by METurner

Created on: January 08, 2009   Last Updated: February 15, 2012

Concepts of critical thinking

Frequently we run across situations where we see examples of defective ways of thinking. For instance; if someone told you to swallow turpentine to cure a sore throat, you would probably think that this person's thought pattern is very faulty. Human beings have a unique ability to reason or to think rational. The problem is; some of us do not use this unique gift.

Often we fail to think critically. Critical thinking involves a lot more than just thinking or acting selectively. When you critically think a thing out; you are actually screening your ideas to see if they make sense. For example; say you slip and fell at your job, and failed to fill out an accident report. If you had given this incident more thought you would have realized that you should have filled out an accident report. You have now become crippled due to an accident that you had at work, now you have to pay out of pocket for your medical bills.

Many of us agree to the fact that we must screen our own ideas for defects but it's another story when our ideas and views are subjected to scrutiny. People tend to be defensive in the area of scrutinizing ideas. Just because you criticize an idea doesn't mean you are actually attacking the person. In many cases scrutinizing one's ideas may be for the benefit or well being of that person. We do ourselves a great harm by not thinking critically about our own ideas.

Beliefs and opinions are called claims. When you present a reason for thinking that a claim is true you are actually giving an argument. Giving a person a reason for thinking that some claim is true is what classifies that claim as an argument. Critical thinking consists of logical evaluation of specific claims and weighing the arguments for and against them. The most important part of critical thinking is an argument. In many real life situations it is sometimes difficult to identify the actual claim.

People often confuse arguments and explanations. Arguments attempt to prove or support a conclusion. Arguing about a dog having fleas is not the same as explaining why the dog has fleas. Irrelevant things get mixed up with arguments. For this reason, one needs to sort through the mess and find the real argument. Why consider arguments which have no idea what would count toward truth or a fallacy.

Some would say that an argument is an attempt to persuade. All argument s are not an attempt to persuade. People are moved by different things for different reasons. Arguments are probably the least effective way of persuasion yet as mentioned earlier, arguments are the most important part of critical thinking.

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