Introduction To Critical Thinking In Everyday Life
January 17th, 2010 by Ben Moreno
’)Critical thinking is an extremely important skill to have. Unfortunately, there is a lack of use of this skill in today’s American society. I am not just talking about critical thinking in college school projects or using the skill to solve a computer problem. I am talking about in everyday life. Because we live in a society of capitalism and heavy religious involvement, it is important to keep your thinking wits about you at all times. There are too many organizations and institutions trying to sell you on ideas therefore you must be aware at all times and use your mind, to make the right decisions. Making a decision in your life should always come after a critical thinking session.
Critical Thinking is the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion.
What???
You might be thinking, “Ok….what does THAT mean?” This is the dictionary.com definition so it is a little dry. Let’s try to break this down by looking at the definition of each term.
The first term is “mental process”. It simply means “thinking“.
Next we have “actively and skillfully conceptualizing”. Conceptualizing basically means coming up with a concept.
Actively means constantly and skillfully means using what you have learned from past experiences.
“Applying” means to put into action. “Analyzing” simply means to look at.
Synthesizing means combine and evaluating means to judge or determine the significance.
By combining and applying all of these things when making a decision you are practicing critical thinking. So now we that you understand what each term means, you may be able to mentally grasp the concept. Read the definition slowly to yourself and try to understand the concept of it.
Using this type of logical thinking in everyday life will help you in many ways. The most significant way it can help you will be from making much more informed decisions in your life. By applying critical thinking whenever you are presented with information or ideas you begin to learn how to ask the right questions. You will be less likely to be manipulated or get taken advantage of, like believing in something that does not actually exist..
Very often we see suggestions on what products or services to buy, what to think, who to believe, who to trust or what we should be doing with ours lives. By constantly asking the right questions, you will be able to see right through the information presented, and see it for what it really is. Very often you will find that the information is propaganda and you will find the hidden agendas that exist.
After a long time of critical thinking you will see the world much differently. You will start to notice things that you usually over looked before. Don’t be afraid to use your thinking skills whenever presented information from entities such as governments, political figures, News media, and commercials. These entities have a lot of influence on your life, so it is important that you be skeptical and think critically whenever possible. Remember that critical thinking is a skill and does not come naturally. It is imperative that we all develop this skill and use it in our everyday lives.
“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.” – Dr. Lina Elder
Tags: analytical thinking, Critical Thinking, learning thinking, logical thinking, thinking logical, thinking process
