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Critical Thinking and the Thought Process
The practice of critical thinking is an influence of various elements that affect not only individual behavior and personality, but one's thought processes as well. The first element that affects an individual's thought processes, i.e., critical thinking, is the personality of the individual. A person's thought processes is influenced by external factors such as time and place where the individual constantly interacts with others, influence of society via the mass culture, and self-perceptions developed from the self and through other people. Determining an individual's thought processes also takes into account the cognitive development within the individual as well, where the line distinguishing mind and brain is determined. Brain is the physical manifestation of thinking and thought processes in humans, while the mind represents the metaphysical form in which thinking occurs. Distinguishing between these two concepts is vital, since each concept plays a role in developing critical thinking through the process of evaluation and analysis, which are the primary activities that concern its (critical thinking) development. Other activities that can develop critical thinking are investigation, interpretation, and judgment, which are activities that require evaluation of facts and information in either the subjective or the objective approaches. In Chapter 3, the issue of knowing the truth is discussed, which serves as the basis for the need to practice critical thinking among people. This is related in Chapter 4, where the need to know, that is, the pursuit or quest for knowledge is perceived as the highest end or achievement of humans, as Plato asserts in his discourses on human knowledge. Thus, critical thinking is necessary in the pursuit for the truth and knowledge. Lastly, the last chapter (16) discusses the importance of narrowing down an issue into specific and concrete concepts in order to provide the researcher a more organized and clearer idea in pursuing the topic of inquiry. These elements, therefore, play significant roles in affecting the process of critical thinking, directly and indirectly.
Critical Thinking and Society Exercise: Critical thinking is a process that is used by individuals on a daily basis though many people use it without realizing it. Critical thinking can basically be defined as the process of exercising or involving skilled observation or judgment. This process requires the use of a variety of cognitive skills and intellectual capabilities to evaluate arguments, overcome personal biases and prejudices, and make intelligent and reasonable
Critical Thinking Skills When today's university student is asked to apply critical thinking skills to a specific social problem, does that student understand what is being asked and how to go about applying critical thinking skills? When questions from the professor involve, for example, the current dilemma in the United States Congress -- Democrats and Republicans engaged in a near-constant standoff when it comes to ideology and legislation -- does the
Critical thinking is the rationally closely controlled process of aggressively and competently conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and assessing information gathered from observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. It involves the scrutiny of those structures or elements of thought implicit in all reasoning, purpose, problem, or question, assumptions; concepts; empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions; implications and consequences; objections from alternative viewpoints; and frame
The problem in having a firm grasp of critical thought is that it can be clouded by many different distractions and affected by variables outside of controllable circumstances. One of these factors is cognitive development. It is evident that cognitive development as a strong overall impact on the development of critical thinking. Genetics plays a strong role within cognitive development, as individuals are all born with differing genetic levels of
4. Abstract sequential thought The third category is commonly referred to as the abstract sequential style of thinking. This is essentially a combination of the two thinking styles discussed above. This type of thinking tends to view the world on terms of larger concepts and situations, and it is prone to theoretical considerations. However, this form of thinking also makes use of logic and reason to organize the concepts, generalizations and
Critical Thinking Application "Every job, and every company, can benefit from critical thinking" (Pauker, 2010). Pauker makes this assertion with good reason. In considering this argument, Pauker suggests taking a second to think about any job, and the daily responsibilities and decisions that people need to make. She argues that if one considers the margin of error that could ultimately cost a company a project, a client, profits or even its