INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THINKING

                      INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THINKING 

                       Critical thinking 

Critical thinking is a rich concept that has been developing throughout the past 2500 years.  The term "critical thinking" has its roots in the mid-late 20th century. 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 and consistently, attempt to live rationally,  reasonably and empathically. The National Council For Excellence in Critical Thinking defines  it as an 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.  Critical thinking enables us to analyse and evaluate information to identify justifiable  reason or evidence for doing something or for not doing something, justifications for believing  something or for not believing something. Whenever we ask for reasons for any of our actions, we  are thinking critically. Developing a questioning attitude is essential for a critical thinker which is  self directed as well as directed towards others. 

Benefits of critical thinking 

The quality of our life and that of what we produce depends on our thought. Critical  thinking helps us to improve the quality and reliability of our thinking process, which in turn will  result in a better way of living.       

The following are some of the major benefits of critical thinking 

• It helps us to become a wise person. 

• To come up with a judicious evaluation of events. 

• To develop a sense of intellectual integrity. 

• To become accurate precise and clear. 

• To develop a relevant, deep, broad and logical attitude in understanding and handling  different situations. 

• To develop a special strength of mind, liberal and free from biases and prejudices. 

• To become a good decision maker. 

• To become rational.

• To follow certain standards of reflective thinking. 

• To identify and to focus on the relevant aspects of an issue. 

• To become reasonable. 

• To act rationally rather than emotionally. 

• In academic matters it helps students to learn, evaluate and understand the subject matter in  a more     judicious way. 

Barriers to Critical thinking 

1. Social brainwashing and our view of the world 

 An individual develops his understanding of the world from his own surroundings and from his society. There he comes under the influence of many factors like his parents, teachers, friends, as well as print and electronic media which are not always unbiased. Such influences prevent free thinking. 

2. Tendencies to think in binaries 

 The common human tendency is to judge everything in binaries, like good or bad, just or unjust etc. Doing this often leads to bad theories. 

3. Fears regarding free thinking 

 The fear of voicing a new opinion stems from the fear of making mistakes or of making a fool of oneself. This results in following the path of others, in spite of the realisation that this is wrong. Many of our societies as well as our traditional educational systems discourage free thinking. To overcome this a critic needs self-will to express what he thinks is right. 

4. Personal interests and personal experiences 

 We often tend to judge and evaluate ideas and situations based on our social and emotional commitment, individual interest and past experiences. This prevents rational, objective and critical analysis of issues. 

5. Pride and egocentrism (self-centered thinking) 

 Many people consider themselves as the greatest and the most powerful of all the others. They are egocentric and they consider themselves as the centre of the universe. Such people stick to their ownperspective and fail to appreciate alternate ways of looking at things. 

6. Sociocentrism or ethnocentrism (group/society/cultural-centered thinking) 

 Following the thought patterns common to a group, society or culture as well as thinking in favour of a particular group or community without judging its credibility is a barrier to critical thinking

7. Fear of change or an unwillingness to change 

 Some people are afraid or unwilling to change their views which makes them reluctant to conduct critical thinking. 

8. Bias and prejudice 

 Personal prejudices as well as biases create problems in thinking objectively and critically 

9. Narrow-mindedness or close-mindedness 

 We need an open and liberal state of mind ready to receive new ideas and to admit positive criticism to follow critical thinking. 

10. Wishful thinking 

 Tendency to think and believe what one wishes as true discourages a person from thinking critically. 

11. Poor reading and comprehension skills, poor or dysfunctional communication skills 

 Lack of proper reading, inability to understand as well as poor communication skills 

have an adverse effect on critical thinking.