Thinking critically is more important and more difficult to do than meets the eye; and that is one of the major reasons why education is so important, when it is doing its job correctly.
Widespread fake news, ideologically slanted information, and the increasing complexity of social and political issues all contribute to the central importance of being able to think critically, to think for yourself, to think intelligently, and not to be controlled by ideas that work against your social, economic, and personal interests.
Being successful will often depend on your ability to critically evaluate the merits and conditions of your work and the society you live in, the values underlying your personal actions, and the qualities of character of the people in your life.
Going through life without the powers of critical thinking will stifle your capacity to experience a meaningful sense of well-being and self-fulfillment; and developing this quality of thinking should be one of the main functions of education.
Getting Personal
How would you rate yourself in terms of critical thinking? Rate yourself from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest.
Give an example of when you engaged in critical thinking. Why do you consider it to have been an example of critical thinking?
Would you say from your own educational experiences that educational institutions are doing a good job in encouraging and teaching critical thinking? Why or why not?
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” (Aristotle, ancient Greek philosopher)
“People can be extremely intelligent, have taken a critical thinking course, and know logic inside and out. Yet they may just become clever debaters, not critical thinkers, because they are unwilling to look at their own biases.” (Carol Wade, American educator)
“We all have an enormous responsibility to bring to the attention of others information they do not have, which has the potential of causing them to rethink long-held ideas.” (Howard Zinn, American historian, philosopher)
….Top of post image, Critical Thinking, from dreamstime.com
