.

On the other hand, the good news is that, since our critical thinking ability varies according to our
current mindset, most of the time we can learn to improve our critical thinking ability by developing
certain routine activities and applying them to all problems that present themselves.
Once you understand the theory of critical thinking, improving your critical thinking skills takes
persistence and practice.

What are you Aiming to Achieve?

One of the most important aspects of critical thinking is to decide what you are aiming to achieve
and then make a decision based on a range of possibilities.

Once you have clarified that aim for yourself you should use it as the starting point in all future
situations requiring thought and, possibly, further decision making. Where needed, make your
workmates, family or those around you aware of your intention to pursue this goal. You must then
discipline yourself to keep on track until changing circumstances mean you have to revisit the start of
the decision making process.

However, there are things that get in the way of simple decision making. We all carry with us a range
of likes and dislikes, learnt behaviours and personal preferences developed throughout our lives;
they are the hallmarks of being human. A major contribution to ensuring we think critically is to be
aware of these personal characteristics, preferences and biases and make allowance for them when
considering possible next steps, whether they are at the pre-action consideration stage or as part of a
rethink caused by unexpected or unforeseen impediments to continued progress.

The more clearly we are aware of ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, the more likely our
critical thinking will be productive.

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