What Is Critical Thinking

What Is Critical Thinking


Anne Bartholomay


CRT/205

August 10, 2014
Dr. Summer Van Pelt
What Is Critical Thinking
Another way to think of critical thinking is to critique your thoughts. Critical thinking utilizes logic, knowledge, and judgment. Critical thinking involves determining logical answers to questions without giving credence to any predetermined bias that we may have. Reasoning out the truth of falsehood of a claim, or even partial truths are all important in the process of critical thinking as well. Critical thinking is having the ability to distinguish arguments, positions, and issues from yourself and other people. This process allows you to determine if an opposing view is based on faulty reasoning or bias, aiding in providing your own conclusions to the argument at hand.
Critical thinking is not used for involuntary processes, such as whether it is a good idea to breathe or actually eat something. However, it could be utilized when deciding if you should hold your breath or what you might like to eat. Essentially personal critical thinking is providing a reason or explanation for your choices and decisions for yourself.
We do tend to think of critical thinking in a bigger manner, such as deciding to change jobs or return to school. In these instances you might write out a list of pros and cons, and from there determine the best route to take enabling the best decisions for the future. Without even realizing, we all use some for of critical thinking on a daily basis, but sometimes we should be taking more of our personal time and resources to do so.

References
McGraw Hill Text Book: Chapter One: What is Critical Thinking?


References
Berger, K. S. (2011). The Developing Person Through the Life Span (8th ed.). New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martins.