examples of critical thinking in everyday life essay

The Unreflective Thinker (we are unaware of significant problems in our thinking)
The Challenged Thinker (we become aware of problems in our thinking)
The Beginning Thinker (we try to improve but without regular practice)
The Practicing Thinker (we recognize the necessity of regular practice)
The Advanced Thinker (we advance in accordance with our practice)
The Master Thinker (skilled & insightful thinking become second nature to us)

In this article, we will explain 9 strategies that any motivated person can use to develop as a thinker. As we explain the strategy, we will describe it as if we were talking directly to such a person. Further details to our descriptions may need to be added for those who know little about critical thinking. Here are the 9:

There is nothing magical about our ideas. No one of them is essential. Nevertheless, each represents a plausible way to begin to do something concrete to improve thinking in a regular way. Though you probably can’t do all of these at the same time, we recommend an approach in which you experiment with all of these over an extended period of time.

First Strategy: Use “Wasted” Time. All humans waste some time; that is, fail to use all of their time productively or even pleasurably. Sometimes we jump from one diversion to another, without enjoying any of them. Sometimes we become irritated about matters beyond our control. Sometimes we fail to plan well causing us negative consequences we could easily have avoided (for example, we spend time unnecessarily trapped in traffic — though we could have left a half hour earlier and avoided the rush). Sometimes we worry unproductively. Sometimes we spend time regretting what is past. Sometimes we just stare off blankly into space.

The key is that the time is “gone” even though, if we had thought about it and considered our options, we would never have deliberately spent our time in the way we did. So why not take advantage of the time you normally waste by practicing your critical thinking during that otherwise wasted time? For example, instead of sitting in front of the TV at the end of the day flicking from channel to channel in a vain search for a program worth watching, spend that time, or at least part of it, thinking back over your day and evaluating your strengths and weaknesses. For example, you might ask yourself questions like these:

When did I do my worst thinking today? When did I do my best? What in fact did I think about today? Did I figure anything out? Did I allow any negative thinking to frustrate me unnecessarily? If I had to repeat today what would I do differently? Why? Did I do anything today to further my long-term goals? Did I act in accordance with my own expressed values? If I spent every day this way for 10 years, would I at the end have accomplished something worthy of that time?

It would be important of course to take a little time with each question. It would also be useful to record your observations so that you are forced to spell out details and be explicit in what you recognize and see. As time passes, you will notice patterns in your thinking. Second Strategy: A Problem A Day. At the beginning of each day (perhaps driving to work or going to school) choose a problem to work on when you have free moments. Figure out the logic of the problem by identifying its elements. In other words, systematically think through the questions: What exactly is the problem? How can I put it into the form of a question. How does it relate to my goals, purposes, and needs?

Third Strategy: Internalize Intellectual Standards. Each week, develop a heightened awareness of one of the universal intellectual standards (clarity, precision, accuracy, relevance, depth, breadth, logicalness, significance). Focus one week on clarity, the next on accuracy, etc. For example, if you are focusing on clarity for the week, try to notice when you are being unclear in communicating with others. Notice when others are unclear in what they are saying.

When you are reading, notice whether you are clear about what you are reading. When you orally express or write out your views (for whatever reason), ask yourself whether you are clear about what you are trying to say. In doing this, of course, focus on four techniques of clarification : 1) Stating what you are saying explicitly and precisely (with careful consideration given to your choice of words), 2) Elaborating on your meaning in other words, 3) Giving examples of what you mean from experiences you have had, and 4) Using analogies , metaphors, pictures, or diagrams to illustrate what you mean. In other words, you will frequently STATE, ELABORATE, ILLUSTRATE, AND EXEMPLIFY your points. You will regularly ask others to do the same.

Fourth Strategy: Keep An Intellectual Journal. Each week, write out a certain number of journal entries. Use the following format (keeping each numbered stage separate):

Strategy Five: Reshape Your Character. Choose one intellectual trait---intellectual perseverance, autonomy, empathy, courage, humility, etc.--- to strive for each month, focusing on how you can develop that trait in yourself. For example, concentrating on intellectual humility, begin to notice when you admit you are wrong. Notice when you refuse to admit you are wrong, even in the face of glaring evidence that you are in fact wrong. Notice when you become defensive when another person tries to point out a deficiency in your work, or your thinking. Notice when your intellectual arrogance keeps you from learning, for example, when you say to yourself “I already know everything I need to know about this subject.” Or, “I know as much as he does. Who does he think he is forcing his opinions on me?” By owning your “ignorance,” you can begin to deal with it.

Strategy Six: Deal with Your Egocentrism. Egocentric thinking is found in the disposition in human nature to think with an automatic subconscious bias in favor of oneself. On a daily basis, you can begin to observe your egocentric thinking in action by contemplating questions like these: Under what circumstances do I think with a bias in favor of myself? Did I ever become irritable over small things? Did I do or say anything “irrational” to get my way? Did I try to impose my will upon others? Did I ever fail to speak my mind when I felt strongly about something, and then later feel resentment? Once you identify egocentric thinking in operation, you can then work to replace it with more rational thought through systematic self-reflection, thinking along the lines of: What would a rational person feel in this or that situation? What would a rational person do? How does that compare with what I want to do? (Hint: If you find that you continually conclude that a rational person would behave just as you behaved you are probably engaging in self-deception.)

Strategy Seven: Redefine the Way You See Things . We live in a world, both personal and social, in which every situation is “defined,” that is, given a meaning. How a situation is defined determines not only how we feel about it, but also how we act in it, and what implications it has for us. However, virtually every situation can be defined in more than one way. This fact carries with it tremendous opportunities. In principle, it lies within your power and mine to make our lives more happy and fulfilling than they are. Many of the negative definitions that we give to situations in our lives could in principle be transformed into positive ones. We can be happy when otherwise we would have been sad.

We can be fulfilled when otherwise we would have been frustrated. In this strategy, we practice redefining the way we see things, turning negatives into positives, dead-ends into new beginnings, mistakes into opportunities to learn. To make this strategy practical, we should create some specific guidelines for ourselves. For example, we might make ourselves a list of five to ten recurrent negative contexts in which we feel frustrated, angry, unhappy, or worried. We could then identify the definition in each case that is at the root of the negative emotion. We would then choose a plausible alternative definition for each and then plan for our new responses as well as new emotions. For example, if you tend to worry about all problems, both the ones you can do something about and those that you can’t; you can review the thinking in this nursery rhyme: “For every problem under the sun, there is a solution or there is none. If there be one, think til you find it. If there be none, then never mind it.”

Let’s look at another example. You do not have to define your initial approach to a member of the opposite sex in terms of the definition “his/her response will determine whether or not I am an attractive person.” Alternatively, you could define it in terms of the definition “let me test to see if this person is initially drawn to me—given the way they perceive me.” With the first definition in mind, you feel personally put down if the person is not “interested” in you; with the second definition you explicitly recognize that people respond not to the way a stranger is, but the way they look to them subjectively. You therefore do not take a failure to show interest in you (on the part of another) as a “defect” in you.

Strategy Eight: Get in touch with your emotions: Whenever you feel some negative emotion, systematically ask yourself: What, exactly, is the thinking leading to this emotion? For example, if you are angry, ask yourself, what is the thinking that is making me angry? What other ways could I think about this situation? For example, can you think about the situation so as to see the humor in it and what is pitiable in it? If you can, concentrate on that thinking and your emotions will (eventually) shift to match it.

Strategy Nine: Analyze group influences on your life: Closely analyze the behavior that is encouraged, and discouraged, in the groups to which you belong. For any given group, what are you "required" to believe? What are you "forbidden" to do? Every group enforces some level of conformity. Most people live much too much within the view of themselves projected by others. Discover what pressure you are bowing to and think explicitly about whether or not to reject that pressure.

Conclusion: The key point to keep in mind when devising strategies is that you are engaged in a personal experiment. You are testing ideas in your everyday life. You are integrating them, and building on them, in the light of your actual experience. For example, suppose you find the strategy “Redefine the Way You See Things” to be intuitive to you. So you use it to begin. Pretty soon you find yourself noticing the social definitions that rule many situations in your life. You recognize how your behavior is shaped and controlled by the definitions in use:

• “I’m giving a party,” (Everyone therefore knows to act in a “partying” way)
• “The funeral is Tuesday,” (There are specific social behaviors expected at a funeral)
• “Jack is an acquaintance, not really a friend.” (We behave very differently in the two cases)

You begin to see how important and pervasive social definitions are. You begin to redefine situations in ways that run contrary to some commonly accepted definitions. You notice then how redefining situations (and relationships) enables you to “Get in Touch With Your Emotions.” You recognize that the way you think (that is, define things) generates the emotions you experience. When you think you are threatened (i.e., define a situation as “threatening”), you feel fear. If you define a situation as a “failure,” you may feel depressed. On the other hand, if you define that same situation as a “lesson or opportunity to learn” you feel empowered to learn. When you recognize this control that you are capable of exercising, the two strategies begin to work together and reinforce each other.

Next consider how you could integrate strategy #9 (“Analyze group influences on your life”) into your practice. One of the main things that groups do is control us by controlling the definitions we are allowed to operate with. When a group defines some things as “cool” and some as “dumb, ” the members of the group try to appear “cool” and not appear “dumb.” When the boss of a business says, “That makes a lot of sense,” his subordinates know they are not to say, “No, it is ridiculous.” And they know this because defining someone as the “boss” gives him/her special privileges to define situations and relationships.

You now have three interwoven strategies: you “Redefine the Way You See Things,” “Get in touch with your emotions,” and “Analyze group influences on your life.” The three strategies are integrated into one. You can now experiment with any of the other strategies, looking for opportunities to integrate them into your thinking and your life. If you follow through on some plan analogous to what we have described, you are developing as a thinker. More precisely, you are becoming a “Practicing” Thinker. Your practice will bring advancement. And with advancement, skilled and insightful thinking may becomes more and more natural to you.

Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2001). Modified from the book by Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2001). Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life .

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• What Is Critical Thinking? | Definition & Examples

What Is Critical Thinking? | Definition & Examples

Published on May 30, 2022 by Eoghan Ryan . Revised on May 31, 2023.

Critical thinking is the ability to effectively analyze information and form a judgment .

To think critically, you must be aware of your own biases and assumptions when encountering information, and apply consistent standards when evaluating sources .

Critical thinking skills help you to:

• Identify credible sources
• Evaluate and respond to arguments
• Assess alternative viewpoints
• Test hypotheses against relevant criteria

Table of contents

Why is critical thinking important, critical thinking examples, how to think critically, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about critical thinking.

Critical thinking is important for making judgments about sources of information and forming your own arguments. It emphasizes a rational, objective, and self-aware approach that can help you to identify credible sources and strengthen your conclusions.

Critical thinking is important in all disciplines and throughout all stages of the research process . The types of evidence used in the sciences and in the humanities may differ, but critical thinking skills are relevant to both.

In academic writing , critical thinking can help you to determine whether a source:

• Is free from research bias
• Provides evidence to support its research findings
• Considers alternative viewpoints

Outside of academia, critical thinking goes hand in hand with information literacy to help you form opinions rationally and engage independently and critically with popular media.

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Critical thinking can help you to identify reliable sources of information that you can cite in your research paper . It can also guide your own research methods and inform your own arguments.

Outside of academia, critical thinking can help you to be aware of both your own and others’ biases and assumptions.

Academic examples

However, when you compare the findings of the study with other current research, you determine that the results seem improbable. You analyze the paper again, consulting the sources it cites.

You notice that the research was funded by the pharmaceutical company that created the treatment. Because of this, you view its results skeptically and determine that more independent research is necessary to confirm or refute them. Example: Poor critical thinking in an academic context You’re researching a paper on the impact wireless technology has had on developing countries that previously did not have large-scale communications infrastructure. You read an article that seems to confirm your hypothesis: the impact is mainly positive. Rather than evaluating the research methodology, you accept the findings uncritically.

Nonacademic examples

However, you decide to compare this review article with consumer reviews on a different site. You find that these reviews are not as positive. Some customers have had problems installing the alarm, and some have noted that it activates for no apparent reason.

You revisit the original review article. You notice that the words “sponsored content” appear in small print under the article title. Based on this, you conclude that the review is advertising and is therefore not an unbiased source. Example: Poor critical thinking in a nonacademic context You support a candidate in an upcoming election. You visit an online news site affiliated with their political party and read an article that criticizes their opponent. The article claims that the opponent is inexperienced in politics. You accept this without evidence, because it fits your preconceptions about the opponent.

There is no single way to think critically. How you engage with information will depend on the type of source you’re using and the information you need.

However, you can engage with sources in a systematic and critical way by asking certain questions when you encounter information. Like the CRAAP test , these questions focus on the currency , relevance , authority , accuracy , and purpose of a source of information.

When encountering information, ask:

• Who is the author? Are they an expert in their field?
• What do they say? Is their argument clear? Can you summarize it?
• When did they say this? Is the source current?
• Where is the information published? Is it an academic article? Is it peer-reviewed ?
• Why did the author publish it? What is their motivation?
• How do they make their argument? Is it backed up by evidence? Does it rely on opinion, speculation, or appeals to emotion ? Do they address alternative arguments?

Critical thinking also involves being aware of your own biases, not only those of others. When you make an argument or draw your own conclusions, you can ask similar questions about your own writing:

• Am I only considering evidence that supports my preconceptions?
• Is my argument expressed clearly and backed up with credible sources?
• Would I be convinced by this argument coming from someone else?

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
• Paraphrasing

 Plagiarism

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• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.

Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.

Critical thinking skills include the ability to:

You can assess information and arguments critically by asking certain questions about the source. You can use the CRAAP test , focusing on the currency , relevance , authority , accuracy , and purpose of a source of information.

Ask questions such as:

• Who is the author? Are they an expert?
• How do they make their argument? Is it backed up by evidence?

A credible source should pass the CRAAP test  and follow these guidelines:

• The information should be up to date and current.
• The author and publication should be a trusted authority on the subject you are researching.
• The sources the author cited should be easy to find, clear, and unbiased.
• For a web source, the URL and layout should signify that it is trustworthy.

Information literacy refers to a broad range of skills, including the ability to find, evaluate, and use sources of information effectively.

Being information literate means that you:

• Know how to find credible sources
• Use relevant sources to inform your research
• Understand what constitutes plagiarism
• Know how to cite your sources correctly

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search, interpret, and recall information in a way that aligns with our pre-existing values, opinions, or beliefs. It refers to the ability to recollect information best when it amplifies what we already believe. Relatedly, we tend to forget information that contradicts our opinions.

Although selective recall is a component of confirmation bias, it should not be confused with recall bias.

On the other hand, recall bias refers to the differences in the ability between study participants to recall past events when self-reporting is used. This difference in accuracy or completeness of recollection is not related to beliefs or opinions. Rather, recall bias relates to other factors, such as the length of the recall period, age, and the characteristics of the disease under investigation.

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Essay About Critical Thinking: Top 5 Examples and Prompts

Critical thinking refers to our ability to reason; if you want to write an essay about critical thinking , here are helpful essay examples and prompts for you.

Critical thinkers can understand connections between opinions or ideas and detect reasoning inconsistencies. They can also identify, analyze, and solve problems systematically since they rigorously question ideas instead of immediately accepting them as facts. However, no one can think critically all the time. Our emotions, beliefs,  and current mindset affect our ability to reason. 

To better understand how critical thinking applies to our lives, below are samples you need to read:

1. The Value of Teaching Critical Thinking by Kenny Ward

2. how positive thinking relates to learners by jeanne morales, 3. barriers to critical thinking by olga george, 4. the difference between creative and critical thinking by eduardo ortega, 5. critical thinking philosophy by anonymous on cram.com, 1. what is school’s role in developing critical thinking, 2. the relationship between ethics and critical thinking, 3. leaders in unifying and dividing a country, 4. critical thinking in the medical field, 5. critical thinking, decision making, and stress management, 6. the effect of social media on critical thinking skills, 7. barriers to having critical thinking skills.

“ Critical thinking helps you to imagine yourself in others… and to develop your ability to listen to them with an open mind, even if their views are contrary to you.”

Ward’s essay talks about the importance of teaching critical thinking. To think critically means to understand yourself better. Doing so will help you accept and learn from your mistakes. You will also better connect with the people around you because you’ll be able to put yourself in their shoes. You’ll learn to use your mind over your emotions in critical thinking.

Check out these essays about beliefs .

“Metacognition… makes me think that I don’t really have all the answers to the world, and need to keep on exercising my brain to capture knowledge, and progressively start increasing my learning, because there is a lot of stuff out there, to not be ignorant and learn.”

Morales discusses the reality that students are fond of having their “free time” but won’t use it to stimulate their brains. Further, she explains that students today cannot control their use of technology, thereby direly affecting their learning.

It’s vital that students be aware of learning, be open-minded, and ask questions to get answers. The author believes that asking questions aids a person in developing knowledge. Additionally, for Morales, it’s best to focus on one thing to avoid distractions. Because when a person multitasks, especially students, their attention gets divided, and their tasks will take longer to finish. 

“To overcome this, we can try to not rely only on the first thing you hear and to do our research and ask questions when needed to gather more information.”

George’s essay tackles the barriers to his critical thinking. The first barrier is that he relies on mainstream media which has its own agenda. This is dangerous, as they can intentionally spread misinformation for their gain. The internet is also unreliable since it can fabricate data.

The second barrier he talks about is the ignorance or lack of details about a report or information. He explains that not having enough information is difficult for a critical thinker. An individual can come to the wrong conclusion about a specific story or event if the information is lacking.

“When you are thinking creatively, you are generating a new set of ideas… When you are thinking critically, you are making choices from ideas someone has already created.”

Ortega discusses what separates creative and critical thinking by laying down relevant quotes and examples in his essay. 

For him, creative thinking means creating, generating, or bringing out new possibilities. Creative thinking is nonjudgemental and expansive, for you must think broadly. In contrast, critical thinking is about the ideas you already made or choosing from the ideas you already have. Therefore, critical thinking needs to be analytical, judgemental, and selective. 

“I have learned that one of the most important aspects of critical thinking is to decide what you are aiming to achieve and then make a decision based on a range of possibilities.”

The author describes critical thinking as the ability to reason and be an active learner. He uses it as a crucial step in his decision-making process and urges others to do the same. He also mentions that people can use their “wasted time” productively by thinking critically. 

7 Prompts About Critical Thinking

Here are 7 helpful writing prompts to get you started on your next essay.

Critical thinking is learned, making schools primarily responsible for children developing their critical thinking abilities. In your essay, you can include why schools should pay attention to their students’ critical thinking. 

Next, add existing operations schools follow to progress their student’s thought processes. Then discuss steps in developing their student’s analyzation skills as it can significantly impact their future decision-making. 

While critical thinking aids us in reaching a rational decision, ethics or values help us land a morally-correct one. Create an essay that argues critical thinking needs ethics and vice versa. Explain why, and write about their relationship. You may also offer examples by sharing your experience or personal observations.

Do you want to be an influential essay writer who takes a clear stand on a specific subject? See our guide on how to write an argumentative essay .

Writing an essay about critical thinking doesn’t mean you should only talk about what critical thinking means. In this prompt, you can demonstrate your critical thinking by showing your prowess in politics.

It doesn’t have to be controversial or jargon-filled. You can pick leaders’ qualities that you know will help unify or divide a country. For example, you can point out current problems and recommend solutions that a leader with a certain quality can understand and provide. 

Working in the medical field requires a lot of critical thinking. People in this field deal with their lives. It’s an intriguing prompt that will allow you to put yourself in a professional position and let your readers understand their points of view. 

A great example is putting yourself in a position of a doctor who needs to choose between saving the mother or the baby inside the mother’s womb – what critical thinking should the doctor do? What should he prioritize: the hospital’s protocol, law, family’s wishes, etc.?

Writing an essay about the relationship between critical thinking, decision-making, and stress management can be engaging, as many readers will relate to your prompt. How is critical thinking affected by stress? Should we make decisions when we’re stressed? 

Via this prompt, you can convince your readers that it’s vital to develop critical thinking skills continuously.

Due to today’s widespread digitalization, many people spend most of their time on social media. With this prompt, you can discuss the possible connection between diminished critical thinking skills and time spent on social networking sites. Then explain how this can be avoided. 

Since critical thinking can be learned through consistent practice, why do you think some individuals, though super smart, did not attain the level of a critical thinker? You can write about the possible barriers to achieving critical thinking skills and explain why they became hindrances.

Here’s a tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. For example, write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.

16 Critical Thinking Examples in Real Life

What is critical thinking.

While making your academic assignments or thesis, you are required to do some research and analyze various things, or for making a career decision or any other decision you are required to think of all pros and cons of that decision. Well, the most important thing that helps us to effectively take these decisions is what we call critical thinking. Critical thinking is very important in both personal and professional life. The process of critical thinking involves the analysis of the various facts and figures in a particular situation before straightaway acting on that situation. Critical thinking demands keen observation, creativity, problem-solving skills, which helps the individual to thoroughly evaluate the gathered information and then use this available information as a guide to making accurate decisions. From doing academic works or regular activities to solving various large scale problems, critical thinking is required in everyday life. In this article, we will learn about some real-life examples where critical thinking plays an important role.

Critical Thinking Examples in Real Life

1. critical thinking in problem solving.

Suppose your manager asks you to find an effective solution to a problem that is affecting the business. What would be your first step? Like most people, you may also start looking for potential solutions to deal with that situation. Well, one requires the use of critical thinking here. Before looking for the solution one needs to take a step back and try to understand the cause of the problem first. One should ask for the opinions of the other people that how does this particular problem impact them and the overall business. If you arrive at a solution, you should not only just rely on one solution, instead, you should always have various backup plans in case the first solution does not work as expected. Most people feel that they are great at problem-solving, but if one is not following all these above discussed steps before making a final judgement, he/she is not a critical thinker. Critical thinking allows people to find the best possible solution to any problem. Critical thinking is an important factor of problem-solving skills, one needs to look at any situation from multiple perspectives because in some cases, your decisions not only impact you but also the people in your surrounding.

2. Critical Thinking in Analysing Risks

Risk assessment is another important factor, which requires the use of critical thinking. Risk assessment is required in various sectors, from children analysing the impact of eating junk food on their health to large businesses in analysing the impact of certain policies on the growth of the company. Let us understand the implication of critical thinking in analysing the risks with some examples.

3. Critical Thinking in Data Analysis

Whether analysing the performance of the children in the schools or analysing the business growth of a multi-national company, the skill of data analysis is very crucial. In today’s era, almost every sector demands experts that can accurately evaluate the available data or information and draw out effective conclusions from it. With the rise in technology, the various tasks of the data analysis such as finding profit and loss, creating balance sheets, and issuing invoices are done with the help of various software, but it does not mean that human skill is not required. Various kinds of software can just convert a large amount of data into some simpler and readable format, but it is the critical thinking of the humans that is required to effectively interpret the data and apply the obtained insight for the benefits. The data analysis can even help us to estimate the future trends and potential risks of taking any decisions.

4. Critical Thinking in Hiring Employees

The ability to objectively view any situation without getting influenced by your personal beliefs or thoughts is one of the important characteristics of critical thinking. In business, the hiring managers require critical thinking to evaluate a large number of resume’s to choose the suitable candidates for the required position. Critical thinking here enables the hiring managers not to hire a candidate on the basis of various factors like gender, age, religion or country, these factors may influence the hiring managers unconsciously. The hiring manager may tend to choose the candidate on his/her subjective beliefs if he/she does not use critical thinking. Hence, critical thinking can help HR’s to hire the best employees that may eventually lead to the growth of the company.

5. Promoting the Teamwork

In a team, every individual is unique and has his/her different ideas to tackle the proposed problem. It is the responsibility of the team leader to understand the perspective of each member and encourage them to work collectively to solve the common problem. You may find the opinion of the other members of your team as ineffective, but instead of straightway denying their opinions one should logically analyse their suggestions and try to put your point of view regarding the problem in an effective and calm manner. If the team leader does not use critical thinking, instead, he/she boost his/her opinions on others, the team is sure to collapse.

6. Critical Thinking in Self-Evaluation

Critical thinking plays a major role in self-evaluation. The knowledge of critical thinking skills allows you to accurately analyse your performance by controlling various subjective biases. People should always evaluate their reactions towards any situation and the way they think, this may help them to get a deep insight into their thought processes, hence improving their thinking abilities to take accurate decisions. Self-evaluation is very important in professional life too. Suppose your manager has set a new target for the company. Every employee is thus required to analyse his/her contribution to the company and try to accomplish the set target. If you know your contribution to the company, it will help you to analyse your performance, and you can try to improve your performance in the areas where you lag.

7. Critical Thinking in Choosing the Career

Almost all of us face various dilemmas in our lives such as choosing the stream, the type of job, choosing between the regular college degree or the online programme. Whatever you choose, every option has its pros and cons. However, critical thinking allows us to accurately weigh the positives and negatives of each option and choose the one that offers more benefits than drawbacks. The best way to do this is to make a list of the pros and the cons and then analyse. Well, this is not just limited to choosing the career path, it can be used in other situations also such as professionally, and financially. One can list the pros and cons of selecting to work in a specific company or choosing the right insurance plan. It is often seen that our choices are greatly influenced by the choices of our friends or known, but one should understand that every individual’s beliefs, desires, and ambitions are different so, if the particular carrear or job is best for the others it does not mean that it would be the best option for you also. Hence, to choose the right carrear path, one requires critical thinking.

8. Critical Thinking in Time Management

Time is the most valuable asset that we have, hence utilizing it appropriately is very crucial. Critical thinking in time management helps you to wisely plan your schedule according to the importance of the particular task or the activity. For example, if the task to which you devote most of your time, is not giving you much return then you need to reconsider your schedule and should devote more time to the tasks that give you high returns.

9. Critical Thinking in Analysing the Fake News

Suppose, one of your friends shares a piece of news with you. Do you bother to analyse that whether this piece of news is real or not? Many of us just believe in the news and shares this with others too without thinking that this can be fake news too. A study conducted by Stanford University showed that around 82 per cent of the teenagers failed to distinguish between the real news and the advertisement with the ‘sponsored content’ label. This problem arises because the standard education curriculum does not emphasise much on critical thinking skills much because of the assumption that critical thinking is inbuilt in every person. By introducing certain lessons or activities that may help to increase the knowledge or overall thinking skills, the critical thinking of the children can be improved. Well, it is also seen that not only children, but adults also fall for these fake news and articles that circulate on various social media platforms. Before believing any piece of information, one should think of various questions like the source of the publication, the intention of the article, the author of the article, and the agenda behind the article. Critical thinking helps us to precisely evaluate any information before straightway believing it.

10. Critical Thinking in Distinguishing between Right and Wrong

Most people, especially teenagers are very much conscious about what their friends or relatives think of their behaviour. You may have had been through the situation, wherein if your friends think that certain behaviour is cool then you start acting in that way to fit in your friend’s circle without even considering that what you are doing is good or bad, and is your actions are related to your beliefs or not? One should understand that if a certain behaviour seems cool to some people, it may also seem bad to some others. One should not change his/her actions depending upon the approval of certain people, rather one should look at the broader aspect and should deeply analyse that whether their actions are morally right or wrong.

11. Critical Thinking in Decoding Fashion Trends

Nowadays, some people are so crazy about following the latest fashion trends, they start following every trend that some popular actor, actress, or fashion influencer suggest. If you are a critical thinker you may have had thought of the questions like why the particular trend that was so popular a few years back seems foolish now? why does a particular trend that does not even look good is so popular? Do the particular fashion trend that suits the other person suits yourself or not? Critical thinking helps people from falling victim to the bandwagon fallacy; it is fallacy in which people starts believing a particular thing or idea as good or bad if the majority of the population thinks so. Fashion trends are a common example of bandwagon fallacy.

12. Critical Thinking in Choosing the Suitable Diet and Exercise

You must have heard of various types of diets such as the Keto diet, Whole 30 diet, Gluten-free diet, Vegan diet and so on. It seems complex to choose the diet that is best for you. What people usually do is that they search online, go through several videos and choose the diet that showed the best results to the person in the video. Well, this is not the right approach, choosing the best diet for yourself requires critical thinking. People who use critical thinking evaluate the pros and cons of the particular diet on their own body, they generally ask about the suitable diet from professional dieticians rather than just following the advice of a random person online. Like choosing a suitable diet, choosing a suitable exercise also demands critical thinking. For example, What are your goals? How can you achieve this? At what time you can do exercise? Do you have any injuries that may get affected by the particular exercise? People who use critical thinking tend to ask all these questions, and then by utilizing the knowledge they have and the following routine for a few weeks, and by analyzing the results they are getting from it, they finally plan a proper schedule for them.

13. Critical Thinking in Online Shopping

In today’s digital era, online shopping is preferred by most people. However, there are various tactics and psychological tricks such as the anchoring effect , Stroop effect , and Serial position effect that are used by the various e-commerce websites, which makes the customers buy more things or things that they don’t even need. Critical thinking can help people to smartly buy items without falling victim to all these effects or tactics. While making the purchase you should focus on the price that you are paying for the particular item rather than the discount you are getting on that item because the chances are that the price that you are paying for that item is not worth paying even after the discount.

14. Critical Thinking in Job Search

Critical thinking plays an important role in the Job search. If you are applying for a job, you may consider the following points to get the desired job.

Use of Keywords in Resume: One should always understand the job post and its requirements before straightaway applying for the job. It is important to update your resume according to the job and add some keywords (mentioned in the job requirements) into your resume to get the job. If you possess some critical thinking skills such as problem-solving, analytical, communication, or creativity skills, it is better to put that in your resume. However, one should always restrain from adding any random critical thinking skills that you do not possess.

Cover Letter: Hiring managers receive hundreds of resumes daily, hence the chances that they will read every resume are quite less. Well, you can make your resume different from others by adding a good cover letter. You can add some of the critical skills that you have to your resume, it is better to explain a little about the tasks or activities where you showed these skills in your previous jobs or work experiences rather than just simply writing the skill. This assures the recruiter that you are not randomly writing the skills and you possess these qualities.

Interviews: Nowadays, some interviewers present the interviewees with hypothetical stories to check their critical thinking skills. You may be asked to explain what you think of the given situation or your first reaction after looking at the given image. You are required to solve any random problem, and then you have to explain to the recruiter about your thought processes. The interviewer here is more focused on the way you reach the conclusion rather than the conclusion itself. Your thought process helps the interviewer to analyse and evaluate the way you approach various problems

15. Critical Thinking While Driving

Imagine you are driving on a busy road and your phone starts ringing. It’s an urgent call that you have to pick. What would you do? Would you pick up the call and risk yourself into an accident or stop your car on the roadside to take the call. Critical thinking helps you to make accurate decisions while driving, it includes finding the right place to park your car, analysing whether you can pass the car through that narrow street or not, or how to handle if any animal suddenly comes in front of your car. Hence, critical thinking is must require skill in driving.

16. Critical Thinking in Business

Critical thinking is one of the most important things that the owner of the business needs to possess. One has to make several important decisions, effectively communicate with the clients, hire suitable employees, take certain risks, and deal with several ups and downs in the business, and much more; all these things require critical thinking.

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Great post! I’ve been trying to apply critical thinking to my life, and these examples are a great way to start.

critical thinking is what anyone of us should have in spoiled world

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How to Write a Critical Thinking Essay: Complete Guide

Critical thinking is a complex system of judgments that helps to analyze information and come up with valid conclusions, create an assessment of what is happening, and interpret it. It can be said that critical thinking is high-level thinking, which makes it possible to question the incoming information. Read the full guide prepared by our essay writers to be better in studies.

Critical thinking in learning process

Critical thinking as an academic discipline is based on the rules of formal logic, theory, and practice of argumentation, rhetoric, and scientific epistemology (a section of philosophy that deals with instruments and limitations of cognitive activity).

Every human being has two ways of thinking: absorbing information (like a sponge absorbs the water) and thinking about information (like sifting through sand). While a person that uses the first way will be trying to remember the given information in detail, the other one will actively interact with the obtained knowledge. This doesn’t mean that one way is worse; critical thinking combines these two features.

Developing critical thinking is hard, as it’s easier to take the position of your friends, family, or public opinion. Your friends may think that vaccines badly influence children’s health and you will think the same, just because your friends think so. But if you will study available information about this issue, you can change your mind, or just reiterate the conviction.

A person with developed critical thinking skills will be resistant to manipulations, immune to stereotypes or public opinion – that’s why AI essay writer isn’t the best option for the development of such skills.

The opinion, worked out independently, can surprise you with its unexpectedness, or it may turn out to be generally accepted. You can find out that such conclusions belong to certain researchers or that they have already been stated by rebels that oppose the established dogmas.

What is a critical thinking essay?

A critical thinking essay is a type of writing that is aimed to improve your analytical skills. Critical thinking essays should teach the student to carefully read the texts, utilize methodical doubt, find weaknesses in both others and personal arguments, work with concepts, and clearly and reasonably express thoughts. The basis of a critical thinking essay is to ask and answer the right questions. Tutors usually pay attention both to the quality of the text and how a student develops arguments about a certain issue. In any case, you will be sure that you have your own position based on your own research and conclusions.

Essay writing is one of the best exercises to help improve critical thinking skills. This will help you learn how to effectively work with information, structure it, filter out questionable data, make conclusions – simply everything connected with critical thinking. For example, critical thinking in essay writing will help nurses analyze their experience, reflect on a situation, solve problems, and make the right decisions in a new situation.

Fortunately, critical thinking is not an organ that can atrophy. If you think that you have low critical thinking skills, you always have a possibility of improving it on your own, or apply for paper writing help to professionals.

How to start a critical thinking essay

Every text needs structure and focus, and consistent guidelines can help you consider all valuable points of a critical essay. As every piece of academic writing, critical thinking essay format consists of an introduction, several body paragraphs, and conclusion.

• Choose a central problem or argument. At college you may be asked to critically analyze essays, articles, controversial opinions, literature, etc. If you will have a chance to pick a topic by yourself, make sure that it is interesting for you and that there is plenty of information that you can read about it. Make sure that the topic is not too difficult and you will be able to come up with basic arguments.
• Gather information and recall to existing knowledge. What do you already know about the topic? If your topic is analyzing a certain text, you will need to read it attentively and point out the main issues. Before you will start reading, make a list of questions that you can consider while reading. Also, a good idea is to take notes as you read and briefly write your own thoughts.
• Come up with a thesis statement. This means that you need to come up with a central focus of your paper. A good thesis statement gives you the aim that you need to achieve in the body paragraph.
• Write the body paragraph. To write this paragraph, you will need to make several actions like analyzing the material. Maybe, you have some notes with ideas that you have come up with during writing, but for writing you need to make a profound analysis.
• Analyze the information. What evidence, arguments, and claims have you found? Identify weaknesses and strengths, pointing out important relationships.
• Examine different viewpoints. For critical writing it is a crucial part, as it will be a mistake to consider a particular viewpoint to be obvious and undeniable. Such approach requires to examine and evaluate scholarly opinions about the topic.
• Review contexts. Does the author try to approach the topic from an ideological perspective? Consider the fact that your own interpretation may be influenced by your culture, ideology, and other biases.
• Come up with your own viewpoint. It is advisable to create an additional section or subparagraph dedicated to your opinion. You can imagine that you are a participant of discussion and your task is to explain your opinion with evidence. Remember that you should avoid pronouns like “I” and “my.”
• Come up with conclusions. How can you evaluate your own findings? Briefly sum up the ideas you came up with in an overview. Define the importance of your findings and point out the directions that need further research.

Critical thinking essay questions

Do we often think about the role that questions play in our lives? You won’t be able to master critical thinking skills without asking the right questions.

Common questions for critical thinking usually start with who, what, why, where, and when. The right questions will help you think deeply about the context: causes and consequences, analyzing different data, and finding evidence to explain your point. The following questions prepared by our college paper writing service are aimed to help students to promote critical thinking while writing essays.

Questions about change.

– How has A become a turning point for B? – How has X transformed to Y? – What are the consequences of A? – What is the starting point of Y?

Questions that ask for an evaluation.

– What factors have influenced the decision? – How would the opponent critique this idea? – How would a supporter defend the decision? – How can the decision be applied in other conditions? – What factors have led to unusual consequences?

Questions that ask for rationale and evidence.

– What could be an example? – Are these justifications adequate (suitable, sufficient)? – Why do you think this is true? – What led you to this belief? – Do you have any proof for this?

Questions that ask for synthesis.

– How can this be compared? – Which option is better? – What is the benefit of this decision? – What is the value and importance? – What can I recommend? – What is better to think about?

This structured approach reflects the process that is governed by critical thinking. These questions allow us to challenge traditional thought processes and help to find new solutions.

Critical thinking essay topics

When you need to pick a topic for a critical thinking essay on your own, it can be a daunting task. Our paper writing service experts created a list of topics with suggested questions and ideas that will boost your writing process.

• Should insurance cover illnesses resulting from drug addiction?

Analyze several articles related to the topic over the internet. Mark several citations that you can cite in your essay. What is your personal attitude to people that take drugs? What is your own point of view about the topic? Write the essay from the perspective of your point of view and support it with citations from sources.

• What were the causes of the currency crisis in Russia?

Find relevant internet sources and analyze the origins of this crisis and its resolution. Has the International Monetary Fund provided intervention? Has the crisis ended? How did the Russian economy react to the conclusion?

• What differences and similarities do social welfare institutions in USA and China have?

First, briefly describe the overall development of social welfare in the context of culture and history. Compare the development of social welfare institutions in US and China. How has the poverty reduction policy influenced the situation in China? Discuss the current situation in US and China, focusing on the US social policy. Connect the relationship of poverty reduction and development of welfare institutions in China.

• Write a critical reflection about growing up, analyzing a personal experience.

Think about yourself when you were a child. What qualities have you obtained? What qualities have you lost? Why? What factors have influenced your development? Sum up your experience and how it has influenced your personal traits.

• What effects do leaders and managers have on employees?

What are the qualities of leaders in organizations? Does being a leader mean to have some sort of power? Is the statement “the more power the better” true? What tools do organizations use to manipulate the employees? How can the leader avoid being corrupted?

• Is the Affordable Care Act a good decision?

Write your own overall opinion about the Affordable Care Act. What are weaknesses and strengths of this Act? Develop your own opinion, considering the fact that the Affordable Care Act will require many people to buy insurance or pay a penalty. Are you ready to purchase insurance or get a fine? What would you prefer? Have you ever used health insurance? Do you see any sense in it? Why?

• Can drug testing of employees be treated as an infringement of personal privacy?

Nowadays, drugs have become a part of life for many people. When a company wants to hire a professional, managers want to be sure that the employee will be reliable and peaceful. Why do companies provide drug testing? How does this testing influence the relationship between worker and employer? What types of drug testing is common in companies? How does drug addiction influence the efficiency of the worker?

• How can schools encourage students to develop meta-cognition and critical thinking?

First, you should describe what is the essence of critical thinking and meta-cognition. How can all these skills be helpful for students at school and further in life? What practices should schools implement in programs? Are there any working exercises students can practice on their own?

• How can managers influence successful employees to behave in a certain way?

It is pure luck if you have a productive and brilliant employee in your team. Imagine that you have some controversial issues that this employee cannot agree with or his or her behavior is wrong in some way. What psychological strategies exist that can change behavior?

• Why is Apple marketing special?

You can pick several products and analyze the ways marketers use to promote particular products. What strategies do Apple marketers use? How do they introduce new categories of products? Can these methods be implemented in other companies? How?

• How have modern trends for healthy eating influenced the food industry?

Pick a company that successfully adopted a healthy eating policy for their own goods. Has the company succeeded in it? Has it worked? For example, we can take McDonald’s with a milk-free latte and soy hamburgers. Are these products popular? How does the company promote this subcategory of goods?

• What is the importance of critical thinking in academic writing?

First, you will need to collect some information about the topic from articles, your own experience, interviewing, observing, and come up with your point of view. Think about a list of things a good academic writer must do to become a successful writer. Why is it important? How can it be achieved?

• Can microaggressions be more than racial bias?

What is microaggression? Make research of available sources and determine the forms of microaggression and discrimination. What is the difference between microaggressions in the workplace and sexual harassment? Have you ever faced acts of microaggression in your college, friends group, and media? What type of aggression was it? What can society do to reduce such acts?

• What is the relationship between critical thinking and ethics?

Start with the definition of critical thinking and ethics. What are the steps of the critical thinking process? In what ways can you use critical thinking when studying and problem solving? What ethical lens do you prefer from the Ethical Lens Inventory? Think about how your personal ethical norms influence your decisions. How does ethics generally influence societal and professional responsibilities?

Critical thinking essay topic suggestions

If you still cannot choose a topic, maybe you will find it from these critical thinking essay questions:

• What effect does violence in the media have on young children?
• What are the causes of unhappy marriage?
• What is the nature of the employment relationship involved in the various areas of the “gig economy”?
• Critically analyze the following statement from the Marxist perspective: “Defining criminals as animals and misfits, as enemies of the state, provides a justification for incarcerating them in prison.”
• How does science as a practical technique transform human lives? What dangers does this transformation pose to humanity?
• Is solitary confinement cruel and unusual punishment?
• What is the nature of politics? Consider its influence on public opinion, political parties, interest group activity, and political socialization.
• Why has the global supply chain emerged? Why does it matter? What perspectives does it have?
• Do nurses who receive anti-bullying education experience less bullying?
• How do writers influence readers? What approaches do they use?
• What status and rights does a female worker have in Japan?
• What differences are between the burden of proof in a criminal trial and a civil trial?
• Critically analyze your favorite film or soap opera.
• How have gender stereotypes influenced Asian American identities?
• Do Shakespeare and Montaigne agree on how a person should react to misfortune? Why or why not?
• Critically analyze Steve Jobs’ commencement speech. Is it logically structured? What powerful moments does it have?
• What are the best ways to eliminate domestic violence? What countries have resolved this issue?
• Is sexual addiction a “biopsychosocial” phenomenon?
• Should assisted suicide (by the request of the patient) be illegal? Why or why not? If you agree, what methods of punishment should be applied? If not, describe your position in detail.
• What are advantages and disadvantages of being a vegan?

Critical thinking essay example

The best way to learn is to learn from examples. You will significantly improve your writing skills if you combine practical advice with a sample. One of the critical thinking essays examples that you can read below was written by a professional writer to show you how this type of essay may look. Let’s check it right away!

What Are the Scientific Causes of Happiness?

This essay will discuss the meaning of happiness and whether there is a scientifically proven method to reach happiness.

Humanity has always been interested in happiness. This term has many definitions and many approaches to modern positive psychology. From the scientific point of view, happiness is a chain of chemical processes in the body, as a result of which a person is saturated with “happiness hormones.”

Dfarhud (2014) research has shown that happiness depends on many brain chemicals: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins, cortisol, and melatonin, which can create happy feelings. No specific approach can keep chemicals on the level that brings happiness. According to this study, we can conclude that the assessment of subjective happiness and satisfaction is a complex system, and needs a balance of interactions and counterbalances.

According to Sato (2015), if a person is satisfied with life and often experiences positive emotions, the amount of gray matter in the parietal lobe on the inner surface of the cerebral hemispheres increases in the ancestral part, which is responsible for consciousness and memory. Scientists suppose that happiness can be achieved through meditation and training which, according to studies, increase the mass of gray matter in the parietal lobe of the cerebral hemispheres.

Research by Lyubomirsky (2005) has shown that thoughts can influence the balance of hormones and chemicals. That means that with positive thinking a person generates and reinforces new synapses in the brain that subsequently increase brain functions. But this cannot be applied to those who already are in depression or under certain circumstances that reduce the ability to think positively.

Many neurological articles promise to say something about happiness, but in fact, tell about the remuneration. Psychologists and scientists still have no universal recipe to become a happy person. There are various screening tests to identify the level of happiness, but the problem is that they are quite subjective. Along with brain reactions, happiness also depends on genetics, character, underlying brain systems; it is impossible to influence at a certain brain area or give a pill and make a person happy. The main aim of a scientist shouldn’t be happiness as a whole, but how to use psychic mechanisms and activities that can raise the overall subjective level of happiness.

Dfarhud, D., Malmir, M., & Khananmandi, M. (2014). Happiness & Health: The Biological Factors – Systematic Review Article. Iranian Journal of Public Health, 43(11), 1468–1477.

Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803-855.

Sato, W., Kochiyama, T., Uono, S., Kubota, Y., Sawada, R., Yoshimura, S., & Toichi, M. (2015, November 20). The structural neural substrate of subjective happiness. Retrieved from Scientific Reports: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep16891

Exercises for developing critical thinking skills

Critical thinking will not only improve the way you write an essay and do research. It will help you to make the right decisions in your everyday life and analyze situations you face at university and work. Practice at least one of the exercises and you will definitely feel the benefits of thinking critically.

1. Create a journal.

Get used to writing down your thoughts dedicated to a certain topic. Change it, for example, every week. You can follow this format:

Situation. Describe the situation in detail and from various points of view: scientific, logical, and emotional. Your reaction. Describe all of your emotions caused by the situation. Analysis. Think about the situation and try to find out what has happened and why. Try to get to the bottom of it. Evaluation. Try to evaluate the text you have written above. What can you do to improve your way of thinking? What misconceptions have you mentioned?

2. Set the list of goals for the week.

You can list the abilities you want to develop. Accuracy, precision, clarity, logical thinking, etc. That means that you should concentrate on these abilities in all everyday activities. For example, devote one week to concentrate on what you say and how you say it. At the end of the week you can sum up your observation and make improvements in the following week.

3. Pick an interesting topic or issue.

Find an interesting topic that you want to learn. Along with your everyday responsibilities, leave from fifteen to thirty minutes to read information about the chosen topic. This means that every day you will be reading about different points of view about the problem. Your task is to doubt the information and check whether it works or not.

4. Practice mind mapping.

Mind mapping is a great tool that you can use to increase your brain power and perceiving information. Research has shown that mind maps accumulate both left and right brain capacities. Mind mapping can help you summarize information, come up with questions, and increase comprehension. For example, you can create a mind map during one lecture in your college or just listen to any educational video over the internet.

Take a piece of paper and put the main idea in the center. Draw the branches starting from the top right corner and move in a clockwise direction. Each branch will represent keywords (subheadings of the topic). It is recommended to use different colors to group ideas, so it will be easier to encode your mind map later.

Critical thinking is just a way to think with your head, questioning any, even the most interesting ideas. Of course, critical thinking won’t solve all your problems, but it’s a good habit. And the more you think, the more effectively you will work, learn, communicate, and generate creative ideas. In conclusion, there’s nothing more to say but, each of us is free to choose in which world he or she should live – a colorful, multidimensional world or a flat, black-and-white world.

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What Is Critical Thinking? Definition Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Critical thinking

Critical thinking involves making a decision based on the identification and thorough evaluation of the available evidence (Ennis, 1996). A critical thinker makes his decisions based on broad and in-depth analysis of the evidence and thereafter communicates the beliefs accurately and clearly. Robert H. Ennis in his book “The Cornell Critical Thinking Tests” defines critical thinking as the ability to think reasonably and reflectively (Ennis, 1996). A critical thinker is open-minded, considers and explores as many possibilities as possible.

Critical thinking is sometimes contradictory and needs a lot of integrity. Critical thinkers do not take things at face value because the most accepted and common ideals are not usually right. Critical thinking allows someone to question his own ideas as they might be wrong (Ennis, 1996). Critical thinkers realize that the concept of right or wrong is transitory and what might have been right yesterday might be proved wrong the next time. Critical thinking argues that every idea might be right as long as it has strong evidence that supports it. Generally, most intellectuals argue that extremists cannot be critical thinkers because critical thinking does not insist on an idea being right.

Critical thinking has been of help to many disciplines including education and managerial communication (Makau, 1990). There are several processes that are involved in developing critical thinking skills. The first stage involves taking the information that you have read, heard, or seen. From the information, a person tries to understand it by taking the key arguments, points, assumptions, and the presented evidence. Based on the evidence and arguments, a critical thinker analyzes it by examining how the key components related to each other or fit (Ennis, 1996). After comparison, the ideas are synthesized through different sources of information brought together in building an idea or argument.

The different steps that could be used are categorized in the following chronological sequence and they form the main basis to be used in the critical thinking process:

• Process – Take in the information
• Understand – Comprehend the key points presented.
• Compare – a basic comparison of similarities between what is there and what you know.
• Synthesize – Make reasonable links linking the diverse basis that help you support your ideas (Cogan, 1998).
• The evaluation stage
• Apply – Its application and relevancy in the whole matter.
• Justify – Use critical thinking to build- up well-informed points of view, draw conclusions and identify implications. (Cogan, 1998)

Critical thinking is the most important form of thinking when it comes to decision-making and problem-solving. In managerial communication, critical thinking is vital in the sense that the managers have to be effective decision-makers (Cogan, 1998). Their decisions are should be imaginative and well reasoned. Applying the techniques of critical thinking allows them to solve complex problems (Ennis, 1996).

Critical thinking is also the logical method applied by normal people to the normal world. This is deemed to be a certainty since the act of critical thinking tries to duplicate the methods used for investigation which are:

• A question is identified,
• A theory formulated,
• Significant information sought and gathered,
• The plan logically tested and evaluated,
• Reliable conclusions are drawn from the outcome.

All of the skills of scientific research are matched by critical thinking, which is, therefore, nothing more than a methodical method used in everyday life rather than in specific scientific activities (Makau, 1990). A scientifically knowledgeable individual for example a mathematics lecturer has learned to think critically to reach that level of scientific alertness. Basic techniques of critical thinking could be used by any smart individual course who has attained a certain level of education which is a prerequisite to logical and critical thinking (Cogan, 1998). Critical thinking is also the method of applying articulate thinking to a subject. Cogan (1998) goes on to expound and explain that acquiring critical thinking skills helps an individual to develop experienced arguments and draw out the inferences that may be needed to use in his or her coursework and projects.

The idea’s worthiness is then evaluated based on how relevant it is to the thinker’s needs. The evidence is also evaluated based on its relation to other related ideas (Ennis, 1996). The final process in critical thinking involves the justification of the argument. The argument is developed; the conclusions are made and possible implications and inferences.

Ennis points out that during critical analysis, critical thinkers scrutinize tribulations, ask questions, create new answers, and find out new information that can be used for good or bad, question establishments and conventional values, and challenge-received doctrines (Ennis, 1996). Good scientists who conduct science must practice critical thinking. This is because it helps a person to be mindful and open-minded of alternatives. It helps a person to identify problems, make assumptions, reason well and identify conclusions. According to Ennis (1996), Critical thinking helps students in their doctorate studies because they help in their research projects and assignments.

When writing a research project critical thinking helps the student to identify an argument, evaluate credible sources, and be able to judge them (Makau, 1990). The students are able to judge the quality of the argument, evaluate the assumptions, accept the reasons and also analyze the evidence. Critical thinking helps doctorate students develop and defend reasonable positions well. Through critical thinking, students can create and plan for experiments well on top of formulating plausible hypotheses. It also helps in the definition of appropriate terms that match with the context and cautions students on the warranted conclusions (Makau, 1990).

Relevancy also plays a great role in that an individual who critically analyses a situation and properly gives back credible and reasonable assumptions and conclusions is therefore deemed to be a smart and appropriate critical thinker.

A good critical thinker in business management and doctorate studies should be able to gain evidence and use it impartially and skillfully. He should also organize ideas articulately and coherently. He should be able to distinguish between invalid and logically valid inferences and suspend any judgment that does not have sufficient evidence. A good critical thinker should differentiate between rationalizing and reasoning. Critical thinking allows someone to anticipate the probable consequences of an alternative argument. It helps individuals learn independently and most of all enables an individual to recognize the fallibility of their opinions, recognize their biases, and the danger involved in using personal preferences in weighing evidence (Makau, 1990).

Ennis, R. H. (1996). Critical thinking . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Makau, J.M. (1990). Reasoning and communication: thinking critically about arguments . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub. Co.

Cogan, Robert (1998). Critical Thinking: Step by Step University Press of America, Washington DC.

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Critical Thinking Essay Examples

The main aspects of critical thinking.

Critical thinking is a mindset, an expository position you take with respect to surveying claims that you have perused, heard, or saw. In deciding if a case is valid or not, basic reasoning is the cautious application. Sensible thinking about what to do and what...

Critical Thinking: Definition, the Importance and Problem Solving

Thinking takes a great place in modern scientific studies. It is one of the important mental abilities that play a major role in the life of the human being and in the cognitive life of humans. Thinking is defined as a series of mental activities...

How Develop the Ability of Critical Thinking

Critical thinking not only involves practice and mental discipline, it allows a reader to form a judgment from analyzing facts. But this does not mean that only a few can learn the ability to think critically. In critical thinking reflection essay we will understand how...

Importance of Critical Thinking: a Reflection on Its Impact

Encouraging people to improve their mindset and think deeper will help them better themselves as people and individuals. Developing a good mindset may be hard to achieve but will be worth it in the end, according to philosopher Minke Tromp. Changing mindsets can affect people...

Impacts of Critical Thinking on Growth Mindset

In the articles “Learning to Think” and “Growth Mindset”, the authors describe how critical thinking can impact lives immensely. Both articles present the idea that if people think positive then their results will become more positive. While developing a more positive mindset may be tough...

Fake News and Critical Thinking in Information Evaluation

In the post-truth era we are constantly bombarded with “news” which is fabricated, distorted, and massaged information, published with the intention to deceive and mislead others. Such “news” has come to be known as “fake news”. The influence of fake news can have profound socio-political...

The Importance of Critical Thinking Skills for My Education

I will be more independent and self-directed learner. This is because as a student it allows me to figure out my learning style, strengths and weakness in my life. This would help me to improve my performance or effort in achieving my goals. For an...

Critical Thinking Thesis: Learning Disabilities, Specifically Dyslexia

This topic interests me because I am familiar with people who suffer from learning disabilities. This made me want to explore in detail, the learning disability called dyslexia. I have a younger sibling who has not yet been definitively diagnosed with a learning disability however,...

Philosophical Problems and Critical Thinking

The main arguments revolve around the philosophies of the professor. The first argument of the professor is that to save the human race in the world, the skillsets of a person is the main ingredient. This means that the bunker should only be composed of...

The Role of Mental Imagery for an Athlete

Thinking, or cognition, can be defined as mental activity that goes on the brain when a person is processing information (organizing, understanding, and communicating it to others). Thinking does not only include memory, but much more. When people think, they are not only aware of...

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About Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgment.

The list of core critical thinking skills includes observation, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and metacognition. In addition to possessing strong critical-thinking skills, one must be disposed to engage in problems and decisions using those skills. Critical thinking employs not only logic but broad intellectual criteria such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance, and fairness.

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