Critical Thinking

Question 0

Etymology

Answer 0

In the term critical thinking, the word critical, derives from the word critic (greek origin) and implies a critique; it identifies the intellectual capacity and the means “of judging”, “of judgement”, “for judging”, and being “able to discern”.a

Question 1

Two Components

Answer 1

1) a set of information and belief generating and processing skills, and
2) the habit, based on intellectual committment, of using those skills to guide behavior

It is thus to be contrasted with:

1) the mere aquisition and retention of information alone, because it involves a particular way the information is sought and treated;
2) the mere possession of a set of skills, because it involves the continual use of them;
3) the mere use of those skills (“as an exercize”) without acceptance of their results.

Question 2

Life-Long Endeavor

Answer 2

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 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 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.

Question 3

Why Critical Thinking?

Answer 3

Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. But much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or down-right prejudiced. Yet the quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought. Shoddy thinking is costly, both in money and in the quality of life. Excellence in thought, however, must be systematically cultivated.

Question 4

Definition from the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking

Answer 4

The intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

Question 5

Critical Thinking Skills

Answer 5

The list of core skills includes observation, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and metacognition.
An individual or group engaged strongly in critical thinking gives due consideration to establish for instance:
- evidence from reality
- context skills to isolate the problem from context
- relevant criteria for making the judgement well
- applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgement
- applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand

In addition to possesing strong critical-thinking skills, one must be disposed to engage problems and decisions using those skills. Critical thinking employs not only logic but broad intellectual criteria such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance, and fairness.