What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking is described as:

Reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do. (Ennis, 1993)

No one always acts purely objectively and rationally. We connive for selfish interests. We gossip, boast, exaggerate, and equivocate. It is "only human" to wish to validate our prior knowledge, to vindicate our prior decisions, or to sustain our earlier beliefs. In the process of satisfying our ego, however, we can often deny ourselves intellectual growth and opportunity. We may not always want to apply critical thinking skills, but we should have those skills available to be employed when needed.

Critical thinking enables us to recognise a wide range of subjective analyses of otherwise objective data, and to evaluate how well each analysis might meet our needs. Facts may be facts, but how we interpret them may vary.

Main characteristics of critical thinking

Critical thinking includes a complex combination of skills. According to Paul and Elder (2006) of The Foundation for Critical Thinking, the standards are: accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, significance and fairness. Critical thinkers display the following characteristics:

• They are by nature skeptical. They approach texts with the same skepticism and suspicion as they approach spoken remarks.
• They are active, not passive. They ask questions and analyse. They consciously apply tactics and strategies to uncover meaning or assure their understanding.
• They do not take an egotistical view of the world. They are open to new ideas and perspectives. They are willing to challenge their beliefs and investigate competing evidence.

By contrast, passive, non-critical thinkers take a simplistic view of the world.

• They see things in black and white, as either-or, rather than recognising a variety of possible understandings.
• They see questions as yes-or-no with no subtleties.
• They fail to see linkages and complexities.
• They fail to recognise related elements.

Non-critical thinkers take an egotistical view of the world.

• They take their facts as the only relevant ones.
• They take their own perspectives as the only sensible ones.
• They take their goals as the only valid ones.