ON Critical Thinking

ON CRITICAL THINKING


An esteemed teacher of Critical Thinking, Vincent Ruggiero once said, “Don’t settle for shallow thinking.” And as critical thinkers, this is exactly what we try to avoid by honing our ability to think into not just any purposeful mental activity performed naturally and without much effort, but into a survival skill necessary for living in today’s society.

Generally, the thinking process that we take for granted can be defined as ‘a higher order human mental skill that also entails some kind of underlying logic and coherence’. However, Critical Thinking takes the human being, who is naturally a thinking animal further by developing our minds - that thinking instrument which sets us apart from the rest of the animal world - and through utilising the peculiar properties of our minds, allows us to make thinking more into an art of reasoned judgement. Based on the ancient Greek ideal begun by Socrates of ‘living an examined life’, critical thinking is essentially analysing how we think about matters that affect us in the various and no doubt challenging aspects of our lives. In addition, this critical analysis should allow us as a result to be able to better reflectively examine, critically assess, and effectively improve the way we live. In configuring the workings of our own minds, we can monitor, fine-tune and modify its operations to produce the efficient, clear thinking process characteristic of the critical thinker.

The advantages of this method of critically evaluating the information that we feed our minds are many and they aid in qualifying us as individuals to better fill whatever our niche in life. Critical Thinking is a problem-solving skill, not just a problem-finding tactic. In the course of daily life, advertisements, arguments, political speeches and managerial reports, to name a few, are incessantly yet implicitly asking us to believe their various claims. Unlike the average individual, the critical thinker takes the time to judge these propositions and asks herself: 'Why should I believe this?' Conversely, the trick is, of course, to be prepared to accept the claim, even change our minds, if we are presented with convincing empirical reasons or evidence.

In decision-making and the analysis of the arguments purported, the critical thinker understands that the avoidance of bias and subjectivity is paramount in herself as well as the premises that support and lead to the argument’s conclusion. Subjective premises are based on statements of mere opinion or personal experience; claims that simply express that someone just happens to believe something. Such premises are usually independent of any justification for the belief, thus making them the opposite of objective premises. Premises which are objective are statements of fact hence providing a systematic and determinate way of finding out whether they are true or false.

Therefore, the first task of the critical thinker is to identify what claim is being put up for evaluation. Its supporting premises are then to be assessed for their merit as true or false, relevant or irrelevant and whether or not they contain fallacies. From this consideration, we can say if these premises are legitimate and whether, as a result, the conclusion is well grounded thus correct. Being aware of the difference between opinion (the subjective) and fact (the objective) is fundamental to critical thinking since it aids in acknowledging whether a statement is true and to be accepted, false rejected or whether to suspend a decision until more evidence is obtained. The method by which the conclusion is reached is also crucial to the credibility of an argument, the critical thinker should be able to recognise if the argument was built through thorough thought deduction or rather via inductive processing.

‘By the explication of a familiar but vague concept, we mean its replacement by a new exact concept.” – Rudolf Carnap. Clear, credible statements make firm premises that build good arguments. Good arguments provide a non-violent manner to resolve conflicts in society. Indeed, definitions play a great deal of significance in clear thinking and the lucid language that follows as a direct result of this. Clarifying information through definitions is a dependable manner in which to reduce vagueness, avoid ambiguities and also prevent confusion and misinformation. Definitions provide the precise meaning of a word or phrase and explain concepts in logical and familiar language whether it is done connotatively (definitions referring to the ‘sense’ of the word) or denotatively (definitions by way of example).

Moreover, persuasive devices used in language and fallacies that cloud the perception, are further obstacles to clear thinking and well-informed judgement. It is necessary then, to check the verifiability of the premises presented to ensure that they are valid. Fallacies are dangerous because basically, they are loopholes in our minds produced from naturally occurring reasoning failures and so lead to illogical decision-making. Persuasive devices such as euphemism, emotive force, innuendo and stereotypes can also mislead into forming specious conclusions that merely appear truthful.

This study of Critical Thinking has taught me to be able to appreciate the complexities of the language we use so gratuitously and the influence that it can have on the reasoning of the mind. I now see the importance of clear thinking, unambiguous communication and a valid, rational argument. I have learnt that independent thinking is crucial to productive, unbiased decision-making and acknowledge that critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment. Through the use of this indispensable skill, thoroughly evaluated decisions can be made for the future and misinformation and confusion can be prevented.