Definition of Critical Thinking
There are several facets to any discussion of critical thinking, butmost important of these is the definition of critical thinking. Manyvoices have tried to define it, and have arrived at a variety of somewhatsimilar conclusions. One definition regards critical thinking as theability to "analyze facts, generate and organize ideas, defend opinions,make comparisons, draw inferences, evaluate arguments and solve problems, adefinition developed by others and quoted by Huitt, 1998. Other 1. A way of reasoning that demands adequate support for one's beliefs and an unwillingness to be persuaded unless support is 2. Involving analytical thinking for the purpose of evaluating what 3. Reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do ...(Huitt, 1998) Of these, the first definition seems to be the most useful if oneaccepts that the point of critical thinking is to make decision-makingtasks easier and more valuable. To arrive at that conclusion, it might bewell to look at the other possibilities Huitt offers. Number one appears to depend too much on what
Obviously, then, critical thinking skills and the ability to make gooddecisions are intertwined. Most people would not think of character as the result of criticalthinking, but clearly it is. Competence deals with knowledge, expertise and arguably the ability to usethat knowledge and expertise appropriately, that is, to make reliabledecisions. It is not going too far to note that the benefits of being a criticalthinker in today's universe are abundant. ' In any case, Huitt arguesthat "Critical thinking is an important attribute for success in the 21stcentury. Perhaps the choice was based on fear of getting caught; perhaps it wasbased on empathy, knowing how he or she would feel if a bike were stolen. Worse, on a personallevel, it could be stressful in the extreme. " (1998) Huitt further differentiates critical thinking from "creative"thinking and even from "good thinking. Perhaps the best definition of critical thinking, for anyone who has aneed to make decisions, especially those involving the well-being of others(such as most decisions at work), is a combination of Huitt's initialdefinition, and the third of the three he offers as possibilities. Huitt,too, believes that the third definition above has a lot to contribute to amodern, working definition of critical thinking. If one lacks a vision, for one's lifeor one's work, then that person will wander aimlessly through both of them. Critical thinking is: analyzing facts, generating and organizing ideas,defending opinions, making comparisons, drawing inferences, evaluatingarguments and solving problems with the intention of deciding what tobelieve or do. In fact, however,this is useful for shedding light on the definition of critical thinking. It is the easiest toacquire, the easiest to put to use. There is somuch offered, in terms of alternative methods of living and working, thatan inability to think critically and make decisions based on reliableresults of that thinking means a person is doomed to be pushed and shovedany way the wind blows.
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Acceptance Essays
