Becoming A Critical Thinker

To fully understand what thinking critically implies, we must first understand the topic at hand. 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 and reasonably. Critical thinkers are taught to think outside the box, and are able to understand all sides of the lesson. There are many important steps in becoming a critical thinker. The first is to adopt the attitude of a critical thinker, next, to recognize and avoid critical thinking hindrances, third, identify and characterize arguments, forth, evaluate information sources, and lastly, to be able to evaluate arguments. Why is critical thinking important? Look at it this way. When students are given the facts that are required, they will memorize

To adopt this attitude, it is necessary to have an open mind, healthy skepticism, intellectual humility, to think freely, and to have high motivation. A critical thinker must be able to view aspects different from everyone else, but at the same time be able to recognize when to doubt claims that seem to be false. A critical thinker must also have a free mind. To be able to think freely, one must restrain from to believe a certain way because of social pressures. For some, this may be impossible. One must be willing to ask if something is bothering that other individual, and if so, to have the courage to temporarily abandon one 's space until he or she is able to complete objectives. Lastly, a critical thinker must have high motivation to be able to succeed. The only way one can overcome the lack of essential knowledge on a subject is study to reach a sufficient level of understanding before making judgments. This may require the critical thinker to ask many questions, which can be unsettling to those asked to respond. A critical thinker cannot be