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 a 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. a 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
