Can you think critically

Critical thinking can be seen as having two components: 1 a set of information and belief generating and processing skills, and 2 the habit, based on intellectual commitment, of using those skills to guide behavior. It is thus to be contrasted with: 1 the mere acquisition and retention of information alone, because it involves a particular way in which information is sought and treated; 2 the mere possession of a set of skills, because it involves the continual use of them; and 3 the mere use of those skills "as an exercise" without acceptance of their results.

Critical thinking varies according to the motivation underlying it. As such it is typically intellectually flawed, however pragmatically successful it might be. When grounded in fairmindedness and intellectual integrity, it is typically of a higher order intellectually, though subject to the charge of "idealism" by those habituated to its selfish use. Critical thinking of any kind is never universal in any individual; everyone is subject to episodes of undisciplined or irrational thought.

Its quality is therefore typically a matter of degree and dependent on, among other things, the quality and depth of experience in a given domain of thinking or with respect to a particular class of questions. No one is a critical thinker through-and-through, but only to such-and-such a degree, with such-and-such insights and blind spots, subject to such-and-such tendencies towards self-delusion.

For this reason, the development of critical thinking skills and dispositions is a life-long endeavor. Another Brief Conceptualization of Critical Thinking. Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way. 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. They use the intellectual tools that critical thinking offers — concepts and principles that enable them to analyze, assess, and improve thinking. They work diligently to develop the intellectual virtues of intellectual integrity, intellectual humility, intellectual civility, intellectual empathy, intellectual sense of justice and confidence in reason.

They realize that no matter how skilled they are as thinkers, they can always improve their reasoning abilities and they will at times fall prey to mistakes in reasoning, human irrationality, prejudices, biases, distortions, uncritically accepted social rules and taboos, self-interest, and vested interest.

They strive to improve the world in whatever ways they can and contribute to a more rational, civilized society. Be as precise as possible: the narrower the issue, the easier it is to find solutions or answers. Are the sources reliable?

Are their conclusions data-backed or just argumentative? Is there enough information or data to support given hypotheses? Are you sure the sources you found are unbiased? What piece of information is most important? Is the sample size sufficient? Identify various conclusions that are possible and decide which if any of them are sufficiently supported. Weigh strengths and limitations of all possible options.

Listed above, there are only two pieces of research on the impact of drinking coffee on your heart. The second one, although conducted in a large Considering all of the above, we can positively state that the information we gathered was not significant for solving the initially stated problem. The only conclusion that can be reached is: according to the data we gathered, drinking coffee might or might not be good for our hearts, depending on many factors and variables we failed to take into account.

And critical thinking skills are necessary for us to accept the flaws in our reasoning and gaps in our knowledge, and take advantage of them! Say, in your job, even if something appears to be functioning properly, critical thinking will help you try and identify new, better solutions. Critical thinking skills are the cornerstone of self-development and improvement. And if you want to learn more about other job-winning skills, we've got you covered!

Check out our dedicated guides:. Spell check? Start building professional resume template here for free. You need to prove you can think critically by giving real-life examples of how you used your critical thinking skills. The best way to present and validate your critical thinking skills is to include examples of them in your past job description bullet points. Your critical thinking skills might also be evaluated during job interviews. Again, interviewers will want to see specific examples of how you put your critical thinking to use.

Pro Tip : Most of the interview questions that test critical thinking are situational interview questions. You can learn all about how to handle them from this guide: Toughest Situational Interview Questions and Best Answers. Describe a situation where you challenged the way you and your colleagues did their jobs? Our online ordering page let clients order incompatible components, causing heavy complaints. I asked if we could put a product check in place.

Describe a situation where you saw a problem and took steps to fix it. Our rechargeable forklifts had two different plugs. As a consequence, attending a short course is not enough to turn somebody into a critical thinker; critical thinking is something that requires a sustained effort. Practice makes perfect Take tennis, for example, which is a higher-order skill.

To play good tennis you must be able to run, hit a forehand and a backhand and watch your opponent. But mastery of these separate skills is not sufficient.

You must be able to combine them into a fluent interplay of actions that result in scoring a point. By merely reading a book about critical thinking you do not develop your critical thinking skills.

Transfer-oriented practice is required Critical thinking should be trained as a separate discipline within a course; in addition, students must learn how to apply the acquired knowledge, skills and attitude to the other fields of their study.

The entire curriculum should challenge the student to do so.