Critical Thinking : My Journey As A Critical Thinker

In 1990, the American Philosophical Association defined critical thinking as “purposeful, self-regulatory process that results in reasoned judgment”. Critical thinking can be defined in a number of similar phrases that all seem to focus on the importance of conscious analysis. Our text starts off with the working phases of critical thinking as analyzing thinking, evaluating thinking, and improving thinking. The process of critical thought is cyclical and not linear. Being a “fair-minded critical thinker” is not a permanent attribute, and it must be consistently worked at as applying intellectual standards and elements of reasoning instead of emotion can be difficult. Overall, to be a strong critical thinker you must work toward strong intellectual traits such humility, courage, and integrity to better represent issues and or arguments.

While reading Defining Critical Thinking I have found out that Critical Thinking is a mode of thinking about any subject, content, or problem in which the thinker imposes intellectual standards upon them. What this means is that you raise questions upon that subject in which you ask relevant questions that will effectively evaluate the solution upon the complex problem. I have also determined that people who think critically consistently attempt to live reasonable lives due to their strive to improve the world in any way they can. Also Critical Thinkers do not have a destination to be reached they proceed to improve their reasoning abilities since their reasoning abilities will always be put into question by human irrationality. Additionally Critical Thinkers recognize these dilemmas and commit themselves to deal with the society and practice toward self-improvement by doing this Critical Thinkers are able to live a reasonable life. I have also learned what makes a well cultivated critical thinker. To be a cultivated critical thinker, you need to

Critical thinking is a vital task that must be done in our everyday lives. In “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking” found at criticalthinking.org, Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul explain critical thinking as “the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances”. Even tough there are many different types of methods to achieve a better quality of critical thinking, Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul discuss four specific ones in the article. All strategies, however, force you to put yourself in an uncomfortable and difficult position to develop a better quality of thinking.

“Critical Thinking” can be referred to as the approach you take to everything you do. It is associated with questioning things and using these questions to develop your own argument. It got me thinking about how I could resolve things better, question myself better and seeing my thoughts at a better angle.

I think you are right about critical thinking, when you apply critical thinking it change the outcome of things. When we employ critical thinking we learn to see things in a different perspective and it encourages us to think outside of the box. Being able to think critically tells media organizations that we are not mindless sheep who blindly conform to their will. Much like John Fiske’s theory of audience power, Bell Hooks was trying to inform her student to embrace the media organization but don’t be a sheep. In other words, come up with your own meaning from what you observe so that you can make the best judgment about the issues that are unique to own life (Ryle, 2015, p.424). I always tell my eight-year-old stepson to think for himself

“Development in thinking requires a gradual process requiring plateaus of learning and just plain hard work. It is not possible to become an excellent thinker simply because one wills it. Changing one’s habits of thought is a long-range project, happening over years, not weeks or months. The essential traits of a critical thinker require an extended period of development” (Foundation & Thinking, 2013)

Everyone knows what thinking is. It is the process of making ideas and thoughts ; however, just thinking is simply different from critical thinking. Everyone knows how to think, but not everyone knows how to think critically. For those who are critical thinkers, they are active. They don’t just believe in what they see or whatever they are told, but they know how to diagnose, assess, challenge, and improve their thoughts. Unfortunately, most of people do not typically think critically.

By practising critical thinking, you have the ability to solve problems through creative and thoughtful analysis and then have the confidence in your own judgement to make independent important decisions regarding these outcomes.

As humane beans we speak about critical thinking as a person who thinks thing out very clear, with purpose and multifaceted ideas. This is somewhat true. Yes, that does help to begin and mend a critical thinker but critical thinking also includes a combination of skills. Those main characteristics are self-awareness, honesty, open-mindedness discipline, and judgment. Using these characteristics daily and with practice develops an amazing critical thinker. That person can live life solving hard problems, creating new ways of solving them, and using new ideas and techniques when needed.

Critical thinking is the process of analyzing certain problematic phenomena or ideas, along with its complex dynamics, in order to theorize healthier and more productive solutions. Critical thinking juxtaposes its noun form by describing the critical thinker, in which society is constantly and heedlessly creating. This is the direct result of the systematic nourishment of societal prejudices, misogyny, and inequality, which only contrives devastating and life changing events in its victims ' lives. These types of analytical philosophers may also evaluate benign events that results in benevolent effects in order to solve how and why they occur to thus reciprocate this pattern to directly produce more of these effective, influential occurrences, while also improving those that detrimentally poison humanity 's advancement. Carole R. McCann and Seung-kyung Kim, editors of Feminist Theory Reader, refers to this process as utilizing ‘tools’ provided by theorists and asking questions to, “examine the injustices they confront and build arguments to support their particular demands for change.” As a women studies and ethnic studies major, I have trained myself to constantly practice this skill and habitually and consciously analyze stimulating catalysts for reactions, never believing a situation lacks historical and dynamic aspectual influences. Homogeneity was produced and historically reciprocated as a normative standard for societal inhabitants because it requires very little

One of the ideas associated with lifelong learning is “developing critical thinking.” This is something I must work on in my day to day life. Not just for my career but I think critical thinking is a key characteristic that enables us to be interesting. From critical thinking comes solid questions with exciting answers.

A critical thinker becomes familiar with the objectivity, reasoning, and sound judgment practices that are at the heart of effective problem solving. This is a strength that is applicable in all aspects of life. Furthermore, a critical thinker is better equipped for life-long learning. Aside from this logical approach, there is also another one that defines one’s critical perspectives. I believe that critical thinking or the ability to critically think is directly associated with the ability to hold a conversation. Human beings think in terms of language. Without language we cannot think or even give meaning to things around us. The more that we know in a particular language, the more we can critique. For instance, if an individual has a vocabulary ten times greater than another they would be able to discuss and critique at a greater rate. Furthermore, Lets say that one individual has a degree and they discuss or critique a subject with a high school student. This conversation would be far less interesting than the same conversation between two individuals of

Critical thinking is the disciplined, intellectual process of applying skillful reasoning as a guide to belief or action. People who think critically consistently attempt to live rationally, reasonably, empathically. They are keenly aware of the inherently flawed nature of human thinking when left unchecked. They strive to diminish the power of their egocentric and sociocentric tendencies. (criticalthinking.org, 2014)

What is critical thinking to you? To some it may mean making wiser choices, taking time to critically analyze a situation, or to just put greater thought in your everyday life. According to Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Pauls’ article, “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking”, critical thinking is defined as the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances. To us, critical thinking is a very important aspect of life and something we can all improve on. It allows us to think outside the box and put ourselves in others shoes and really look at things differently. We made sure to think about our own thinking habits while discussing these articles and to notice if we were ever being close-minded.

Development in thinking requires a gradual process requiring plateaus of learning and just plain hard work. It is not possible to become an excellent thinker simply because one wills it. Changing one’s habits of thought is a long-range project, happening over years, not weeks or months. The essential traits of a critical thinker require an extended period of development.