Reasons To Improve Critical Thinking Skills And Tips On Achieving This

According to Wikipedia, “Critical thinking is the analysis of facts to form a judgment. The subject is complex, and several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, unbiased analysis, or evaluation of factual evidence. Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking.”

It is the antithesis of dogmatic thinking, which is, according to psychologist Andrew Nuttall, “characterized by a highly compartmentalized system of beliefs and disbeliefs, absolutist ethics combined with authoritarian outlooks, and intolerance for contradictory or conflicting beliefs.”

This article looks at some of the benefits of critical thinking, and offers tips on how to develop your critical thinking skills.

Benefits Of Critical Thinking

Here are some of the key benefits of being able to think critically:

1. Decision Making: When your current situation is not covered by the rules of your dogma, you find yourself unable to make a decision because you have no reference point and no useful tools. Critical thinking, on the other hand, is in part designed to allow you to evaluate the information that is available and help you come to the best possible decision given the current circumstances.
2. Empathy: Critical thinking allows you to see that there are other viewpoints to your own (something dogma inhibits), and that means you become more aware of how other people feel about certain issues.
3. Problem Solving: When you are able to assess the facts, taking everything you know into account, you are better able to come up with solutions to problems because you are not restricted by a set of rigid beliefs.
4. Progress: Whereas dogma discourages new ideas and encourages doing things the same way they’ve always been done, critical thinking allows you to think outside the proverbial box and question whether the way you are doing things is the best way to do them.
5. Reveals Bias And Manipulation: When using critical thinking skills, you can uncover conscious or subconscious bias, as well as deliberate manipulation (e.g. sales “tactics” and scams), that would otherwise pass you by.
6. Self-Evaluation: Critical thinking provides us with the tools to assess ourselves and, where necessary, make changes so we can be a better person.
7. Self-Reliance: When you are not beholden to rules created by other people, whether those rules are based on facts and logic or not, you have the freedom to make your own choices. While true freedom can be a bit scary, my view is that this is still preferable to being somebody else’s slave, which is how following a dogma feels to me.

Tips To Improve Your Critical Thinking

Next, we come to a few strategies and tactics on how you can improve your ability to think critically:

1. Understand Your Requirements

   When trying to draw a conclusion based on facts, you need to know what you’re actually looking for.

   For example, there are many reasons for going on a diet (e.g. more energy, better health, weight loss), so understanding which of these is your primary driver can help you assess which diet is best for you.

2. Gather The Necessary Information

   Once you know what you’re looking for, you need to research and collate the information you need to enable you to make an informed decision.

   It’s crucial at this point that you do not become stuck in “analysis paralysis” mode – there is no such thing as perfect information, so you need to be able to recognize when you have enough facts and data to allow you to move forward.

   Remember the 80:20 rule here too, and the fact that trying to obtain those final pieces of information may cost you more time and effort than they are worth.

3. Question Assumptions

   The first step here is to recognize what is an assumption and what isn’t. What may sometimes appear as a fact could actually be an assumption that has been made for so long that it’s treated like a fact.

   Also, nobody has time to question every assumption we make, so you need to decide where to focus your efforts.

   For example, we assume that when we walk along the corridor at work, the floor will be solid enough to take our weight. While you could choose to do a full analysis of that floor before taking each step, just to make sure, that would not be a valuable use of your time and energy, because there is sufficient precedent and evidence that you don’t need to worry about it.

   However, when somebody uses the words “because we’ve always done it that way”, you can more or less guarantee there’s at least one assumption lurking in there somewhere.

   So, once you detect a likely assumption, you need to ask questions such as, “Who says so?” or “Where’s the evidence for that?”.

4. Watch Out For Logical Fallacies

   A logical fallacy is a “statement that is logically false, but which often appears to be true.”

   There are dozens of these, as you can see from this list, so you need to learn to recognize them.

   By way of example, one common type is known as Post Hoc, which says that because Event B followed Event A, then Event A must have caused Event B.

   You can quickly see that statement is not necessarily true, and is therefore a fallacy, but not all of them are so easy to detect.

5. Use Logic

   This follows on from the previous point, but when making arguments for something, you need to ensure that each step logically follows from what has gone before (i.e. you are not creating your own fallacies).

   The principles of logic were devised over 2,000 years ago by Aristotle, and have been refined over the centuries, to provide us with sound tools to help us create well-reasoned arguments and support critical thinking skills.

   While taking a full course in logic might be overkill, a familiarity with the basics will stand you in good stead.

6. Don’t Succumb To Groupthink

   Groupthink occurs when “a group of well-intentioned people make irrational or non-optimal decisions that are spurred by the urge to conform or the discouragement of dissent.”

   It is sometimes difficult not to get sucked into this phenomenon, but actively asking for different people’s points of view can help prevent it.

   This is sometimes known as playing Devil’s Advocate, where you deliberately put forward an opposing view (which you don’t necessarily agree with), with the sole intent of provoking further discussion to help arrive at the best possible decision.

7. Consider The Consequences

   When making any decision, remember that there are consequences, and you need to be aware of these, as best as you can.

8. Curiosity

   This goes further than just questioning assumptions – it’s about constantly asking open questions about what you see and experience, and seeing where that takes you.

   And remember Rudyard Kipling’s “Six Honest Serving Men”:

   “I KEEP six honest serving-men
   (They taught me all I knew);
   Their names are What and Why and When
   And How and Where and Who.”

9. Puzzles

   Trying to solve logic puzzles can sharpen your thinking skills.

   These might be word-based puzzle, or three-dimensional ones like Rubik’s cube, for example.

10. Follow The Money

    It seems that, these days, this recommendation is more important than ever.

    In part, it’s another aspect of questioning assumptions, but it goes a bit deeper than that.

    If you see the results of a study that claims “X causes Y”, or “People are better off when they do X instead of Y”, the first question you should ask is, “Who says so?”

    Because, sadly, it often turns out that the study in question was commissioned by some company or organization who has a vested interest in one specific outcome.

    For example, back in the 1960s, there was a concern that sugar consumption was related to heart disease, so the Sugar Association commissioned a study that claimed the real culprit was fat – something that has taken decades to set right again.

Conclusion

Being able to think critically is empowering – it allows us to be independent and formulate our own conclusions, based on actual data and evidence, to protect ourselves from those who are less ethical than us, to be creative, to solve problems, to be better communicators, and so much more.

It is also something worth encouraging when our children are young, because it will set them on the right path for the rest of their lives.

The only downside is that, once you become adept at detecting flawed thinking, many of your favourite TV shows and movies will be ruined for you – because you can’t help but spot all of the plot holes and inconsistencies that abound. 🙂

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Critical Thinking
2. Logic
3. Logic Puzzles