Thinking: It's Getting Critical

                 What is worth valuing? What is good? What is morally correct? How do I become the person I want to be? What sources and information are trustworthy? Most importantly, what do these questions all have in common? The common denominator for all of these inquiries is critical thinking. Critical thinking is of vital importance now more than ever because information is so readily available. While the quantity of information has exponentially increased throughout the modern era, its quality has not risen at a similar rate. The consequence is that a person growing up in the 21^st century is constantly bombarded with biased perspectives, values, and information. Many people have a direct stake in the beliefs of others. Corporations spend billions of dollars annually to build particular reputations and to influence the thinking of others. Religious and social institutions have highly refined ideologies that they would like to metaphorically upload into any available psyche. Though some of these organizations have the interest of the individuals in mind, many of them are far more concerned with their own longevity. Browne and Keeley (2013) went as far as to argue that a lack of critical thinking can lead a person to be a ‘mental slave’ of another’s ideology. All these factors directly affect the type of person people want to become and how they perceive the legitimacy of various routes that could take them there.

                While avoiding ‘mental slavery’ should be a sufficient reason for many to engage in critical thinking, it actually goes beyond that. Browne and Keeley (2013) explained two types of critical thinking: weak and strong. Weak critical thinking was defined as critical thinking employed in order to defend one’s preexisting beliefs. Strong critical thinking was that which is employed to evaluate all beliefs including one’s own. In this sense strong critical thinking is a way of actively engaging the world. All people start off by inheriting the values of their own culture and social circles, including family. At some point, a person will develop the capability of reflecting on these values. If a person does not engage in this type of reflection then they are falling victim to the same type of mental slavery expressed by Browne and Keeley, and they may never even be aware of it. This can be likened to the allegory of the slave who grows to love his own chains. Critical thinking provides the tools for an individual to ask “why do I value this?”; “what is worth valuing?”; and  “are my actions reflecting those values that I profess to have?”. In this sense, critical thinking is the tool that allows for a person to become self-aware, self actualized, and fully engaged in their own existence.

                As it relates to life in general, critical thinking must be used at multiple levels. Specifically, it is important in terms of distinguishing what sources of information are legitimately based on reliable and valid evidence, and what information is biased. Even many seemingly well executed experiments or surveys should be mindfully excluded from how we make decisions. It is well within the capabilities of knowledgeable researchers to intentionally influence the responses of study/survey participants. This can be done by everything from the word order of questions to the context in which a survey is given. However, perhaps more importantly is the affect of critical thinking as a tool to navigate life as a whole. Critical thinking can be likened to the captain of a ship. Its job is not simply to focus on the minutia of the journey and to micro manage every detail of handling the boat, but to make sure the entire operation stays on course. In this way, people can actively use critical thinking to actively develop specific mental shortcuts (heuristics) that help them keep their own lives on track as they see fit.

Browne, M. N. & Keeley, S. M. (2013) Asking the right questions: A guide to critical thinking 9/e (Custom Edition) Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Prentice Hall