Critical thinking is a
skill for life. No matter what way you choose in life, you will always need a
clever thinking approach to overcome life challenges.
Critical thinking
stimulates curiosity as it
encourages you to ask questions, examine, and explore different
alternatives to solve
problems.
Critical thinking
enhances creativity by
aspiring you to imagine novel ideas to tackle issues.
What is critical thinking?
Critical thinking is a process to define, investigate,
and assess a situation that could be a conflict, claim,
arguments, etc.
The process is in three simple phases:
The description is to describe clearly
the subject by defining the goals, boundaries, restrictions,
and the subject’s elements (stakeholders). Use the following
keywords in this phase: who,
what, where,
when.
The analysis is to explain how the
elements fit in the whole story. Use the following keywords in
this phase: how,
why, what if.
The evaluation is to assess the options
and their impact on solving the issue. Use the following
keywords in this phase: so what,
what next.
Conversation between A and B about the three main critical
thinking steps. By Flinkliv.com.
Here are examples to improve your critical thinking process:
Critical thinking Exanmples
Example of description in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Description. A: "What is the
issue?" B: "I want to start a project." A: "Cool, what is
holding you back?" B: "I am not sure." By Flinkliv.com.
Example of analysis in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Analysis. A: "What if you
write down all the project’s tasks?" B: "Oh!" By Flinkliv.com.
Example of evaluation in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Evaluation. B: "How does it
help me?" A: "It helps you to make a plan." By Flinkliv.com.
Example of accuracy in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Accuracy. A: "I think it is
broken." B: "How can we check that?" By Flinkliv.com.
Example of accuracy in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Accuracy. A: "This one is the
best." B: "How do you know that?" By Flinkliv.com.
Example of accuracy in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Accuracy. A: "I am very
smart." B: "How can you prove that?" By Flinkliv.com.
Example of breadth in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Breadth. A: "The orange hates
us." B: "Do we need to look at this from another perspective?
Maybe we just need to talk with the orange." By Flinkliv.com.
Example of breadth in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Breadth. A: "Let’s build more
weapons against them." B: "Do we need to look at this in other
ways? How about de-escalation, dialogue." By Flinkliv.com.
Example of clarity in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Clarity. A: "It doesn’t
work." B: "Could you elaborate further?" By Flinkliv.com.
Example of clarity in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Clarity. A: "He always says
weird things." B: "Could you give me an example?" By
Flinkliv.com.
Example of clarity in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Clarity. A: "The device is
corrupted." B: "Could you illustrate what you mean?" By
Flinkliv.com.
Example of depth in critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Depth. A: "Let’s colonize
Mars." B: "Well, what are the challenges to achieve that?" By
Flinkliv.com.
Example of fairness in critical thinking:
Conversation between A, B, and C about Fairness. A: "Am I
considering the thinking of everybody here?" B and C: "Yeah." By
Flinkliv.com.
Example of reverse thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Reverse Thinking. A: "I don’t
know how to succeed at work." B: "How about reverse thinking?"
A: "What do you mean?" B: "Well, think about a list of things
that ruins your work, then do the opposite." A: "Oh! Late to
work, mediocre work, not getting along with colleagues, not
helping colleagues, negative attitude, not offering a solution,
etc." B: "Well, do the opposite of this list, and your chances
to succeed at work will increase." By Flinkliv.com.
Example of reverse thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Reverse Thinking. A: "I don’t
know what to study or how to choose the right degree." B: "Why?"
A: "I want to have a good job." B: "How about reverse thinking?"
A: "What do you mean?" B: "Think about a good job you want to
have, then look for the education that leads you to it." A:
"Thanks." By Flinkliv.com.
Example of data science and critical thinking:
Conversation between A and B about Data Science and Critical
Thinking. A: "I am a data scientist." B: "How come?" A: "I took
online classes in R & Python and data visualization." B: "Data
science is more than that. You also need skills like critical
thinking, communications, and mathematics." By Flinkliv.com.