What Does Critical Thinking Really Mean?

Are you asking enough questions?

Are you open to multiple answers?

Are you critical...or a critical thinker?

Read on.

We live in a world where people seem to be evermore critical (defined as expressing adverse or disapproving comments or judgments) of:

• Each other.
• Institutions.
• Ideas, not their own.
• And just about anything else you can imagine.

At the same time, we seem to be losing, at best and at worst, our systematic ability to apply critical thinking—the process of analyzing information to make a judgment based on rational, unbiased, and skeptical evaluation.

The former is a bad trait (being critical). It's pure negativity, often rooted in jealousy and nurtured by NIH (Not Invented Here) Syndrome.

The latter (critical thinking) represents a fundamental positive skill that allows individuals to analyze, evaluate, and interpret information objectively and rationally… to move the ball forward, change the world, and fuel innovation...(you get the picture). Feel free to add your own idiom or cliché.?

How do you tell if someone is a critical thinker and not just being critical?

I gave you a hint. It's all about positivity. Moving forward. Catalyzing discussions, not crashing them.

Critical Thinkers are/do:?

1. Open-minded.
2. Respect evidence and reasoning.
3. Able to consider different perspectives and points of view: in other words, having cognitive flexibility.
4. Not stuck in one position.
5. Skeptics. (My loyal readers know I love this one.)
6. Display clarity and precision.

Critical Thinkers have at least one more superpower (feel free to add more). According to the Harvard Business Review, in an article by John Coleman from April 22, 2022, titled Critical Thinking Is About Asking Better Questions, he writes:?

“At the heart of critical thinking is the ability to formulate deep, different, and effective questions. For effective questioning:

• Start by holding your hypotheses loosely. Be willing to fundamentally reconsider your initial conclusions — and do so without defensiveness.
• Second, listen more than you talk through active listening.
• Third, leave your queries open-ended, and avoid yes-or-no questions.
• Fourth, consider the counterintuitive to avoid falling into groupthink.
• Fifth, take the time to stew in a problem, rather than making decisions unnecessarily quickly.
• Last, ask thoughtful, even difficult, follow-ups.”

My loyal readers know that for me, QUESTIONS are the only place to start. IMAGINE…the newsletter you are reading (thank you, and feel free to share it) is based on my mantra: "To find answers, you need questions." HBS, take note: Answers can be wrong…questions (assuming you think) can only be right.

I have written before that Fake News and all its various relations flourish in a world where Critical Thinking isn't applied or even valued. My greatest fear for the future is that we are not teaching our younger generations the true…game-changing…liberating…innovation-catalyzing power of Questions and Critical Thinking.?

Tragically, we are surrounded by:

• Closed minds
• Disrespect for facts and logic
• Hard and fast silos
• Frozen positions
• Dismissal
• Muddy thinking and messy opinions.

Too often, we dismiss ideas out of hand, not because we disagree with the idea but because we reject the source…which is why Aristotle teaches us the need to "entertain thoughts without having to accept them."?

Back to QUESTIONS…IMAGINE...and entertaining thoughts. Albert Einstein inspired me. Let's see if the following inspires you too:?

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reasoning for existing.”?

One of the worst teachers I ever had in High School (I had plenty—more than not.) once answered a classmate's question about a certain writer's idea with..."How can you ask that question?!? He has more knowledge in his little pinky than you will ever have in your whole head."

Who knows? On the positive side, maybe that’s what inspired me….

What’s your view?