Critical thinking

Thinking hardly or hardly thinking? Philosophy

Major trains of thought

Logic Morality Reality

The good, the bad, and the brain fart

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Come to think of it

Religion Science Philosophy of science Ethics Psychology v - t - e

Critical thinking is an approach to gathering data, making inferences, and analyzing said inferences so as to determine rationally justifiable reasons to hold a certain belief. ^[2] In practice, critical thinking draws heavily on ideas from the scientific revolution, philosophy, and logic.

Critical thinking advocates a particular approach to data acquisition and rational assessment. People applying critical thinking often aim to collect as much relevant data as possible, and then to assess that data for accuracy, and finally use the data to arrive at the most justified conclusions possible. Critical thinking is an ongoing process and even ideas that one feels are well-supported need to be occasionally reevaluated to see if new information might change one's mind. It's particularly relevant to critical thinking that one evaluates the validity of a given argument, and whether or not the reasons in support of the presented conclusion are sound. For this reason, Critical thinking uses many aspects of formal logic and informal logic. It also focuses on discovering and unmasking bias, propaganda, delusion, and deception — both in the sources of one's information and in one's own views and approaches to reasoning problems out.

It is important to emphasize that thinking critically is not simply basing one's beliefs on the available evidence, but also knowing what sort of inferences and beliefs are rationally justifiable given the nature of the evidence itself.

Examples of critical thinking skills[edit]

According to the Collegiate Learning Assessment,^[3] critical thinking skills typically include the following:

• Determining what information is or is not relevant.
• Distinguishing between rational and emotional claims.
• Knowing how to separate fact from opinion.
• Recognizing the ways in which evidence might be limited or compromised.
• Spotting deception and holes in the arguments of others.
• Being able to present a personal analysis of the data or information.
• Recognizing logical flaws in various arguments.
• Drawing connections between discrete sources of data and information.
• Selecting the strongest set of supporting information.
• Recognizing that a problem may have no clear answer or single answer.
• Being able to articulate the argument and the context for that argument in a clear and fair manner.
• How to correctly and precisely use evidence to defend the argument

The Foundation for Critical Thinking, however, has proffered a more complete list and detailed analysis of critical thinking skills.^[4]

Having a basic understanding of formal logic, statistics, and probability no doubt aids in the pursuit of critical thinking. In fact, the more knowledge one has the more they may be able to successfully identify factual errors in the arguments of others. Basic scientific literacy is also integral to the application of critical thinking.

In a nutshell[edit]

QualiaSoup provides a brief and educational look at some of the principles of critical thinking.

See also[edit]

• Scientific method

References[edit]