Turning Off the Brain Is No Easy

Turning off the brain is no easy task. It seems that once we think about not thinking, our brains travel in every possible direction at once and we are bombarded with a series of thoughts that may or may not have a common thread. Therefore, it might be a logical argument to say that we are thinking every waking minute of the day, whether consciously or unconsciously. Sometimes it takes trying not to think to realize that you are thinking.

But how much of that thinking is critical thinking? And what constitutes critical thinking? To start with a definition, critical thinking is "the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion" (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/critical+thinking). But to most of us, this definition sounds like the start to word problem that will involve lots of math, confusion, and headaches.

In simpler terms, critical thinking is a type of thinking with the goal of improving the quality of thought by putting the problem or situation into a more analytical perspective instead of an emotional one (The Critical Thinking Community). This is why critical thinking is important: it actively trains our brains to think logically without the bias or preconceptions placed on us by society, our peers, our family, or the media.

If we think about it, I'm sure we can all come up with an example in which we had to employ the use of critical thinking to make an important, unbiased decision. Personally, I use critical thinking on a daily basis at work. For example, when a fellow employee asks for a favor that benefits him or her but not the company or group as a whole, critical thinking allows me to gently remind my colleagues that this favor may not be the best idea.

In addition, I work in teams and groups a lot at work. When working in a team, it is very easy to be biased to our own opinions and ideas, even if they are not the best options. Recently, I was working with three teammates to distribute our funding among various projects for the next year. As a leader within one of the projects, I was biased in believing that my project was the most important and obviously needed the biggest portion of funding.

However, after carefully examining the situation and the different projects, it became clear that it would be better for the team and the advancement of our research to allocate more funding into projects other than mine. Critical thinking helped me to see the bigger picture by putting my emotions aside. Critical thinking is important for many reasons and its benefits may be seen in many professional and social aspects of daily life.

Critical thinking allows people to observe a situation analytically and without emotion, resulting in thoughts and actions that are beneficial to that situation instead of solely to the thinker (Paul & Elder, 2002). This may seem like a simple concept, but think about how frequently humans act based on emotion and how disastrous the results can be. Most notably, whenever people act out of fear, all rational and logical thought seem to leave the brain and the fear causes rash and unintelligent decision making (Elder & Paul, 2006).

When critical thinking is employed during times of fear or stress, logical outcomes can be planned and acted out that do not hurt or harm anyone. Critical thinking may be the best solution to the mob mentality that sometimes takes over where fear and doubt leave off (Paul & Elder, 2002). Instead of being swept up in the terror of social disasters, if the disaster is viewed with a critical eye the logicality of different solutions will become evident.

Professionally, critical thinking can assist us in making decisions that benefit large groups instead of individuals. We would all like to help our best friends and our pet projects reach the top of the ladder, but sometimes it's more beneficial to leave them waiting on the rungs for a period of time before boosting them into glory. Critical thinking can help us decide where and when to leave them waiting. Critical thinking is not just a useful tool in problem solving and situation handling.

It can also make the world a better place to live in by removing prejudices.