Critical Thinking Important in Every Area of Life

As I am at the beginning of another semester of teaching my College Success classes to new students I presented my lecture on critical and creative thinking. I always give my students an assignment to go to www.criticalthinking.org and choose an article in their library to read and reflect on the article’s message. I always during the same time wind up reading a few articles myself. One that touched my thinking this semester was “Critical Thinking in Every Domain of Knowledge and Belief”. It was a keynote address Richard Paul did back in 2007. The meaning still rings true today.

His main focus of the keynote Paul stated, “Intellectual work, deeply conceived, conduces to significant changes in intellectual skill and understanding. Critical thinking, if somehow it became generalized in the world, would produce a new and very different world, a world which increasingly is not only in our interest but is necessary to our survival.” I encourage my students to grow in their thinking to help reach the potential that is in each of them. Richard Paul’s thought at the beginning of the speech points to how sound critical thinking can bring new changes to our world.

With my college students I often begin the discussion using a simple definition of critical thinking that I have seen in many of Paul’s articles and it is partly stipulated in the speech I read, “Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking, while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better.” I will ask them what is going on in your mind when you are thinking about your thinking. The students even at 8:00 am will start speaking out with: “analyzing”, “rationalizing”, “reasoning”, and “questioning”. We then move on to describe that the purpose is not to just build up new factoids to memorize and show off, but to continually improve our thinking to better handle problems and relationships we face in life.

Richard Paul goes on to discuss some of the barriers of growth in critical thinking. One he doesn’t mention but I see as an issue is that growing in critical thinking takes work and too many in our culture want the easy way of living in the routines of passive thinking. Too often people keep their minds on autopilot as I discuss it in my book, Living More Than OK. Then instead of thinking people react emotionally which causes problems instead of solutions.

Paul presents an important charge: “We need hundreds of millions of people around the world who have learned to take and internalize the foundations of critical thought. This can be done only person-by-person through a process, which we call intellectual work. Think of the "Elements of Thought:" Each element plays a crucial role in thought. What is our purpose? What questions are we raising? What information are we using? What assumptions are we making? What data are we gathering? What data do we not have? Given the data that we have, what is it telling us? And, when we come to conclusions about the data, what do those conclusions imply? Within what point of view are we thinking? Do we need to consider another point of view? Where can we get access to such points of view? Questions like this are questions that embody the elements in very important ways. They are crucial questions. But, are we in the habit of asking them?” He uses these questions to force thinking about the elements that make up critical thinking. Think about the questions do you ever think of your own thinking in the same manner.

Another important point that stood out to me is how he presents a challenge to think critically about our personal beliefs. He mentions the context of religious belief for example. I would agree with him that many people follow religious beliefs just because they are passed down and they do not think through why they believe. I am open in my book and blog that I look at life from a Christian world view. I follow that system not because of family background. Instead it is because I have thought through the various belief options and that is the one that has made the most sense to me personally. I encourage in my book for people to think through the whys of their worldviews.

Reflection: Check out the article I read and see what you felt was the most important thoughts to you? Here is the link : http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/critical-thinking-in-every-domain-of-knowledge-and-belief/698
Look at another article of your choosing at their library link (http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/index-of-articles/1021/ ) and reflect over what you learned from it to improve your thinking.

Growing to Become a Critical Reader

Last week I discussed the benefits of reading fiction. This week I continue to consider reading by considering the idea of critical reading. This is making use of our critical thinking skills in our reading. This came to mind as I was thinking about a book I read some time ago titled, Preface to Critical Reading by Richard D. Altick published in 1947. It was another great find from a used bookstore. The author was an American literary scholar, known for his pioneering contributions to studies on Victorian literature and was an American literary scholar, known for his pioneering contributions. From 1945 until his retirement in 1982 he was a professor of English at Ohio State University.

In the book whose purpose is a primer for college freshmen students to improve their reading skills; he discusses topics such as denotation and connotation, diction, the use of logic, grammar in writing and understanding tone of an author in a work of writing. The emphasis on what appears to be English grammar is for the purpose of moving from ok reading to the art of intelligent reading and how to read beyond the mechanical process of just reading the words and getting through the book. Which is a pitfall of many students who read simply because the professor told them to. The book reminds me of a author I heard at a book fair who mentioned, to be a good writer one needs to be well read. Altick’s emphasis on reading and understanding all aspects of the writing process underscores this.

Altick brings out in the Foreword what the critical thinking reader should desire to move his reading level to: “True reading involves comprehension of material – comprehension far more penetrating and detailed than that of required for a brief report on subject matter. True reading means digging down beneath the surface, attempting to find out not only the whole truth about what is being said, but also ( and this in the long run is more important) the hidden implications and motives of the writer. When a reader finds out not only what is being said, but also why it is said, he is on the way to being a critical reader as well as a comprehending one.” (page xi). If we add this mindset to our reading that of a critical thinking investigator it can add to gain from our non-fiction and magazine reading. The learning process can be broadened when we are digging for gems in the reading material rather than just finishing the material to say we finished another book.

He brings out in the Foreword as well that it is important for modern civilization for the average citizen understand the issues of the day. They need to be critical readers and listeners who can weigh facts over opinions and falsehoods. He spoke of this being a critical matter in the late 1940’s. How much more of importance is it to be critical readers of what we read on the web, newspapers, and magazines in our ever changing era.

In being a critical reader by having a mindset to dig into the purpose of the author and investigating the information of the reading material we read the purpose is to gain more personal reward in reading. Altick brings out that of course close critical reading is not possible for every reading session. He states, “We do not imply that henceforth, to the end of your days, you must read everything so minutely, but you must get in the habit of watching for certain tricks of style, rhythm and logic, and the only way to develop that habit is to practice it intensively for a while.” (page xix). For example fiction novels for pleasure a person would not want to go into that material with close critical reading. That level of scrutiny would take the joy of the story away. So understand the purpose of the reading you are doing. But as Altick says do practice some close critical reading and see how much more you gain from that type of reading.

Critical reading makes use of our critical thinking skills. Be a questioner when you are reading material where you find critical reading is important. One way to improve in critical thinking for being a critical reader is to read up on critical thinking. My favorite website to find information on critical thinking is www.criticalthinking.org where I can read the writings of Richard Paul, Linda Elder and their associates in the critical thinking community. Check out their website to grow in your critical thinking.

Reflection: Do you ever read as a critical reader? Do you think being a close critical reader may help you gain more gems and gold from your reading material? Choose a magazine article and first quickly peruse it and then go back as a critical reader. What was the difference between the two readings?

Improving Good Thinking

from Foter

In this early part of the New Year improving our thinking is one way to keep growing on our Living More Than OK journey. The quality of our thinking aids in our enjoyment of life and personal successes. Richard Paul and Linda Elders in their book Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life state this of the need for sound thinking: “There is nothing more practical than sound thinking. No matter what your circumstance or goals, no matter where you are, or what problems you face, you are better off if your thinking is skilled. …in every realm and situation of your life, good thinking pays off. Poor Thinking, in turn, inevitably causes problems, wastes time and energy, engenders frustration and pain.” (page 7)

If we look at the problems and difficulties of our lives and are honest we can see where most our negativity can be traced back to faulty thinking. In the Living More Than OK life we want to live more of our time spiraling up to abundant living instead of spiraling down into stagnation and problems. Each of us can find room to improve in our thought lives.
Improving our thinking begins with a choice to continually learn and improve our minds. We need to take time to make time to do things to improve our thinking. Take mental growth breaks during the day or on the weekend. Paul & Elders in the aforementioned book reveal that critical thinkers need to work on building intellectual habits and traits into their thought lives. The traits they mention are: “Intellectual integrity, Intellectual humility, Intellectual sense of justice, Intellectual perseverance, Intellectual fair-mindedness, Intellectual confidence in reason, Intellectual courage, Intellectual empathy, Intellectual autonomy.” (page 19) Look over those terms and first reflect over which areas are you already strong in and which areas do you need to grow in at present time.

How can we grow in these areas? Probably no surprise to you my first response is to tell you to go to your local library and select a book on Critical Thinking. I highly recommend any of the writings by Richard Paul and Linda Elders. Their writings are sound and also practical. There are other good writers on critical thinking but those two are my favorites. My book, Living More Than OK, has one chapter on the need for critical thinking. So this Bookhead is telling you books are one of the best ways to grow your mind and thought life. For reading material you can also go to www.criticalthinking.org and click on their Library tab and read various articles about critical thinking.

Beyond reading you can also search on YouTube or Ted talks for video lectures on thinking and critical thinking. Here is an example of a short video of Richard Paul on thinking from YouTube -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNCOOUK-bMQ . You may also want to look into Continuing education courses at local universities and colleges. Find an area of mental curiosity or interest to you personally, and take a course in that subject.

from Foter

Growing in improved good thinking will add value to your life. The process may lessen the number or intensity of problems that you may be facing. By growing our thinking it helps keep the mind open to possibilities and new solutions to adversity and new areas of growth. Give improving your thinking a try in this New Year.

Reflection: Go to the Library link of the critical thinking website http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/index-of-articles/1021/ and read one article of your choosing. Take time to reflect over the message of the article you chose.

Growing in Our Critical Thinking Skills

I recently had a question related to Critical Thinking so I thought I would speak again to this important issue as I believe our thought life is important to Living More Than OK. Here is the question:

One of my friends told me she has issues with not having critical thinking. She was wondering whether it has anything to do with her personality or training deficit. Any thoughts ?

It is not a matter of not having critical thinking it is more a matter of developing our critical thinking skills. We are thinking all the time. Even when we are moving on autopilot the brain is processing the observations around us. The questioner mentions personality. There are personality theories that bring up the point that some people are more predisposed to be to be thinkers while others may be more of doers for example. When we look at those around us we do notice differences in people’s thinking. Some people jump right into different activities or relationships while others think through deeply before they make a move. This just shows we are different and unique. Our thinking skills fall on a continuum and on that continuum we can always rise to a higher level. The important point is that we can all improve our critical thinking skills which will help in every aspect of life, personal relationships, money matters, health, work, future plans, and ect.

Remember that critical thinking is not a negative activity of putting things down or having a negative cranky spirit. Vincent Ruggiero in his book Making Your Mind Matter shows that critical thinking is a positive activity of evaluating ideas from others and yourself in order to improve the ideas and choose the best one. This relates well as I previously mentioned Richard Paul and Linda Elder in their writings bring out that questioning is key to critical thinking. Ruggiero in his book, mentions a thinking style which I feel captures important features of critical thinking as it relates to daily challenges we all face. He calls it the WISE approach. This is one way in which to improve critical thinking in our life.

Wonder - Go through each day with a sense of wonder making note and observations of your experience and thoughts during the day. You may want to record key events problems, and thoughts relevant in a journal.
Investigate – With key problems or important issues do thoughtful research for solutions.
Speculate – Use the power of questions in relation to problems and life issues. Brainstorm creative solutions.
Evaluate - Try out the solutions to challenges you face during the day and look for the most effective ways to improve your life.

Another way to improve our thinking is Richard Paul and Linda Elder’s admonition that we should become a critic of our own thinking. Again this is not a negative hitting ourselves on the head , “Oh, I’m so stupid. I just can’t think!” No it is taking the time to “think about your thinking in order to make it better”, (Richard Paul). Take a seat back and ponder over your thinking, how do you think through issues facing you? What have been the circumstances that resulted from your thinking? How can you improve your thinking quality.

The being a critic of our thinking approach reminded me of a verse in the Apostle Paul’s writing 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) “... and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” He is looking at our thought life from the spiritual standpoint of actively taking charge and control of our thoughts instead of drifting through our mental life on autopilot. The principle relates to all aspects of thought to be in control of our thinking and actively have our thoughts captive so we know why we believe what we believe and understand the thought process behind our actions.

Another important way to improve our thinking is as I mentioned in one of my early blog postings is to be a Bookhead. Read up on how to improve your thinking. We need to be life long learners. Here are a few book recommendations:

Critical Thinking – Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life by Richard Paul & Linda Elder.
Thinking For a Change by John Maxwell. (Love that title!)
Making Your Mind Matter by Vincent Ruggiero
25 Days to Better Thinking & Better Living by Dr. Linda Elder & Dr. Richard Paul (This is a short book where you can devote a day at a time for 25 days on different aspects of improving your thinking.)

Also make use of Internet resources:

www.criticalthinking.org This website has numerous resource articles to expand your thinking on Critical Thinking.

http://www.rebtnetwork.org/whatis.html This is a website about Albert Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). His theory helps us see the need for critical thinking as many of our problems are based in our faulty beliefs. There are very helpful ideas on this website to help improve our thinking process.

Reflection:
Take some quiet time alone to think about your thinking. On a scale of 1-10 what is the quality of your thinking? (1 being very weak -- 10 being saintly perfect). I always tell my students never give yourself a 10 rating on a rating scale as in this life we always have room to improve even if we think we are a 9.99!
Brainstorm ways in which you feel you can improve in your critical thinking skills.

Living More Than Ok By Using Critical Thinking Skills

From the time we wake up and debate hitting the snooze button we are thinking. Thoughts our constantly flooding our mind. It could be said even during our sleep the mind is active during our dreams states. How do these thoughts affect our living? Is just ok living affected by just ok thinking? By improving our thinking skills can we move beyond ok to abundant living? That is what I would like to challenge our thinking about this week. How critical thinking can improve our living.

What is Critical Thinking? One of my favorite definitions of it comes from Richard Paul, one of the top researchers and writers about critical thinking. He states, “ Critical Thinking is thinking about your thinking while you are thinking, in order to make your thinking better.” That is a lot of thinking! It means to actively reflect over your thinking analyzing and looking at the logic to improve your thought life. I tell my students I work with that the brain is like a computer and our thinking is like the software programs. Critical thinking is studying over our program of thoughts with the motive to improve our truly personal computer in our head.

The important question is what is the quality of our thinking? Have you ever watched a news story and said to your self – “What were they thinking?”. There are examples of bad thinking all over the media. When I want to get a good laugh out of poor quality thinking I check out Chuck Shepherd’s website News of the Weird. I can laugh at the antics of the results of people’s thinking yet the problem is when I catch myself saying, “what was I thinking?” Those moments are when I especially understand the need for critical thinking – analyzing my thinking to improve it.

Two authors that have spoken so well to the issue of critical thinking are Richard Paul and Linda Elder. One of my favorite books on critical thinking is their Critical Thinking: Tools For Taking Charge of Your Professional Life and Personal Life. In their writing they point out that three main functions of the mind are thinking, ( comparing, judging, analyzing and synthesizing); Feeling, ( happy, sad, depressed, calm, and worried); and wanting, (goals, purposes, values, and motives). Each waking moment our minds are thinking through these areas as we relate to life and our environment. Our thoughts are moving either passively or actively. Critical thinking comes to play as we take the active control of our thoughts. Our thoughts either control us passively by emotionally responding, or we control our thoughts by actively rationally, “thinking about our thinking”

Our life is about the choices we make in our decision process. With each choice there is a consequence and then we make another decision based on that consequence and so on. If we are not critically thinking life happens to us -- sometimes with bad consequences. Maybe even to the level of being in a news story where others look at us and say, “what was he thinking?”. Hopefully not to the level that we appear in News of the Weird! By actively using critical thinking we can have more control over our living, make more positive choices that will bring better results in our lives.
Of course we can’t control everything just by our thinking. Using critical thinking won’t stop a storm from destroying our house or from a illness coming into our life. It won’t stop the affects of other people’s poor quality thinking, whether they are family, friends, or politicians from affecting our personal lives. But the habit of building stronger thinking patterns will help us respond positively and constructively to events and actions that come into our life journey.

Reflection:
Think about your thinking. Are you more active or passive in your thinking? How are you controlling life, rather than letting life control you? Take some time to look over the website www.criticalthinking.org and see if you can gain some helpful insights for your life.