Why Critical Thinking Is Important

The intellectual virtues which are needed for the development of fair-minded critical thinking skills include being humble, courageous, empathetic, honest, perseverant, confident in reason, and autonomous (Elder & Paul, 2012, p.21). Critical thinking allows one to make rational decisions without being impulsive, which ultimately leads to bad decisions. Critical thinking also helps to ensure the decisions which are made demonstrate positive decision-making behaviors (Elder & Paul, 2012). Furthermore, critical thinking skills enable one to utilize disciplined thinking strategies to analyze all possible outcomes before arriving to the final conclusion.

My strongest dimensions of the critical thinking are open-mindedness, perseverance and information seeking. My weakest are intellectual integrity, intuition and analyzing. I think this because these areas needs to be improved. I believe I am deficient in these areas because I lack insight and experience.

I believe some people have these skills, but they can also be learned with experience. I often look at critical thinking skills when I interview potential new staff. In home health care, one needs to have excellent critical thinking skills as you are out on the road working autonomously, seeing patients in their home. I recently interviewed a nurse, who was fairly new with less than a year experience. As I gave her a scenario about a patient who she found in respiratory distress as she arrived to the home and asked her how she intervene in that particular situation, she stated that she would do a complete assessment and check vital signs, call to see if there were other co-workers in the area who could assist her, call the

However, the ability to think critically serves as a primary skill in separating the innovators from the followers. Critical thinking and the exercising of introspection allow us to develop a variety of skill sets including, but not limited to: considering topics and issues in an objective and critical way, identifying the diverse array of arguments that relate to a particular issue, evaluating numerous points of view to determine their strength and validity, noticing what implications might be behind a statement or argument, and providing structured reasoning and support for any and all arguments we wish to

The importance of developing critical thinking skills are the benefits gained. Successful and efficient problem-solving skills are

While I am not a professional critical thinker, I believe that I do have skills when it comes to critically thinking and making an informed decision. The webpage Skills You Need suggests that, 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. There are also many outside factors in the decision maker’s viewpoint, which has a lot of effect on the outcome of a decision. Decision fitness can assist the decision maker to filter through options and deciding factors when coming to a whole-hearted decision. As Mooz stated, a good decision is applying informed judgment based on relevant facts (the head factor) and quality ethics (the heart factor) to select an alternative and to act on it. (Mooz 16-17)

Critical Thinking is present in educational capacities, but also in personal capacities and allows for knowledge to be acquired and evolved. Thus, it is extremely valuable because it allows for humans to be equipped with abilities and adapt to change. As Darwin believed, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change (“Ten Quotes to Inspire Business Leaders,” 2013).”

When an individual is confronted with a problem, applying their critical thinking skills would be essential to attain a positive result. Critical thinking is “that mode of thinking…in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully analyzing, assessing, and reconstructing it” (The Critical Thinking Community). Critical thinking is necessary for today’s society. Every day we are faced with a dilemma, an issue, or a problem that requires us to use problem-solving strategies. Applying critical thinking skills can improve cognitive skills, come with a solution for a problem, lead an individual into their creative mindset, and it can help once separate facts from interpretations. For instance, I once heard this guy say

It is in our nature to be a critical thinker. Everyone can achieve it, but

I think is something that you need to develop". Is not easy to solve a problem and having good critical thinking

Understanding and using critical thinking is very important. Critical thinking is not something that is taught as we grow up at home, it is a personal skill that we have automatically.

The intellectual virtues that are necessary for the development of fair minded critical thinking skills are Intellectual integrity, intellectual humility, Intellectual sense of justice, Intellectual perseverance, Intellectual fair- mindedness, Intellectual confidence in reason, Intellectual courage Intellectual empathy, and Intellectual autonomy. Each of the above qualities can put into practice to improve our thinking because they are all valuable life traits. All individuals have a conscious knowledge to do not only what is right, but to make the best choice into any thinking capacity. Only if we truly apply all of the above intellectual virtues it will help individuals see the more of the critical thinking skills that are each of them.

(2)There are important benefits gained from acquiring critical thinking skills. (3)One importance of good critical thinking is that rational thinkers are generally the voices of reason in times of mass hysteria or panic. (4)The critical thinker usually has the comprehensive skills to consider all possible options and solve a problem. (5)Critical thinkers also are less likely to fall for deceptions or tricks because they approach everything with a healthy amount of skepticism. (6)Those who lack critical thinking skills often assume that everything they hear is true, regardless of the source. (7)In addition, critical thinkers have self–awareness to know the difference between a rational thought based on careful consideration and an emotional response based on personal bias. (8)Lastly, several jobs require critical thinking skills, such as generating effective ideas and making important decisions. (9)Critical thinking skills may also become a deciding factor when an employer seeks to propose a

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.

attention, which is crucial to critical thinking skills, analytical skills, and the time it takes to process