Buzz
Critical thinking is the art of applying reasoning to analyze ideas, diving deeper into the true potential within each person. It's not about thinking more or thinking harder, but thinking better. Sharpening your critical thinking skills will keep your curiosity alive throughout your life. However, no path is without challenges. Critical thinking demands great discipline. This mindset is sustained through a combination of steady development, motivation, and the ability to honestly assess oneself, even when faced with difficult truths that are hard to swallow.
Steps
Practice the Art of Questioning
Reevaluate your assumptions. We make judgments about almost everything. This is how our brain processes specific information and helps us navigate daily life. These judgments can be seen as the foundation of critical thinking. But what happens if your judgments are wrong, or at least not entirely accurate? You will need to rebuild this foundation from scratch.
- How should you reevaluate your assumptions? Einstein once questioned a judgment: could Newton's laws of motion accurately describe the world? Einstein developed a completely new framework for understanding the world by rethinking his previous ideas, starting from scratch.
- We can reassess our assumptions in a similar way. Why do we feel the need to eat breakfast even when we're not hungry? Why do we assume we’ll fail before even trying?
- Are there other assumptions we continue to hold that could be challenged with deeper examination?
Do not accept information from authorities until you have personally verified it. Similar to opinions, receiving information from authorities can also be useful. Instead of double-checking others' information, we often categorize information as either from a reliable or unreliable source. This method saves us time and effort from rechecking all the information we encounter. However, this also prevents us from delving deeper into information that we perceive as reliable, even if it might not be accurate. Information published in magazines or broadcasted on TV does not automatically mean it reflects the truth.
- Develop a habit of using your instincts to investigate questionable information. Request clarification if someone's explanation doesn't satisfy you. If you don't ask questions, you might read more or verify the information yourself. Soon, you'll become sharp in evaluating which information needs more thorough investigation and which is accurate.
Consider everything. You've read about weighing opinions and checking information from authorities; now it's time to learn to examine everything. Asking questions is perhaps the essence of critical thinking. Without knowing what questions to ask or without asking any at all, you won't find the answers. Searching for answers intelligently is critical thinking.
- What is the mechanism of thunder?
- How do fish fall from the sky into the waters of Australia?
- What can we do to make a real impact in fighting global poverty?
- How can we end the production of nuclear weapons?
Adjust your perspective.
Understand your own biases. Personal views can be subjective, weak, and full of resentment. A recent study revealed that parents who received accurate information about the safety of vaccines were less likely to have their children vaccinated. Why is that? The hypothesis suggests that these parents accepted the information as the truth, but that truth still affected their self-esteem — something that matters to most people. Understand your biases and the circumstances in which those biases influence how you process information.
Think ahead several steps. Don’t just think 1 or 2 steps ahead, think further. Imagine you're a grandmaster chess player competing against an opponent who can anticipate dozens of moves and hundreds of scenarios. You have to outsmart them. Visualize the possibilities that may unfold in the future when solving a problem.
- Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, understands the benefits of thinking several steps ahead. He shared with Wired magazine in 2011: "If everything you do is focused on the next 3 years, you will compete with a lot of people. But if you're willing to invest in the next 7 years, you'll only compete with a small fraction of those people, because very few companies dare to invest like that." The Kindle product line emerged in 2007 after more than 3 years of development, at a time when e-book readers were almost nonexistent.
Read classic books. Nothing compares to the transformation a great book can bring. Whether it's Moby Dick or a work by Philip K. Dick, classic literature has the power to spark debates (in fiction), enlighten (non-fiction), or evoke emotions (poetry). Reading is not just for 'bookworms.' Elon Musk, the tech giant, shared that he became proficient in rocket science by "reading and asking questions."
Put yourself in others' shoes. Empathy also aids in developing critical thinking skills. Whether enhancing negotiation strategies or appreciating literature more deeply, imagining others’ motives, desires, and concerns will help you. You can use this insight as an advantage, improving your persuasive skills or simply becoming a kinder person. Empathy is not about being indifferent.
Spend at least 30 minutes daily to improve brain function. Dedicate 30 minutes every day to keep your brain healthy and strong. There are numerous ways you can approach this, and here are a few ideas:
- Solve a problem each day. Take some time to find a problem and try to solve it. This could be a theoretical issue or a personal one.
- Set aside regular exercise time. A 30-minute aerobic workout—just a quick walk around the neighborhood—can help improve brain function.
- Eat the right foods. Avocados, blueberries, wild salmon, nuts, and brown rice are essential for brain health.
Follow all the above steps.
Understand your own choices. As conventional theories may become outdated over time, understanding your options is useful when applying critical thinking skills to take action. List all your options, then consider each one carefully.
Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. You may want to be the big fish in a small pond because it feeds your ego. However, if you truly seek to learn, improve, and develop critical thinking skills, engage with people who are more intelligent than you. The individuals you admire are likely associating with others who challenge them, and you can be sure their intelligence will influence your perspective.
Fail until you succeed. Don’t fear failure when it comes your way. Failure is a way of discovering what doesn’t work. Learn from it by gaining insight into your own mistakes. A common myth is that successful people never fail; in reality, they fail until they succeed, and their success is what the world ultimately sees.
Advice
- Avoid being dogmatic, but also don’t be too shy when offering counterarguments. Be cautious with absolute terms like 'never,' and only use them when you are absolutely sure. However, be assertive when voicing your opinions. For example, the phrase 'Slow but steady' becomes less motivating if stated as 'Slow but steady in some cases.'
- Be wise. Your goal is not to focus on the person speaking, but rather on the proposals they are presenting.
- Seek the perspectives of others. Chances are, they will provide fresh insights that could alter your approach. Consider people from different age groups and professions.
- Practice the art of critique, and you will improve. Acknowledge when others critique the ideas you present.
- Read critiques in the media, books, and articles. Learn from their mistakes and strengths to refine your own style.
- Distinguish between deductive and inductive reasoning, and understand whether an argument moves from specifics to generalities or vice versa.
- Use libraries and the Internet to research the topic you are critiquing. A critique that lacks knowledge can sometimes be worse than a poorly executed one.
- Your ability to critique improves significantly when the subject being critiqued is within your expertise. For example, who can critique a painting better than a painter? Who can analyze literature better than a writer?
Warning
- You can use the 'sandwich method': praise, suggest, praise. The other person will be more receptive to criticism through this approach. Additionally, make sure to use their name, smile genuinely, and maintain eye contact.
- Be mindful of delivering criticism in a way that won't cause offense, as people tend to get defensive when something they hold dear is attacked. For example, don't aggressively lecture a pro-choice individual on abortion. Such an approach will only make them more determined to defend their beliefs and ignore your arguments. Starting with compliments before offering criticism is often more effective.
