Increase Critical Thinking Introduction

 

Critical thinking can be defined as analyzing and evaluating all the information and opinions you are presented with. By doing so you will not immediately accept everything and take your time to realize whether what you have been told is correct or not. There are multiple ways to increase critical thinking and luckily all of them are habits you can develop.

Some of the benefits that come with critical thinking include: no longer being biased toward whatever you believe; realizing more easily when someone is lying to you; and an increase in the success rate of your decisions. Critical thinking also helps you form more accurate opinions and increases independence.

Now that you know the benefits of critical thinking, let’s dive into how to increase critical thinking. This article is going to give you multiple ways to increase critical thinking in your daily life.

 

Question Everything you are Told to Increase Critical Thinking

 

Question everything you are told and whether it is correct or not. Make it a habit to ask yourself the following question: “Is this true? How can I know more about the accuracy of the statement?” Never digest something at face value, always ask this question first. Another great question to ask is “Is there something missing that would help me view this differently?” If you can answer these questions, you’ll be off to a great start.

 

Logic First, Emotion Later

 

Think with your head and not with your heart. Some people think with emotion first which is a crucial mistake. People who think emotionally tend to take information at face value. People who think with logic tend to see the entire picture. Critical thinking uses logic, not emotion.

Here are some examples of thinking with emotion and thinking with logic. A man meets with his boss and he is told that he did great with the business emails he sent as they achieved their purpose but, there were a few writing mistakes. If the man were to think with emotion his thoughts would go something like this: “Oh no, I made mistakes the boss is probably mad at me.” However, if he were to think with logic his thoughts would go like this: “I did great, although not perfect. let’s see where I made mistakes so I can improve.” When thinking with emotion we jump to conclusions without taking our time to think. When thinking with logic we see the situation for what it is instead.

 

Look at Both Sides of Everything

 

When you are presented with an argument, an idea, or a perspective try to think of the opposing side to it before accepting it as fact. Even when your brain tells you that this side is correct, force it to think of counter-arguments so that you have a better grasp of the whole picture. This exercise is a great exercise to increase critical thinking. Start doing this technique either alone or when in a conversation. You can ask the person you’re speaking with about what someone who disagrees might say as an argument against it.

After applying this to a variety of different ideas, you will often find that you disagree with what your brain initially agreed with. Looking at both sides of the spectrum can increase critical thinking as well as develop your character. Someone once said: “I am never right, but as time passes I am less wrong”

 

Challenge Yourself and Your Ideologies

 

Everyone has biases and they gather more evidence confirming them as they speak to people that agree with them. This can make it so that a person who only has a circle of people that agree with him on his ideas never gets to see a different point of view. This can destroy one’s need to learn more about something. To counter this, challenge your opinions and your ideologies. No matter how much you believe you are right, try to bring up an opposing view to your beliefs and ideologies constantly. By doing this you increase critical thinking and your opinions on the topic become more well-informed.

 

Increase Critical Thinking Conclusion

 

Now that you know how to increase critical thinking let’s recap! Question everything you are told and ask yourself “Is this true and is there more to this?”. Think using logic, not emotion. Look at both sides of an argument and try to think of arguments that counter your side of the spectrum. Challenge yourself and your ideologies by constantly thinking of counter-arguments to your current ideologies. I hope you found something of value in the article that you will use to increase your critical thinking!

 

Resources

 

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