1.1 Critical thinking
“Critical thinking requires us to use our imagination, seeing things from perspectives other than our own and envisioning the likely consequences of our position.”
– Hugo Bedau and Sylvan Barne
You might have heard phrases like ‘critical analysis’, ‘critical evaluation’, and ‘critical reflection’, but what does ‘critical’ mean? Sometimes people mistakenly think that ‘critical thinking’ has a negative meaning — but it shouldn’t be confused with being argumentative or criticising other people. Critical thinking skills can be used in exposing fallacies and bad reasoning, but they also play an important role in cooperative reasoning, innovation, and many other constructive tasks. These skills allow you to look beneath the surface of an issue, cover all angles, and ask the best questions to find the truth and understand and issue.
Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe. Critical thinking skills include questioning, analysis, evaluation, inference, reasoning, synthesis of ideas, and open-mindedness. These skills are closely intertwined with problem solving, decision making, reflection, and innovation.
Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following:
- understand the logical connections between ideas
- identify, construct and evaluate arguments
- detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
- solve problems systematically
- identify the relevance and importance of ideas
- reflect on the justification of their own beliefs and values
Critical thinking is not a matter of accumulating information. A person who has memorised a lot of facts is not necessarily good at critical thinking. A critical thinker is able to seek relevant sources of information, deduce consequences, and make use of information to solve problems.
Thinking critically in everyday life
We all think critically in everyday life, but don’t necessarily think of it as being ‘critical’. Many things we do throughout the day are part of our routine and don’t require much assessment – we do them automatically – but new tasks, experiences, and issues often show up and need more thought, consideration of evidence, and might require us to make a decision and take action.
The cards below contain everyday scenarios in which people would likely use critical thinking skills without even realising they were doing it. Read a scenario, consider what you would do in the situation, then turn the card to see an example before moving on to the next scenario.
Thinking critically at university
Every university course at every level requires critical thinking and writing. Learning activities are based on the idea that you will be a curious discoverer and consumer of knowledge and that you will use this to develop an understanding of each theory, concept and idea that is a part of your studies.
The biggest difference with pre-university learning is the need to be ‘critical’. This could mean many things, but essentially means that you question and find the limits of each idea. It is expected that you will do this in each learning setting, from lectures to the exam room. In the expandable sections below, you can explore how you can become more critical during each part of your learning at university.
Building your critical thinking skills
Critical thinking is a cognitive skill, and in the same way that you develop many other skills, there are three main factors involved in learning critical thinking: theory, practice, and attitude. It’s not enough just to know the basic principles, though. Knowing the rules and principles of tennis, for example, isn’t enough to become a skilled player, since you might not know how to apply what you know on the court. This requires practice, and the same goes for critical thinking.
However, persistent practice can only bring real progress with the right motivation and attitude. People who dislike challenges or having to find things out for themselves will find it hard to improve their thinking. Self-improvement requires critical and honest reflection about the reasons behind our actions and beliefs. We must be willing to engage in debate, acknowledge our mistakes, break old habits, and deal with challenging concepts.
Critical thinking doesn’t always lead you to the easiest conclusion or the answer you want. Sometimes thinking critically and examining biases can be uncomfortable; getting used to this discomfort is part of building your critical thinking skills.
Here are some things you can do to consciously develop your critical thinking skills.
- Learn the principles of critical thinking, like some basic logic and the typical fallacies (flawed arguments) that people make.
- Learn how to intentionally analyse and evaluate information and ideas.
- Question things – don’t just accept something is correct or true because you want it to be.
- Try to develop awareness of biases, both those of others and your own. This will help you recognise them when they stand in the way of critical thinking.
- Actively seek out opinions that are different from yours and consider them carefully.
- Use relevant data and evidence to guide decisions. Talk to experts or people who know more than you do about your topic.
- Be honest about the reasons for your decisions.
- Reflect on your decisions and actions – both the things that don’t work out and the things that do.
Making decisions can be difficult with so much information around us. The TED-Ed video below considers five ways you can use critical thinking skills to deal with problems.
Asking the right questions is a key element of critical thinking, and it’s nothing new! In this short TED-Ed video, explore the technique known as the Socratic Method, which uses questions to examine a person’s values, principles, and beliefs, and deepen their understanding.
Before you watch the video below, consider this question: How can the action of questioning be helpful even if it doesn’t provide a definitive answer?
Reflect
Think about your answers to these questions independently or discuss them with a classmate.
- Can you think of any examples of times when you’ve used your critical thinking skills in everyday life?
- What about when doing research or answering questions in class?
- What do you think would happen to society if nobody had critical thinking skills?
- What are the dangers of looking at a situation from only one perspective?
- Can you think of a time when misinformation impacted a decision you made? Why did that misinformation exist?
- Which areas of your critical thinking practice do you think need the most improvement? (e.g. I sometimes jump to conclusions, I don’t always look for a second source before believing content I read online, I don’t always look at situations from multiple perspectives, I’ve been known to make reckless decisions without evaluating the situation first…)
This resource has multiple pages dedicated to helping you become a strong critical thinker in your everyday life, at university, and in your career. In this chapter, you’ll find information on critical analysis, critical evaluation, and logical fallacies.
To further enhance your critical thinking skills, visit the chapter on reflective thinking and practice to learn more about how reflection can be applied in academic writing, and across disciplines like art and design, business, education, and health.
This page includes content adapted from:
- Critical Thinking Web, Tutorial: What is critical thinking? website maintained by Joe Lau, University of Hong Kong, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.
- A Miniguide to Critical Thinking by Dr. Joe Y.F. Lau, University of Hong Kong, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.
- Critical thinking: Criticality in the learning cycle by University of York, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA .
Barnet, S., & Bedau, H. A. (2005). From Critical Thinking to Argument: A Portable Guide. Bedford/St. Martin’s
Lau, J.Y.F. (2011). Introduction. In An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity, J.Y.F. Lau (Ed.). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118033449.ch1, pp. 1-9
TED-Ed video: 5 Tips to Improve Your Critical Thinking by Samantha Agoos, embedded from YouTube, unless otherwise indicated TED-Ed talks are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
TED-ED video: This tool will help improve your critical thinking by Eric Wilberding, embedded from YouTube, unless otherwise indicated TED-ED talks are licenses under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
