Defining Critical Thinking
The term “critical thinking” has been defined in countless ways. Using the format provided below, explore some of these definitions by responding to each prompt.
Source 1: Think! Chapter 1
Definition provided:
Critical thinking is the careful application of reason in the determination of whether a claim is true.
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What is helpful or interesting to you about this definition?
The definition confronts me with idea of how I should apply the meaning of critical thinking in real life situation to solve difficult tasks that I may encounter in daily chores.
Source 2: Video: “What is Critical Thinking? A Definition”
Definition Provided:
Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it.
What is new, helpful, or interesting to you about this definition?
The definition is interesting because critical thinking is introduced as an art. It is also interesting in that the sentence of the definition is small, but it says quite a lot.
Source 3 Website: University of Leeds definition
Definition Provided:
Critical thinking is about questioning and learning with an open mind.
What is new, helpful, or interesting to you about this definition?
The definition is helpful because it enlightens me on matters of being careful not to just believe in what I read in books, classroom or in media; rather I should embrace critical thinking to analyze whether what I read is true or debatable.
Synthesis Question: Looking at the above definitions, combine, rewrite, revise and/or reword them to come up with YOUR answer to the question: “What is Critical Thinking?”
The word “critical thinking” appears almost in every article we read. It appears simple; and therefore, we rarely stop to ask ourselves its real meaning. One’s definition of “critical thinking” however, depends on the point of view he or she takes. Nevertheless, looking at the various definitions as the ones above here, we may employ the first principle of definitions to come up with a simple definition that sums up the other definitions. Thus, critical thinking may simply be defined as “thinking about thinking.”
