The elements and principles of Critical Thinking and how to develop the skill. It takes practice - but anyone can do it! Impress your employer or your clients by finding solutions and thinking "outside the box".
2. Characteristics
• Asking questions
• Defining of a problem
• Examining the evidence (not opinion)
• Analyzing assumptions and biases
– ours and other people’s
• Avoiding emotional reasoning
• Not over simplifying
• Considering other interpretations
• Tolerating ambiguity and doubt – necessary!
• Skeptical – How do you know?
• Is it opinion or fact?
• Credible Sources
3. Things to know about Critical Thinking
• Is colored by our beliefs, values and
perceptions (sometimes these things are
unconscious to us)
• Is a discipline (like music, sports, etc.) and
takes practice and dedication
• Consists of: observation, experience,
reflection, evaluation of data or action,
reasoning, communication and analysis
4. Things to Know (continued)
• It is a higher form of problem solving
• Is considered rational and a higher order of
thinking
– However – since some judgement comes from the
unconscious mind, we have to CHALLENGE our
assumptions, beliefs (why do we believe) and
opinions
• Assess your own thinking
5. Principles of Critical Thinking
1. Ask what CAN be done; don’t focus on what
canNOT be done.
2. Look past the first impression or judgement.
3. Ask/Reasons – HOW do you know? What is
the source?
4. What is the alternative hypothesis,
conclusion or point of view?
5. Be a knowledge seeker!
6. Principle 1
• Ask what CAN be done; don’t focus on what
canNOT be done.
– What does the client want to hear?
• A Solution! What can you do within company rules?
• Do you need to refer them higher up the authority chain?
– Think outside the box! Is there a “work-around”, or
alternate way to get the desired result?
– Never Lie, or throw out a “maybe”. People hear
“maybe” as fact and “will” and when it doesn’t
happen they feel lied to.
7. Principle 2
• Look past the first impression or judgement.
– Think of story about the rich person dressed as a
bum.
– First impression of news story. Is there more to it?
What is the alternate theory?
– Argument – 2 sides to every story. Factual solution
is somewhere in the middle.
– Continue to seek information even AFTER you
think you know it all. Because you never know it
ALL…
8. Principle 3
• Ask/Reasons – HOW do you know? What is the source?
– Is it a good/reliable source?
• Schools, research facilities, factual statistics without interpretation
• Must be unbiased, precise, number of participants in study (100 or
100,000 – is this representative of whole population affected by
study?), free of logical fallacies.
• Can the milk company publish unbiased research about the benefits
or detriments of drinking milk?
• What is interest could they (source) have in the outcome?
– Could it be interpreted in a different way?
– Correlation does not equal causal link.
– Is it an opinion or fact? A stat is a fact, an opinion is the why
those numbers are what they are.
– Manipulating date to give or imply answer we want it to be is
NOT critical thinking!
9. Principle 4
• What is the alternative hypothesis, conclusion
or point of view?
– WHY does a client want something? What is their
point of view?
– Can both sides be “right”?
– What if it’s not your job?
– Be willing to adjust our opinion. What are both
sides of the story? What is the reason? What is
the evidence?
– Evidence shared can change your point of view.
10. Principle 5
• Be a knowledge seeker!
– Ask questions:
• Who
• What
• Where
• How
• Why
• Why
• Why!
11. THINKING
• Critical thinking – REQUIRES thinking.
– It requires going beyond the obvious and looking
for other angles, other reasons, other facts, other
meanings than our own interpretation.
– It means being “critical” of what we think we
know. It means questioning.
12. Practice - Ask yourself:
• What is
– Conclusion or main point
– Reason for conclusion (point of view)
– Do the reasons establish the conclusion, given the
alternatives?
– Pay attention to the situation
– Clarity – Are the meanings clear?
13. Critical Thinking Does Not Occur
in Isolation
• Be realistic:
– We are ALWAYS judging something.
• Quality of our food
• Was the book a good one or bad one
• TV shows
• Judging local or national politicians
• Parents
• Our kids
• Our friends or acquaintances
• Is what “they” did good or bad?
• Critical thinking goes beyond the snap judgement and
is NOT about “good” or “bad”. It is about “What IS”.
14. Remember Critical Thinking is about taking that
“judgement” to a deeper and questioning level.
Enjoy the Process!
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