Critical thinking: concepts and applications

¶ … faith, we can have faith in the sources that convey information to us for a number of reasons including past experience, the information comes from trusted source or an expert, etc. Another method of acceptance is based on a person's feelings such as intuition or one's emotional reaction to something. Methods of determining the validity of information such as these are passive methods of learning such that the person really does not address the content of the information/message itself, but simply decides its validity based on the source or on their own internal reaction to it. People can learn using such passive methods, such as if a particular source consistently provides valid information, if a person's feelings are accurate about information, etc. However, since there is no active attempt by the person to act upon the information itself, passive learning methods are open to a number of pitfalls in learning such as confirmation biases (only paying attention to outcomes that are consistent with one's expectations or beliefs), an inability or difficulty with understanding the "why" aspect of why something is valid and relying on the "what" or the source of the information as confirmation of his validity, and not developing procedures and methods for questioning information that may be suspect. While passive learning does result in a person being able to absorb and understand a certain amount of information, because the individual does not really address the information itself the process of learning is not as complete (e.g., the process of encoding, storage, retrieval, of the information). For instance, one can certainly learn about dribbling and shooting a basketball by listening to a professional basketball player describe the procedure; however, in order to actually learn and perform the art of dribbling and shooting one must actively practice it. Learning how to think is also better learned by actively thinking.

People can also decide what is valid by using methods of reason which are active methods of learning. One of these methods of reason is critical thinking. Critical thinking consists of active consideration of information with regard to the circumstances and grounds that support it and its conclusions. Critical thinking requires the development of skills (such as reflective thinking, learning what makes information valid, etc.) and also allows the individual to examine the information and the evidence for it in a methodical and rational manner. Thus, critical thinking develops the ability of the individual not only to recognize and deconstruct the information (as opposed to just trusting the source or one's intuition) but also develops the ability of the person to understand the types of principles that lead to valid assumptions and conclusions. Such thinking requires a person to temporarily suspend all their preconceived notions and concentrate on the validity of the information. Therefore, critical thinking teaches the individual how to think in the same way that physically practicing dribbling and shooting teaches a person how to dribble and shoot. In addition, critical thinking forces an individual to consider alternative explanations/descriptions of the subject and this enhances overall learning about a particular topic or subject area. Because active learning, such as critical thinking, requires more involvement in the learning process the individual learns the actual message/information much more efficiently. In addition, critical thinking develops the skills and abilities of a person to be able to a question and consider alternatives to situations/information that allows them to develop new or alternative explanations/theories regarding a specific paradigm or topic. Without critical thinking there would be less innovation and less new information in the world (e.g., how would the world be different if everyone accepted the notion that the world was flat and did not critically examine that belief?). Thus, in the real world critical thinking is an important ability to have in order to deal with new information, progress further, and examine alternatives to existing beliefs.