CRITICAL THINKING & Its Process

Brief History of Critical Thinking

The intellectual roots of critical thinking are as ancient as its etymology, traceable, ultimately, to the teaching practice and vision of Socrates 2,500 years ago who discovered by a method of probing questioning that people could not rationally justify their confident claims to knowledge. Confused meanings, inadequate evidence, or self-contradictory beliefs often lurked beneath smooth but largely empty rhetoric. Socrates established the fact that one cannot depend upon those in "authority" to have sound knowledge and insight. He demonstrated that persons may have power and high position and yet be deeply confused and irrational. He established the importance of asking deep questions that probe profoundly into thinking before we accept ideas as worthy of belief.

He established the importance of seeking evidence, closely examining reasoning and assumptions, analyzing basic concepts, and tracing out implications not only of what is said but of what is done as well. His method of questioning is now known as "Socratic Questioning" and is the best- known critical thinking teaching strategy. In his mode of questioning, Socrates highlighted the need in thinking for clarity and logical consistency.

Socrates set the agenda for the tradition of critical thinking, namely, to reflectively question common beliefs and explanations, carefully distinguishing those beliefs that are reasonable and logical from those which — however appealing they may be to our native egocentrism, however much they serve our vested interests, however comfortable or comforting they may be - lack adequate evidence or rational foundation to warrant our belief.

Socrates’ practice was followed by the critical thinking of Plato (who recorded Socrates’ thought), Aristotle, and other Greek skeptics.

John Dewey?in 1910, introduced the term 'critical thinking' as the name of an educational goal, which he identified with a scientific attitude of mind. More commonly, he called the goal 'reflective thought', 'reflective thinking', 'reflection', or just 'thought' or 'thinking'.

Objective of Critical Thinking

A?critical?thinker will gather relevant information in order to systematically analyse issues from a wide variety of perspectives. They will use logic and?reasoning?to evaluate the information. They will question ideas and assumptions rather than accepting them at face value.

Critical Thinking is more than just a concept, it is a real-life model upon which you can build successful and efficient problem-solving skills, skills that prove highly valuable in the workplace and beyond.

This technique, with its roots in Greek philosophy, is the application of logic to enable better, more reasoned decision-making. It can revolutionize your daily life, by improving how one interprets opinions, rationalizations and problem- solving practices. Critical Thinking is a system that is often misjudged as criticism, but rather it focuses on the ability to follow logical steps and arrive at a decisive and appropriate conclusion.

Definition of Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to think 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 recognize?fake news.

Critical thinking might be described as the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking.

In essence, critical thinking requires to use one’s ability to reason. It is about being an active learner rather than a passive recipient of information.

Critical thinkers rigorously question ideas and assumptions rather than accepting them at face value. They will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments and findings represent the entire picture and are open to finding that they do not.

Critical thinkers will identify, analyze and solve problems systematically rather than by intuition or instinct.

?Skills for Critical Thinking

Analysis: Part of critical thinking is the ability to carefully examine something, whether it is a problem, a set of data, or a text. People with?analytical skills?can examine information, understand what it means, and properly explain to others the implications of that information.

Communication: Often, one needs to share the conclusions drawn with employers or with a group of colleagues. One needs to be able to?communicate?with others to share the ideas effectively. One might also need to engage critical thinking in a group. In this case, it is required to coordinate with others and communicate effectively to figure out solutions to complex problems.

Creativity: Critical thinking often involves creativity and innovation. One might need to spot patterns in the information and come up with a solution that no one else has thought of before. All of this involves a creative eye that can take a different approach from all other approaches.

Open-Mindedness: To think critically, one needs to be able to put aside any assumptions or judgments and merely analyze the information as received. One needs to be objective, evaluating ideas without bias.

Problem Solving: Problem solving?is another critical thinking skill that involves analysing a problem, generating and implementing a solution, and assessing the success of the plan. Employers don’t simply want employees who can think about information critically. They also need to be able to come up with practical solutions.

Other Associated Thinking Processes

Analytical Thinking

Critical thinking helps one to evaluate value through analysis, analytical thinking is about examining the parts of an argument. It looks much more closely at the process.

Analytical thinking typically involves research. As an analytical thinker, one will not be satisfied by the data at hand. It helps to seek multiple examples so that you can compare and contrast the multiple parts of several examples or case studies.

To improve in this area, developing one’s reflective thinking skills will be of tremendous value.

Creative Thinking

It is a process of discovering solutions that are not obvious under normal circumstances. Edward de Bono is widely considered one of the leaders in the field of creative thinking.?

To help people, Edward Bono developed a number of processes, most famously “lateral thinking”.

One can visualize this form of metacognition by thinking about digging holes. As de Bono points out, most people dig one hole and if they don’t find the answer they’re looking for, they dig another hole in a different location.

Lateral thinking, on the other hand, digs tunnels in sideways and diagonal patterns. Moreover, it does not throw the dirt away as if it were obscuring the solution. It finds new ways to use the dirt.

If anyone wants to improve your creative thinking, Bono’s practices are useful to look into. However, it’s important to note that “creative” isn’t quite the right word because no one is “creating” anything new. It’s more about using existing processes in unique ways to generate new ideas that one would not reveal in any other way.

Abstract Thinking

Abstract thinking begins with symbols. For example, there’s no reason why the shape of the letter ‘A’ should be pronounced as we use it in English. In fact, it’s pronounced quite differently in, say, German.

The ability to understand that fact is a simple example of abstract thinking. Later, the use of ‘A’ as a symbol in logical and math provides a more complex example.

Jean Piaget is a major influence on the description of this technique. As he pointed out in his theory of cognitive development, children start developing basic symbolic thinking abilities between the ages of 2 and 7.

Children of ages between 7 and 11 start developing logical reasoning abilities. Basically, everything after that is devoted to abstract thinking, and it does not stop until death.

Concrete Thinking

Concrete thinking is about taking the world literally – or seeking ways to do so. It’s also called “literal thinking”.

This kind of thinking leads you to ask for specific examples. If someone makes a claim, he wants to know what makes it true, why the evidence actually supports the argument and how exactly it does so.

Sometimes people avoid concrete thinking because they don’t want to appear stubborn. However, more people need to insist on evidence that supports the claims concretely.

To improve in this area, one needs to ask lots of questions of the who, what, when, where and why variety. And follow-up by applying some of the characteristics of analytical thinking, such as performing due diligence with one’s own research.

Convergent Thinking

Convergent thinkers look for examples that expose commonalities and reject the distortion of having all kinds of wild ideas flying around. They do this to find the best possible solutions to problems.

NASA provides many examples of convergent thinking – something that is also basically the same as linear thinking. For example, the Apollo 13 mission faced a critical situation where they needed to get enough energy to safely complete the mission – and save their own lives.

To solve the problem, they had to focus on using only the materials they had on hand. By doing so, they were able to quickly and reasonably converge on the best possible answer. For example,?Escape rooms are great for this, as are games like?Hunt a Killer?where one solves crimes based solely on the evidence provided.

Divergent Thinking

Let us continue with NASA example - When Apollo 13 was in danger, apparently someone suggested they use a flashlight to create more energy.?

Of course, the space shuttle team didn’t have a flashlight, so they had to use convergent thinking instead to reach a solution.

However, that doesn’t mean throwing out a wild idea like “flashlight” is entirely wrong. Sometimes people need to brainstorm using this form of nonlinear thinking to trigger ideas, which otherwise does not click.?

In some ways, divergent thinking is a lot like lateral thinking. In this case, it’s often best conducted in groups.

To improve, one might consider holding what is called an “Idea Party.” Holding an Idea Party is a great way to gather divergent ideas from diverse individuals in a short period of time.

Basically, each person gets a few minutes to describe their project. Then the audience spends 10-15 minutes sharing their best ideas and resources for making the idea happen. It’s a powerful exercise because it gets many different thinking types to respond in many divergent ways in a short period of time.?

Other Associated Thinking Processes

Analytical Thinking

?Critical thinking helps one to evaluate value through analysis, analytical thinking is about examining the parts of an argument. It looks much more closely at the process.

Analytical thinking typically involves research. As an analytical thinker, one will not be satisfied by the data at hand. It helps to seek multiple examples so that you can compare and contrast the multiple parts of several examples or case studies.

To improve in this area, developing one’s reflective thinking skills will be of tremendous value.

Creative Thinking

It is a process of discovering solutions that are not obvious under normal circumstances. Edward de Bono is widely considered one of the leaders in the field of creative thinking.?

To help people, Edward Bono developed a number of processes, most famously “lateral thinking”.

One can visualize this form of metacognition by thinking about digging holes. As de Bono points out, most people dig one hole and if they don’t find the answer they’re looking for, they dig another hole in a different location.

Lateral thinking, on the other hand, digs tunnels in sideways and diagonal patterns. Moreover, it does not throw the dirt away as if it were obscuring the solution. It finds new ways to use the dirt.

If anyone wants to improve your creative thinking, Bono’s practices are useful to look into. However, it’s important to note that “creative” isn’t quite the right word because no one is “creating” anything new. It’s more about using existing processes in unique ways to generate new ideas that one would not reveal in any other way.

Abstract Thinking

Abstract thinking begins with symbols. For example, there’s no reason why the shape of the letter ‘A’ should be pronounced as we use it in English. In fact, it’s pronounced quite differently in, say, German.

The ability to understand that fact is a simple example of abstract thinking. Later, the use of ‘A’ as a symbol in logical and math provides a more complex example.

Jean Piaget is a major influence on the description of this technique. As he pointed out in his theory of cognitive development, children start developing basic symbolic thinking abilities between the ages of 2 and 7.

Children of ages between 7 and 11 start developing logical reasoning abilities. Basically, everything after that is devoted to abstract thinking, and it does not stop until death.

Concrete Thinking

Concrete thinking is about taking the world literally – or seeking ways to do so. It’s also called “literal thinking”.

This kind of thinking leads you to ask for specific examples. If someone makes a claim, he wants to know what makes it true, why the evidence actually supports the argument and how exactly it does so.

Sometimes people avoid concrete thinking because they don’t want to appear stubborn. However, more people need to insist on evidence that supports the claims concretely.

To improve in this area, one needs to ask lots of questions of the who, what, when, where and why variety. And follow-up by applying some of the characteristics of analytical thinking, such as performing due diligence with one’s own research.

Convergent Thinking

Convergent thinkers look for examples that expose commonalities and reject the distortion of having all kinds of wild ideas flying around. They do this to find the best possible solutions to problems.

NASA provides many examples of convergent thinking – something that is also basically the same as linear thinking. For example, the Apollo 13 mission faced a critical situation where they needed to get enough energy to safely complete the mission – and save their own lives.

To solve the problem, they had to focus on using only the materials they had on hand. By doing so, they were able to quickly and reasonably converge on the best possible answer. For example,?Escape rooms are great for this, as are games like?Hunt a Killer?where one solves crimes based solely on the evidence provided.

?Divergent Thinking

Let us continue with NASA example - When Apollo 13 was in danger, apparently someone suggested they use a flashlight to create more energy.?

Of course, the space shuttle team didn’t have a flashlight, so they had to use convergent thinking instead to reach a solution.

However, that doesn’t mean throwing out a wild idea like “flashlight” is entirely wrong. Sometimes people need to brainstorm using this form of nonlinear thinking to trigger ideas, which otherwise does not click.?

In some ways, divergent thinking is a lot like lateral thinking. In this case, it’s often best conducted in groups.

To improve, one might consider holding what is called an “Idea Party.” Holding an Idea Party is a great way to gather divergent ideas from diverse individuals in a short period of time.

Basically, each person gets a few minutes to describe their project. Then the audience spends 10-15 minutes sharing their best ideas and resources for making the idea happen. It’s a powerful exercise because it gets many different thinking types to respond in many divergent ways in a short period of time.?

Difference between Critical & Creative Thinking

Critical thinking is the active, persistent and careful consideration of a belief or form of knowledge. It includes analysis and judgments about the ideas and conditions that support beliefs and the conclusions that follow. Critical thinking involves analysing and evaluating one’s own thinking and that of others. It is subject to intellectual standards, including clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, significance, depth, breadth, logic, and fairness.

Creative thinking is the generation of new ideas within or across disciplines. It draws upon or breaks rules and procedures in those disciplines and actively engages students in bringing together existing ideas into new configuration; developing new properties or possibilities for something that already exists; and discovering or imagining something entirely new. Standards for judging creative thinking include originality, appropriateness, flexibility, and contribution to the domain.

Importance of Critical Thinking Process

Here are a few undeniable reasons why it’s crucial to have these skills.?

1.Crucial for the Economy: Our future depends on technology, information, and innovation. Critical thinking is needed for our fast-growing economies, to solve problems as quickly and as effectively as possible.

2.Critical Thinking Is Universal: Critical thinking is a domain-general thinking skill. What does this mean? It means that no matter what path or profession one pursues, these skills will always be relevant and will always be beneficial to the success. They are not specific to any field.

3.Improves Language & Presentation Skills: In order to having the best expression, it is required to know how to think clearly and systematically — meaning practice critical thinking! Critical thinking also means knowing how to break down texts, and in turn, improve one’s ability to comprehend.

4.Promotes Creativity: ?Practicing of critical thinking allows not only to solve problems, but also come up with new and creative ideas to do so. Critical thinking allows to analyse these ideas and adjust them accordingly.

5.Important for Self-Reflection: Without critical thinking, how can one really live a meaningful life? One needs this skill to self-reflect and justify his/her ways of life and opinions. Critical thinking provides the tools to evaluate suitably.

6.The Basis of Science & Democracy: In order to have a democracy and to prove scientific facts, the existence of critical thinking in the world is necessary. Theories must be backed up with knowledge. In order for a society to effectively function, its citizens need to establish opinions about what’s right and wrong by using critical thinking process.

Benefits of Critical Thinking

Benefits are as below:

1.Approach:?With Critical Thinking, one of the crucial learning developments is an awareness of differing approaches to a problem, alongside an ability to assess those approaches critically. Rather than relying on a standard, uniform problem-solving method, one can learn how to identify other, often more valuable, approaches, inevitably increasing the probability of success.?

2..Save time; Time is always saved with a Critical Thinking mindset. It would be known already that not all information is relevant to complete decision-making, but often it is not known how to filter out the irrelevant from the relevant. Critical Thinking always guide how to priorities the time and resources by analysing what is essential to the process. This also helps one to know that a decision is ultimately a good one.

?3.An appreciation?of differing worldviews; It?is a direct result of learning how to empathise with other points of view. Critical Thinking enables one to see beyond, not judge, cultural norms and learn how to understand other factors that can influence decision-making. This empathy and understanding are crucial to effective teamwork and leadership.

?4.Enhanced Communication:?Critical Thinking can make one an effective communicator by teaching to analyze and build up evidences in a given situation.

It helps to communicate a proposal more proficiently with a back up theory based on consistent and relevant points.?

?5.Decision-making:?abilities are transformed with a Critical Thinking approach, and made it a lot easier. Critical thinking improves ability to work more with an approach analytical basis, rather than a guess work.

?6.Reason:?Critical Thinking makes a person to become a more reasoned and balance problem solver both inductive and deductive – and when it is appropriate to use one over the other. Grounding decisions in reason and logic over emotion or instinct makes for effectual problem solving.

?Conclusion

Critical thinking is the systematic evaluation or formulation of beliefs, or statements, by rational standards. It is systematic because it involves distinct procedures and methods. It entails evaluation and formulation because it is used to both assess existing beliefs and devise new ones.

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