Question

Multiple definitions of critical thinking exist among contemporary educational and psychological theorists. How do you define critical thinking? Is your definition of critical thinking more important to problem-finding or problem-solving? Why?

Answer 1

• Being intelligent involves the ability to think critically.It is the ability to use the information you have, and fill in the gaps of your knowledge, in order to act towards a productive resolution.It’s where you objectively look at a situation and analyse it, before making judgements.
• Whenever we face an emotionally charged situation,having the ability to think critically makes you use your brains and be in control of your emotions and analyse the situation more objectively rather than impulsively taking some action.Seeing the problem objectively helps to solve it more accurately by devloping a proper course of action.
• Another aspect of critical thinking is to be able to see the situation from another person’s perspective.You don’t know how other people feel or how they will react, but if you build a mental model of their personality, then you can make predictions on how they feel/will act, and you can use that in your analysis.
• If you can put yourself in another person’s shoes while exploring a situation in your mind, it can help you come to a better conclusion about the situation that if you only think about your wants, your needs, and your emotions.Therefore seeing things from another person’s perspective is hugely important in making an objectively good decision.
• So,yes,for me critical thinking is all about objectively and rationally solving a problem based upong good reasoning and evidence.It not only makes you a rational problem solver but also develops empathy in your decision making process,which is equally important as part of being intelligent.