Critical thinking to me is defined as the ability to use the knowledge
we have to make decision in our everyday life, logically thinking
based om evidence and evaluating situations to resolve issues. Critical
thinking is basically intelligent thinking vs. what you think. Characteristics
of a critical thinker is being open minded, providing logical support
vs. relying opinions, being a good communicator whether its verbal
,written or just listening .A good critical thinker leaves feeling out
of decision making and use supporting evidence before a decisions are
made. To overcome or avoid barriers you have to analysis all
situations and use your first hand experience experiences to your
decision making , Interpret all aspects while thinking . However you
want to avoid all assumptions and rumors and based on personal
beliefs and think with research avail to explore and make the best
decision based on facts. What I learned this week is to use your
resources that are provide and those that you are surrounded by that
makes you critically think about your next move and never move on
instinct. I would define critical thinking as the ability to analyze all
aspects of an issue and make a decision based off of facts and
all available information. Some characteristics of a critical thinker are
the ability to leave biased and emotions out of the decision and
the willingness to hear all sides of an aurgument. Common barriers
to critical thinking are a persons emotions, the personal opinions, and
the biased on a topic that they already have. Emotions, opinions, and
biases are all tied together. If someone makes decisions based only
on emotions, they will never want to hear or accept any facts or
truths that go against what they already decided what is correct. They
will never want to hear what the facts or and they will never
accept what the truth actually is. The easiest way that I have found
to overcome the barriers of critical thinking is to try to always
keep and open mind. The more openminded a person is, the more
likely they are to want to hear all the facts about everything they
want to know about. Also, doing your own research about things is
another great way to overcome the barriers that keep people from
being a critical thinker. When I do my own research, I am able
to find either facts or opinions on both sides of a topic. But, the
facts should always be more important then other peoples opinion about
every topic someone will encounter. Critical thinking means to me
being able to judge what is a right or wrong life decision and
understanding what is right and wrong in arguments. Some characteristics
of a critical thinker would be someone who has good effective
communication skills, analytic skills good research and inquiry skills
flexibility and tolerance to ambiguity also open minded. Some common
barriers might be being open minded and not knowing how to make
the right choice in an argument or knowing what is right or wrong
in a decision in life. Some common ways to overcome those barriers
might be focusing on one decision at a time and trying harder to
be more open minded and listening to someone else opinion also not
being stuck on the fact that your always right. Also try and figure
out how to make a situation better. What expanded my ideas about
being a critical thinker was how important it is in everyday life to
be open minded and an effective communication in order to make
life decisions. I also learned that sometimes you're not always right
in an argument. Critical thinking is the study of methods used to
determine between good and bad arguments. Most critical thinkers will
have good analytical skills, able to communicate effectively, have good
research and inquiry skills, flexibility and tolerance for alternative
solutions, as well as an open mind. Some common barriers are
avoidance, cliches, and struggling to come to a decision.To overcome
these we have to act to overcome some of these obstacles. If people
are trying to avoid some topics or problems they will probably want
to work on confronting those things that they are avoiding. If there
is a struggle to finding an answer and act on it, it may be best
to take the step to settle on what the best possible outcome will
be and work toward that solution. Finally, keep away from falling
victim to cliches, they may cause a worse problem than avoiding it
all together.I noticed that I have developed a few of the traits
mentioned for critical thinking just by going to work. I am in the
management team at my local retailer and I have had plenty of
opportunity to develop and practice on my critical thinking when it
comes to making some tough decisions. I would define critical thinking
as the ability to give better judgement. When I say give better
judgement, I’m referring to the fact that you may have experience or
better knowledge of the situation or a better way of communication.
This will lead a person to examine, reason, and think about the
process and execute whatever it may be.One characteristic of being a
critical thinker is the ability to be confident in your own ideas or
beliefs. Another characteristic of being a critical thinker is understanding
an opinion of another person. What seems to be a common barrier
when it comes to critical thinking is not being reasonable. Once a
person is confident in what they believe, it can be a challenge to
understand another person’s point of view or open up to a different
belief. People can overcome that barrier by trying to have an open
mind and not be secluded or remain believing what they believe is
the only thing there is. Once a person is open minded, they will
be more understanding and be open to trying or learning more on
whatever it may be. Well I did some research on critical thinking
and I find that I have always been a critical thinker. I look at
my point of view of course, but I always try to reason with the
next person and have an open mind on what they are believing.
Critical thinking is the art of communication and brainstorming factual
evidence, not all the time but a good amount of time. Although I
am notin charge of my operation I strongly believe in teamwork. In
order to get a better functioning house one must go to work and
that’s all she wrote, mentally, physically, excatly how things are seen
via entertainment and gossip . I will state again and all personnel,
and side chicks have to go. I would define critical thinking as the
ability to probe all information open-minded and then make a reasoned
judgment. You must be able to evaluation all the sources, data, facts,
evident singularities and researched findings.
A good critical thinker must be able to communicate effectively. This
includes being able to write, speak and listen. Critical thinkers have
good analytical skills. That includes being able to evaluate and provide
reasonable backing for your views. Analytical skills are also important
in identifying and assessing other people’s opinions.
Self centered nature or conduct is a normal tendency and is many
a time hard to change. This barrier will make you think about
yourself and causes you to be unable to empathize with others. Our
ego can be the most important barrier when it comes to critical
thinking. Another barrier is resistance, and narrow mindedness. I believe
that stress is a huge barrier that clouds your ability to think
critically. Critical thinking now in days is hard to apply in our
daily lives. It has become a barrier as we typically rely on
technology to think for us. Critical thinking is to be able to see
things in different ways and be able to analyze with ideas and
distinguish with ideas. As for us once we come to a problem in
to provide ideas we run to the internet to find the solution for
us. This has limited our critical thinking ability to rely on other
(technology) to do it for us. We can try to overcoming this by
avoid this and try to take more time in thinking and see what
other options there is. This will helps us see things more opened
that what we might see in the internet. We are slowly moving away
from this and it also affects our communication with people, the less
we communicate the less we are able to socialize. This weeks reading
makes you realize how things change with time and how we are
avoiding certain things to make our lives easier. Critical thinking means
among other things as the ability to judge in a more prepared form
not just think because everybody else does it but asking why do
we have to do it not just because it has always been done one
way it is the only possible way of doing it, for example in
manufacturing there is a Japanese word use "kaizen" which means
continuous improvement and it requires critical thinking one barrier that
this word usually fights against is "why fixed if it is not broken"
we fixed it not because it is broken but because we want to make
it better and critical thinking comes into play because this means that
there is always room for improvement, I believe one of the biggest
barriers is going against what everybody thinks is correct and not
thinking outside the box, a critical thinker has more effective
communication skills than others because it is more prepared in any
given subject, tends to analyse better therefore more successful because
plans better every single move and being content a critical thinker
always wants more. z Based on this week's reading and activities, I
would define critical thinking as making a decision on things or
people at the drop of a hat in a set amount of time that are
important and imperative to the situation in front of you. Some
characteristics of critical thinkers are being creative, having flexibility,
being open minded and communicating well. Some common barriers to
critical thinking I feel are not being open minded enough, not trusting
your own ability to think something through and not staying focused.
People can overcome and possibly avoid these barriers by allowing
themselves to be honest with their self if they are not focused and
retaining important information that may be needed. They also can find
ways to open their minds up to other people’s ideas and thoughts
and compare and make a solid decision. In the reading this week,
I found that studying and understanding that there are three levels to
critical thinking expanded my thoughts on critical thinking. I was not
aware of this. I got a better understanding as I read it and it
made perfect sense because if you do not allow all three levels to
happen you can’t actually come up with a factual outcome. That
would be cheating yourself. Critical thinking is one's ability to thoroughly
analyze a situation using skills of evaluation and the process of
elimination. Critical thinking challenges your mind to see past what is
presented and read between the lines. One common barrier to critical
thinking would be being closed minded. I think that you have to
be open minded and able to analyze things from more than just
one perspective. Another barrier of critical thinking I think would be
going off of an intuitive feeling/ gut feeling. I think having a hunch
about something limits your open-minded thinking. I would recommend
continuous practice of critical thinking. The more the skill is exercised,
the better one will get at the process of it. I read that experience
is the foundation of critical thinking. Narrow-Mindedness and the fear
of challenge stood out to me. As I read more, I learned that
people with low self-esteem resist information. It makes sense because
it is important to be confident in your belief. It was stated that
one with a low self-esteem may view opposing to any evidence as
a personal attack. Critical thinking is a way of thinking when you
think things through to make reasonable judgments. You don’t simply
accept a conclusion but you question it.Critical thinkers are well
informed, open-minded, attentive and creative and have strong problem-
solving skills. Common barriers to critical thinking include avoidance,
denial, anger, ignorance, rationalization, and narrow-mindedness, lack of
self-confidence,Ways to avoid the barrier of critical thinking include
learning not to accept statements as fact without asking more questions.
You have to begin to to make assessments and learn to research.
For example if presented with research or study results, find out who
did the research or who was included in the studies. Also, open
your mind when being presented with different sides of a topic. Try
not to focus on just the information that supports your stance.I was
surprised to find in the reading assignments , to find that self-esteem
played such a large role in critical thinking but it makes sense. I
can think of several times when, because I was unsure or confident
in my stance, that I kept my opinion to myself and avoided talking
about the issues. Being open to viewing multiple perceptions/point of
views, evaluate the situation, plan, and resolve. When you're a critical
thinker, you must not take things at face value. Looking deeper into
things, evaluating your own thoughts and thoughts of others, and
thinking logically (not emotionally) are some things that critical thinkers
do.There are some barriers to critical thinking. I think the "ego" is
a huge barrier and arguably the biggest barrier. It may be hard for
some people to drop their ego and challenge themselves to think
differently - challenge themselves to understand someone else's point of
view. This is an issue for those folks because it's difficult for them
to understand that they are wrong about something. To overcome this
barrier, one would need to learn how to be humble or potentially
go to counseling to learn how to shed the ego (something I did
years ago and it was extremely beneficial to many aspects of my
life).
I thought the cognitive development section was valuable. More
specifically, coming up with examples for each of the stages listed:
Dualism, Relativism, and Commitment. Critical thinking is the ability for
an individual to use the skills they possess to make logical decisions
and act on those decisions by developing a plan of action. Knowledge
and skills needed to face the challenges in your industry. In order
to be aware of their surroundings, critical thinkers are constantly
observing and assessing different situations. They also are able evaluate
these situations in order to find their own plan of action. Critical
thinkers aware of their own thoughts and are confident in their own
opinions but are also open to others opinions. However, they still
question their own, and others opinions in order to make the most
accurate judgments. Last but not least, they are able to look past
now and make decisions based on what will be best for the future.
One of the biggest barriers to critical thinking is self-confidence. If
one does not possess confidence to interject their opinion and thoughts
into discussions and everyday life, they will never be critical thinkers.
If one does not have confidence in themselves they will also not
believe that their opinions are correct because they think they are not
good enough to produce logical thoughts and opinions. Self-confidence
is a hard skill to develop. It takes time and patience, but it is
a skill that one will need to become a critical thinker. In order
to overcome self-doubt or a lack of self-confidence, one must develop
a growth mindset. A growth mindset allows one to recognize their
weaknesses and have the mindset that the weakness can get better
and better, until it is a strength. With the growth mindset, one must
start to believe that one day they can be confident in themselves.
One Great way to develop self confidence is affirmation in oneself.
Every day a person will look themselves in the mirror and tell
themselves that hey are confident in themselves. If that thought is
constantly in ones mind, they will become that.The reading on cognitive
development helped expand my knowledge of critical thinking. I found
out that I am in the stage of transition to commitment. I knew
people problem solved in different ways, but I didn’t know that this
is a stage of cognitive development. Because I am diving further into
critical thinking and into a college career, I will soon be to the
third stage of cognitive development. Critical thinking is a thought
process that is based around evidence that is not physically presented
in the topic. I like to think of critical thinking as "reading between
the lines". In almost any situation, there is more to understand than
exactly what is said in the first place. Whether it is finding an
underlying meaning, a connection to be made, or problem to be
solved, critical thinking is just going beneath the surface to fully
understand the topic at hand. To become a true critical thinker, one
must have attributes of analytical thinking as well as a great
understanding of language and tone of voice. A great way to test
someones critical thinking is a riddle. The whole point of a riddle
is to listen and try to look at the question in a different light,
or think about how connections to be made that are not readily
apparent. In the TED talk from this week, Margaret talks about how
two people with two very different personalities, which leads to different
ways of thinking, are able to work well together. Having another set
of eyes on a piece of work makes it easier to spot inconsistencies
or issues that one person may not have picked up originally. Someone
who is a great critical thinker is able to look at something as if
they had another set of eyes and still get the same results as two
people working on it would. Critical thinking is a way of thinking
about any topic and using evidence and analyzing it with logical
support to form judgment of belief or action.Some characteristics that
a critical thinker should have good analytical skills, effective
communication skills, participate in collaborative learning and open-minded
scepticism. Some common barriers to critical thinking are resistance and
narrowmindedness. Resistance is the repeated use of premature defense
mechanisms when your viewpoint is argued. Some types of resistance
include avoidance, conformity, and denial. Narrow-mindedness is the
inability to change your belief or views. Some types of nrrow
mindedness include egocentrism, fear of challenge, and absolutism. Some
ways to overcome or avoid these barriers are to think for yourself,
evaluate existing evidence, and question things. Something that expanded
my ideas about critical thinking this week was the milgram experiment
and the Stanford Prison experiment. These experiments showed me that
without good critical thinking skills we are more likely to listen to
authority figures. We might think authority figures are always right,
and we should do what they want without asking questions or
challenging them. Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate, organize
and develop a plan, to resolve challenges that arise. It provides the
tools to help develop the skills needed to make decisions with thought
and effectiveness to stimulate self-development by encompassing reasoning
and rationality. A critical thinker has developed several distinctive
characteristics. They have the capability to differentiate opinions from
truths analyzing the situation. Another characteristic is the ability to
listen, gather and evaluate the information by using effective
communication. A critical thinker must also be flexible and open
minded to assess challenges from different views. Critical thinking does
not lack barriers. Many individuals are resistant to change. They believe
in the phrase “If it isn’t broke, it doesn’t need fixing”. Other
individuals are non-confrontational. They would rather remain silent than
challenge a view. Additionally, stress is another barrier that limits the
ability to evaluate a situation and make a sound decision. To overcome
these barriers individuals need to invest in the development of healthy
self-esteem and self-improvement. These characteristics boast the ability to
strategize and react to challenges in a reasonable productive manner.
In the reading assignments this week, the Critical Thinking and Self
Development section gave me insight to the importance of self-
improvement and the development of a rational life plan. I consider
myself a planner however, I never take into consideration my own
self health. I learned that I must address areas of weakness instead
of avoiding them. This will help me to improve my self-esteem and
create a rational pathway to my long-term success. Critical thinking is
being able to dissect a situation or problem from all angels; as well
as having an open mind in regards to possible solutions . Asking
a lot of questions and being able to analyze and gather data.Some
characteristics of a critical thinker would be, being able to analyze
and provide logical support and not rely on feelings or opinions.
Communicating effectively when listening, speaking and writing. Knowing
how to communicate with others styles of communication is highly
imperative. Researching is vital to critical thinking implementing evidential
information helps to evaluate an action plan. Being open-minded is
highly necessary to critical thinking especially when working with others;
which is when tolerance comes into play for critical thinking, learning
to value others opinions and knowledge. Many people have common
barriers when it comes to critical thinking, resistance comes in many
forms such as avoidance, anger and denial. People often do not want
to be wrong and often times have issues with being wrong which
is a huge barrier in critical thinking.When learning to overcome the
resistance barrier it would be helpful to understand that it is ok to
not to have all the answers and not have to be right all of the
time. Learning to have an open mind and understanding that, often
times stress creates resistance especially to change can help one
overcome resistance.For me the passage in the reading about Buddhist's
concept of the "beginner's mind" reminded me that being a critical
thinker is an awesome quality to have and wanting to learn and
seek out wisdom about our own thoughts, feelings and what is
happening around us is something most everyone needs to be doing.
Critical Thinking; by definition, is the objective analysis and evaluation
of an issue in order to form a judgement. My definition would be
the ability to solve a problem utilizing all the skills that provide
an outcome not based on bias or outside influence. This definition
doesn't allow one to be influenced by opinions or friendships, but
merely by, what is the best solution. A critical thinker raises vital
questions; they gather and assess all relevant information, they think
open-mindedly with alternative systems of thought, they communicate
effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.
The problems I see to critical thinking are peoples emotions, lack of
knowledge of the subject, lack of willingness to understand ,
misunderstanding of the truth and being close-minded. I believe that
people can overcome these barriers by understanding that "they don't
know everything there is to know about anything." I try to do that
everyday in my job; I am not the most knowledgeable, smartest or
a know-it-all, I prefer to find the best answer (option) to fix our
current problem - even if it isn't my way. The book reading about
stress a barrier helped me expand my ideas about critical thinking; it
makes one wonder, why one subject is able to be so completely
"cool under pressure" yet others tend to fail miserably and blame
others for their incompetence. Own it. I say it all the time; you
must not be afraid to fail to learn. Critical thinking is a type of
thinking that is in depth and not at a surface level. Critical thinking
is being able to put aside bias and to look at problems from all
angles to come up with the best solution. Some characteristics of a
critical thinker would be able to analyze information, be able to find
evidence, and be able to problem solve while looking at all sides
of the problem. Barriers to critical thinking would be ignorance and
avoidance. Thinking critically requires research and avoiding a problem
does not allow for it to be solved. I think these barriers can be
overcome by making sure to thoroughly inform yourself when you take
a stance on a topic. Find evidence and evaluate both sides. Perhaps
find someone with an opposing view and have a mature argument.
Consider their side and adjust yours accordingly. Overcome avoidance
by realizing how certain situations effect you and the world around
you. Learn more about things to be motivated and passionate about
topics. I thought the study about how people deal with authority was
very informative. How people tended to do things they knew was
wrong because of being in a lower position. It reminds me to use
critical thinking to determine if something, even if someone is in a
position of power above me. Critical thinking is the ability to absorb
information, listen to differing views from outside sources, weigh differing
opinions, and process various pieces of information with an open mind.
During her “Dare to Disagree, TEDTalk,” Margaret Heffernan discusses
the fascinating ability of two colleagues working with one another in
such a close manner, despite have nearly polar opposite behavioral
styles. One being extremely analytical and introverted, and the other
encompassing more of an outgoing and unmethodical approach to life.
Despite the differences, they embraced each other’s styles and together
achieved their research goal. In many (even large) organizations, being
able to embrace differing opinions among work groups is not as
common as it should be.
Being a critical thinker will take some key attributes. Solid
communication, effective research, sound reflection ability, being collaborative,
and possessing analytical skills are all essential attributes to being able
to process various pieces of information in order to arrive at a
sound conclusion. Milgram’s study was an incredible example of people
not practicing critical thinking and sound judgement. Despite the actor’s
clear agony, many of the test subjects continued to cause pain to
the actor, simply because an authoritative figure was directing them to
do so.
Another topic that really connected with me in the reading, was
“avoidance.” I work for a large company and despite us having a
large management group that should challenge each other, and be more
vocal in “critical thinking sessions,” the tone of the meetings generally
just are too acceptant. Only afterward, in more individual settings,
behind closed doors, do differing opinions, concerns, or thoughts arise.
I conclude that critical thinking is the ability to be able to
evaluate a situation and then come to a decision on to how you
feel about it, as well as, how others may feel. I feel like there
are many characteristics that make up a critical thinker. In order to
be a critical thinker, you must be open-minded. If you are not open-
minded you may be quick to judge or assume. This is not good
because people may see situations differently from you. I also feel
that in order to be a critical thinker you must also be creative
you must be able to think of more than one way to solve a
problem or a situation. Lastly, I think every critical thinker must
have compassion. When you have compassion, you must think of all
possible reasons why people do what they do. This would destroy
any bias. I feel like the main barrier people may face when it
comes to critical thinking is bias. The way people can avoid this
is by reminding yourself that everyone is in fact, different. Not
everyone will think the exact same as you. You as a person, already
have set beliefs and opinions, but not everyone has been through the
same things that have led you to feel the way you feel. It may
be hard to overcome your bias, but in order to be the best critical
thinker you can be, you must. The reading assignment this week that
expanded my ideas the most about critical thinking was the reading
on the Milgram experiment. I constantly though to myself about what
I would do in the situation that the subjects were in. I tried to
think about all the possible reasons why the subjects were just
complying. I tried to remove any bias that I had towards the reading
by reminding myself that I knew fully what the experiment was
about. I used critical thinking myself while reading about it. I would
define critical thinking as a thought process based on reason and
evidence. Critical thinking allows us to judge a situation objectively
base on logic. Through the process, we will collect evidence, evaluate
it, and ultimately come up with an action plan. Characteristics that
make a good Critical Thinker are open-mindedness, flexibility, and
creativity. A common barrier in critical thinker is when a group of
people or key players lack such characteristics. As a group, it can
cause delays and additional roadblocks. Typically, the average person is
not just born with these types of skills. These are skills that need
to be worked, and over time cultivated. I have difficulty with these
characteristics and it is something that I have to work on every
day. Push myself each day and seeking mentorship from my leaders
has helped me overcome these barriers. Each week, I would set
goals/tasks for me to work on that would help me grow. That could
be something as simple as sitting listening to my peers' suggestions.
It could also be something more elaborate, such as working on a
project to improve customer satisfaction and bringing creative solutions.
Building my self-esteem and confidence has allowed me to expand my
ideas and critical thinking drive. Prior to this week, I did not think
they had a correlation. Now, I understand how these two come
together to create a strong foundation. Critical thinking is trying to
see things from more than one point of view, and realizing that
you are not always correct or that there isn’t necessarily a right
answer. In my career I have always tried to look at things from
all points of view. I try to come up with a resolution, if at all
possible, that will fit everyone’s needs. That is not always possible;
however, you have to at least try.Critical thinkers are effective
communicators and are flexible in their thinking. Not everyone thinks
the same way, so you have to be able to communicate what you
are trying to say in a way that your audience will understand it.
When speaking to a co-worker about a specific topic, I can speak
a whole lot different than when I am speaking to a provider or
beneficiary about the same topic. Because my co-worker has all the
same information and has had the same training as I have, where
especially the beneficiary has not. So, I have to change the way I
say what I am saying so that they will understand it better. I
think the most challenging barrier to critical thinking is experience.It
takes time and practice (experience) to be able to think outside the
box and to learn that it is ok to say “I don’t agree” or to ask
“Can you explain to me why/how you came to that conclusion?” I
have said for a very long time that it never hurts to ask a
question. Even if the answer is no, at least you asked. Even if it
doesn’t change the outcome.The examples of real-life scenarios are what
expanded my ideas about critical thinking the most. It helped me
realize that while I definitely have room to grow, and always will,
I use critical thinking in my everyday life, more then I realized. I
really liked the video though. I liked the idea of having a co-
worker/friend that doesn’t have the same “beliefs” as I do so that
they are constantly challenging me and making me think. Not to be
mean, but just so that I can look at things from all points of
view before coming to a decision. I would define it as the process
of gathering factual data and analyzing that information to form a
conclusion to a certain topic or idea. Meaning, someone who is a
critical thinker, would not make a blanket statement or judgement based
on their opinion of something but instead, research and gather relevant
data to back up their justifications. Contrarily, being a critical thinker
can have it’s disadvantages. Just as it is stated in the discussion
post topic, “sometimes, the word critical means being picky” and I
can agree with that.
Criticism, in my opinion, is normally something that is not appreciated
amongst most people I know, because it’s basically a form of
judgement of another person or anything. For instance, while a critical
thinker could be addressing an issue from an analytical point of view,
to someone who doesn’t think that way, may feel as if that person
is being very judgmental.
The best way to overcome or avoid a situation such as that, in
my opinion, is to first acknowledge the other person’s viewpoint before
dissecting or critiquing them or their work, then engage them in your
thought process by using effective communication so that no one
misinterprets the message and actually become open-minded and appreciate
the critical perspective.I found the Cognitive Development in College
Students piece to be very enlightening. Reading about the 3 different
stages: dualism, relativism and commitment expanded my understanding of
the many classifications of critical thinking and how we each can
have a different approach to a situation at certain times in our lives.
Critical thinking is having the ability to analyze information open-
mindedly and using that information to form an opinion on the given
information. Some characteristics of critical thinkers can include (but are
not limited to): open-mindedness, problem solving, optimism, and etc.
Some barriers to critical thinking might be group thinking, laziness, or
fear. Group thinking can lead to less critical thinking on each persons
part within a group. While laziness and/or fear can cause lack of
motivation or a lack of confidence in ones critical thinking abilities.
Ways to overcome such barriers as these might include using other
areas to gain more self-confidence and using methods to decrease
procrastination and/or laziness in order to have the time to put into
research and such to form an educated opinion or judgement. There
were many things within the reading assignment for this week that
expanded my ideas about critical thinking. But, I think that the one
that stuck out to me the most was reevaluating how open minded
I actually am. I always thought I was very open minded, however
I was a little less than I originally had thought. Overall, I really
enjoyed the first readings of this class and think they were very
informative. I would define critical thinking as the key to being able
to obtain a deeper understanding of different people and subjects that
we encounter throughout our daily life. The reason I would define it
as that explanation is because if you don't accept certain information
at face value, and you find yourself wanting to know more or why
or how, that information that you obtain is more knowledge than you
knew before, and more than what a standard thinker would learn.Some
characteristics of a critical thinker are being able to be flexible. You
want to allow yourself to be flexible because when you are used
to analyzing things you know that, not everything happens the way
it is set to. Allowing yourself to be flexible correlates with the
characteristic of being open minded too. When you are able to listen
and understand all points of view and degree's of certain things,
surprises are less likely to through you off the horse and cause a
stir.Common barriers to critical thinking and its' characteristics are
resistance. I'm not sure if there is one person on the Earth that
doesn't have something that they are completely passionate about. When
you feel strong towards something, it is normal to become resistant
when there is something pushing against. With critical thinking, you
should be able to back yourself up with logical reasoning and not
running solely on what you've heard or seen, and you also have to
be accepting of what the other party has to say as well.I really
liked the self assessments. I'm always a sucker for seeing where I
am at on a scale, whether it's like the one from our reading, or
knowing what color my personality is. I learned that I have become
more of a critical thinker and I believe I have to owe that to
my job working at the Childrens Hospital when I lived in Phoenix,
and my job now that I hold after I moved back to where I was
raised. I knew I grew as a critical thinker because I was able to
compare where I am at now, being able to understand different
people, their way of thinking, and problem solving, to where I was
before I moved out to Arizona, which was the type of person that
thought the world was going to end with every bump in the road.
Being able to move to AZ on my own and learn that independence
when I didn't know the area, or the people, I realized I had
obtained many critical thinking skills during those three years, and
honestly I am very grateful for it. Critical thinking can be defined
as the ability of a person to be well informed, attentive, creative,
and open-minded with the ability to evaluate, analyze, and problem
solve in a intellectual manner and identify and resolve issues that
may happen in our lives. Most people can be good critical thinkers
as long as they are able to communicate and be open minded to
any situation without bias. Some common barriers are self-centered or
societal/cultural-centered thinking. As human beings we tend to be bias
and let our emotions and feelings get the best of us and it can
cloud our judgement.Having a open mind and putting yourself in the
other person shoes. Being empathetic and sometimes sympathetic can
help avoid a lot of barriers that we face everyday. Taking a second
to think and process before speaking and having the correct information
as well and not being narrow-minded. Many of us have resistance as
well that affect our critical thinking.Reading the assignment for this
week really stood out because in certain situations I am narrow-minded
and I can also be open-minded as well. I feel as long as I can
communicate and understand a person point of view I can critically
think clearer. Critical thinking, in my opinion, is evaluating something
or a situation and making a decision about how you feel about it.
I think it was really interesting to see how the participants in the
experiment reacted to the instructions they were given. Many of them
only continued to give the electric shocks because they were responding
to authority and were afraid of being defiant. The other participants
knew it was wrong and made the decision not to continue with the
experiment after a certain point. This really expanded what I thought
I knew about critical thinking before this course. Some characteristics
of critical thinkers are self- confidence in your ability to reason,
openness to learning and thinking and the willingness to change your
opinions when necessary. When it comes to critical thinking, it can
be difficult sometimes to form our own opinions about situations and
how we believe we should react. It can be much easier to follow
the directions or opinions of others and take them on as our own
even though we may feel differently. It's important to stay strong in
our beliefs and use critical thinking skills to evaluate every situation
and form your own opinions. Critical thinking is the ability to analyze
and evaluate issues/topics to develop informed opinions or action plans
in an intellectual manner. A critical thinkers is someone who has
good communication and analytical skills, is open minded, creative and
is good at problem solving. Barriers to critical thinking are narrow
mindedness as well as resistance/denial. Overcoming barriers to critical
thinking such as the ones I have mentioned can be challenging as
we are sometimes set in our ways. Allowing yourself the ability to
approach critical thinking with an open mind (doesn't mean you agree
with everyone) will give you the opportunity to see things in a
different light and to learn something about a topic/issue you would
have never thought. It also may bring you tolerance and compassion
toward others. Resistance/denial restricts our ability to make well informed
decisions therefore selling ourselves and others short in our decision
making. There were many things in reading this assignment that
expanded my idea regarding critical thinking but the one thing that
really stood out to me was how although I perceived myself as
open minded I just may not be as open minded as I thought.
Listening to someone else's perspective on issues does not make me
open minded, having the ability to change the way I think (not
always agree) and work with others constructively is really having an
open mind. Critical thinking requires that we reflect upon our own
experiences and then participate in a systematic examination of other
views and facts related to the topic. A key component within this
process is the willingness to ask questions. This process enhances and
deepens one's understanding of an issue or a problem. As part of
the examination of one's thinking, he or she should explore the
strengths and weaknesses of the views held. In addition to understanding
the strengths and weaknesses of our one's views, it is important to
understand the strengths and weaknesses in any opposing views. As
emerging professionals in your career you are expected to understand
a body and foundation of knowledge, as opposed to having specific
answers to questions or a fixed set of facts. As technology and
culture change, so will the questions being asked and their answers.
They key is that you know how to solve complex problems and
create solutions to tough problems and situations. If you only had
answers to specific questions, you may be limited on your ability to
apply problem solving skills.
