Welcome back, everybody. It's five a .m. How
is everybody doing? Yes, I know it's been over
a week since my last podcast update, but a lot
has been going on between me finding a new place
to live. And on top of that, finals coming to
a conclusion. Yes, I didn't cover any more information
on study tips, but The basics that I covered
is essentials that everybody needs. So I'm going
to go ahead and cover something new within the
realm of learning skills is still on the topic
of study skills, critical thinking. Okay. So
the question here is what is critical thinking?
Well, let's think about that for a minute, shall
we? Which is kind of the whole point of this
podcast. Critical thinking is the ability to
think clearly, rationally, and understanding
the logical connection between ideas. It has
been the subject of much debate and thought since
the time of early Greek philosophers, you know,
such as Plato and Socrates, and has continued
to be a subject of discussion into the modern
age. However, that doesn't mean that everyone
is capable of doing this, so I digress. It might
be described as the ability to engage in reflective
and independent thinking, if you are capable
of doing that, that is. In essence, critical
thinking requires you to use your ability to
reason. It is about being an active learner rather
than a passive recipient of information. In other
words, you don't just take in everything that
you hear, you actually think about it. Critical
thinkers rigorously question ideas and assumptions
rather than accepting them at the face value.
They will always seek to determine what the ideas
arguments and findings represent the entire picture
and are open to finding that they are often do
not Critical thinking will identify and analyze
and solve problems systematically rather than
by intuition or instinct I'm sorry, but not all
the time is intuition instinct the best thing
that you can use Okay, so going into this Head
first, someone with critical thinking can use
the following skills. They can understand the
links between ideas, determine the importance
and relevance of arguments and ideas, recognize,
build, and appraise arguments, identify inconsistencies
and errors in reasoning, approach problems in
a consistent systematic way, reflect on the justification
of their own assumptions, beliefs, and values.
In other words, critical thinking is about things
in certain ways so as to arrive at the best possible
solution in the circumstances that the thinker
is aware of, or in a more everyday language,
it is a way of thinking about whatever is presently
occupying your mind so that you come to the best
possible conclusion. Continuing where we left
off, critical thinking is a way of thinking about
particular things at a particular time. It is
not the accumulation of facts and knowledge or
something you can learn once and then use it
in that form forever, such as the nine times
table that you learned when you were in school.
Okay? The skills we need for critical thinking
are as follows. I'm gonna go ahead and cover
as... Much as I can, I'm not going to go too
in depth with them, as you already know. The
skills that we need in order to be able to think
critically are varied and include observation,
analysis, interpretation, reflection, evaluation,
interference, explanation, problem solving, and
decision making. Specifically, you know, we need
to be able to... How can I word this where it
makes sense? Think about a topic or issue in
an objective and critical way. I know I mentioned
that before, but just follow me, okay? Identify
the different arguments that are in relation
to a particular issue. Evaluate a point of view
to determine how strong or valid it is, okay?
And then recognize any weaknesses or negative
points that there are in the evidence or argument.
This also works really well in the courtrooms.
Notice what implications there might be behind
a statement or argument. Provide structured reasoning
and support for an argument that we wish to make.
The critical thinking process isn't as complicated
or convoluted as many other processes, but it's
not as simple in the same regard. You should
be aware that none of us think critically all
the time, okay? Sometimes we think in almost
any way but critically. For example, when our
self -control is affected by anger, grief, or
joy, or when we are feeling just plain bloody
-minded, to put simply. On the other hand, the
good news is that our critical thinking ability
varies according to our current mindsets. most
of the time we can learn to improve our critical
thinking ability by developing certain routine
activities and then applying them to all problems
that present themselves once you understand the
theory of critical thinking improving your critical
thinking skills takes persistence and just practice
so i mean just you know just think about it i
got a couple of exercises here uh that might
help you okay think of something that someone
has recently told you Then ask yourself the following
question, okay? Who said it? You know someone
you know someone in a position of power or authority
Doesn't matter who told you this these are thoughts
to consider. You know, what did they say? Did
they give facts or opinions? Did they provide
all the facts or did they leave anything out?
Where did they say it? Was it in public or private?
Did the other person have a chance to respond
and provide an alternative account? You know,
when did they say it? Was it before, during,
or after an important event? Is timing even all
that important? Or why did they say it in the
first place? Did they explain the reasoning behind
their opinion? Were they trying to make someone
else look good or bad? Or how about this one?
How did they say it? Were they happy, sad, angry,
indifferent? You're gonna hear this one a lot
from the police. Uh, did they write it or say
it? Could you understand what was being said?
These are different viewpoints different ways
to ask the quite the very same question But get
more answers out of it It's very very effective
in everyday life All right With those thoughts
in mind, what are you aiming to achieve? Okay?
I'm asking this on purpose because I want to
know, you know, if you're even listening to this
podcast in the first place on critical thinking,
are you truly trying to decipher how to improve
your skills or how to understand the people around
you who ask these very same questions so you're
not caught off guard? Well, regardless of the
reasoning. You know one of the most important
aspects of critical thinking is to decide what
you're aiming to achieve And then make a decision
based on a range of a possibility so even if
you're not trying to improve it It will help
you improve it indirectly Okay Once you have
clarified that aim for yourself You should use
it as a starting point in all future situations
requiring thought and possibly further decision
-making where needed, of course. Make your workmates,
family, or those around you aware of your intention
to pursue this goal. You must then discipline
yourself to keep on track until changing circumstances
means you have to revisit the start of the decision
-making process again. However, There are things
that get in the way of simple decision -making
we all get carried away Or we all carry with
us a range of likes and dislikes weren't behaviors
personal preferences You know things that are
developed throughout our lives They're all the
hallmarks of being human of course, but you know
a major contribution to ensuring we think critically
is to be aware of these personal characteristics
preferences and biases and make allowances for
them were considering while still considering
possible next steps, whether they are the pre
-action consideration stage or a part of the
rethink cause by unexpected or unforeseen impediments
to continued progress of that sort. The more
clearly we are aware of ourselves, our strengths
and weaknesses, the more likely our critical
thinking will be productive. Keep that in mind.
And then there's the benefit of foresight. Perhaps
the most important element of thinking critically
is foresight. Almost all decisions we make and
implement don't prove disastrous. They don't
prove disastrous. If we find reasons to abandon
them, however, our decisions making will be infinitely
better and more likely lead to success. If, and
only if, when we reach a tentative conclusion,
we pause and consider the impact on the people
and activities around us. The elements needing
consideration are generally numerous and varied,
and in many cases, consideration of one element
from a different perspective will reveal potential
dangers in pursuing our decision. For instance,
moving a business activity to a new location
may improve potential output considerably, but
it also can lead to a loss of skilled workers
if the distance moved is too great. Which of
these is more important as a consideration? there's
some way of lessening the conflict and these
are thoughts that you have to consider you know
these are the sort of problems that may arise
for incomplete critical thinking a demonstration
perhaps of critical thinking of the critical
importance of good critical thinking are the
other examples I just gave so yes So moving on
in conclusion We're gonna go ahead and wrap this
up Critical thinking is aimed at achieving the
best possible outcome in a situation in order
to achieve this It must involve gathering and
evaluating information from as many different
sources as possible Critical thinking requires
a clear often uncomfortable assessment of your
personal strengths weaknesses and preferences
and their possible impact and decisions you make.
Critical thinking requires the development and
use of foresight as far as this is possible.
Of course, I'm not telling you to look into the
future. That's not possible. As Doris Day sang,
the future is not ours to see. So keep that in
mind. On that note, implementing the decisions
made arising from critical thinking may take
into account an assessment of possible outcomes
and avoid and ways of avoiding potentially negative
outcomes or at least lessening their impacts
that are not as bad. With that being said, critical
thinking involves reviewing the results of the
application of decisions made and implementing
change where possible. It might be thought that
we are overextending our demands on critical
thinking and expecting that it can help to construct
focused meanings rather than examining the information
given and the knowledge we have acquired to see
if we can. If necessary, construct a meaning
that will be acceptable and useful at least.
Okay after all almost no information we have
available to us either externally or internally
carries any guarantee of its life or appropriateness.
Neat step -by -step instructions may provide
some sort of trellis or on which our basic understanding
of critical thinking can blossom but it doesn't
and cannot provide any assurance of certainty
utility or longevity. So basically it's all you
know dependent on you. With that being said that
does leave two more topics to cover critical
thinking and fake news Stuff that aren't isn't
really important and critical reading Like I
said before this is food for thought thoughts
if it were you by neogen tricks If you have a
topic something that you want me to cover Hit
me up on my Facebook on my Instagram or here
on anchor, and I'll definitely cover it Thank
you for listening and have a great rest of your
day