What is Critical Thinking? And How to Use it Every Day (With Examples)

Definition of Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is defined as a process that proposes to analyze and evaluate an issue or argument objectively to form a judgment.

What this means is that we should distance from emotions and personal preferences while evaluating a proposition or argument, besides challenging it in the first place.

Critical Thinking Explained

Critical thinking is the essence of philosophy. When Socrates stopped accepting absurd explanations like “It rains because the God of rain wants it to be so.”

Back in the day (around 2,500 years ago) in Athens, ancient Greece, everything unexplainable was attributed to the Gods. If there was lighting, Zeus was responsible. If someone died, Thanatos was the one to blame.

But Socrates didn’t accept this. He thought that there ought to be a reasonable explanation for everything and started questioning everything. And so, philosophy came to being, as well as critical thinking.

Critical thinking, among many things, is challenging and questioning assumptions.

We are constantly bombarded with reasons to do and believe things. Our parents, friends, professors, authority figures, and other family members often try to convince us to buy a product, choose a career, support a cause, (usually the same as theirs), accept a particular philosophy of life or religion, etc.

People want to implant their beliefs on us because they think those are the best. Thinking logically and critically means challenging those reasons and ideas that everyone wants us to believe.

Obstacles To Critical Thinking

When trying to apply critical thinking, there are some obstacles that we face:

Confirmation Bias:

“The human understanding, when it has once adopted an opinion draws all things … to support and agree with it. And though there be a greater number and weight of instances to be found on the other side, yet these it either neglects and despises or … sets aside and rejects in order that by this great and pernicious predetermination, the authority of its former conclusions may remain inviolate”. (Francis Bacon 1602).

We tend to look for ways to confirm what we already believe. They say that we see what we want to see, and precisely, that’s what we look for.

Confirmation bias is a cognitive bias that favors information which confirms your beliefs or preferences.

After one makes his mind about something, even when we face information that might discard our initial belief, we ignore it and discredit it. Instead, we use it to support our argument further.

Availability Heuristics:

This is one strategy that we often use to try and solve problems quickly. It consists of making decisions based on what comes to mind first (also called reasoning heuristics).

Most of the time, heuristics serve as a mental shortcut that allows us to simplify decision making. The result is often fast and efficient. However, sometimes, they can become an obstacle to logical and critical thinking.

When I say the word “Rottweiler,” you probably think about an aggressive and scary big dog, because they have that reputation (mostly out of people’s ignorance). The truth is that all dogs are 99% similar. There are only a few exceptions, and this breed can be as loving as a Labrador (if trained and educated well).

In fact, in the US alone, many people are injured by falling television sets more than dog attacks. Maybe they have bigger televisions.

It is easy to think about a specific dog breed as aggressive, even more so if they are often trained as guard dogs and look scary (like Rottweillers). However, if you’ve had one of these dogs, you can tell that they are lovely creatures.

By looking at this picture that warms any heart, you’ll get a different perspective.

They could be just as tender when grown-up, with the right education of course.

Terrorist attacks, for example, are easy to remember because they are striking and can cause trauma. So, you could associate a big dog breed with previously reported dog attacks.

If you meet a person on the street, based on their looks, you immediately guess what their profession is. It is easier to think that someone is a teacher or a banker than an astronaut.

When you need to make a quick decision, say like buying a car, you will rely on popular knowledge. In some parts of the world, Korean car brands like Hyundai are considered trash because they made bad cars 20 years ago. So, you may take what you’ve heard and made a decision based on that while ignoring statistics and recent information.

Hyundai has been making great cars for the last ten years or so. They make some of the best vehicles that you can buy right now, for the price.

Framing Problems

The framing effect is also a cognitive bias. People decide based on whether the option is framed positively or negatively.

Example: Six hundred people are facing a disease. There are only two hundred pills that can cure the ill.

a) save 200

b) 1/3 probability of saving 600 and 2/3 chance that they all die.

Now, if you frame the options like this:

c) kill 400

d) 1/3 probability no one will die

In the original experiment by famous psychologists Tversky and Kahneman, 72% of those asked to choose, choose option A, and 28% chose B.

Between C and D, 78% chose D, and 22% chose C.

If you look carefully at the options, A and D are framed positively, while B and C are framed negatively.

Some people may not fall for the trick of framing something positively; however, most do.

Common Fallacies

Fallacies, more commonly known as logical fallacies, refer to the logically incorrect reasoning.

There are three major types of fallacies:

Fallacies of Relevance

Some of the most common fallacies of relevance include rejecting an argument because the person supporting it fails to practice what they are preaching.

Another typical example is distorting the opponent’s argument and attacking the weaker version.

A well-known strategy is to provoke feelings of empathy and/or pity when those are not relevant to the argument. This is a way of turning a discussion around.

Fallacies of Unacceptable Premises

These fallacies attempt to introduce premises that don’t support the conclusion of the argument, however relevant they might be.

The false dilemma is a popular one. It declines the possibility that two options are correct. Even when two premises may be right, it gives the impression that only one could be true.

Formal Fallacies

Some arguments are a fallacy because of their structure or form. An argument with the wrong form will never be valid.

These fallacies are centered on the way the argument is built and presented, not their content, nor what they say.

How to Develop Critical Thinking In Everyday Life

There are a few strategies to use critical thinking in daily life.

First, question everything, which means, don’t take anyone’s word, as convincing as an argument may sound, keep digging, looking for logical reasons to support that argument.

If you are given an assumption, challenge it.

Remember, questions are far more important than answers.

Second, research everything. If there is someone telling that there was an accident at “X” place and they closed the street, don’t just take their word. Confirm what you’ve been told with logical reasoning and evidence.

Soon, you’ll get in the habit of questioning everything and applying logic and critical thinking to your daily life.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that everyone wants to fool you. Sometimes people will tell you things they’ve heard from someone else, and the more the message is told, the more distorted it will get.

Third, emphasize data and evidence over beliefs. By this, I mean thinking objectively, putting aside your feelings and your beliefs, while prioritizing the evidence.

An example of this is people. You have been friends with John for ten years and think you know him pretty well. Someone at work tells you that John just stole a percent of a project’s budget. Your immediate reaction is surprise and negation. While John may be innocent, you shouldn’t take sides. Instead, you should consider the possibility and make a judgment only when there are sufficient facts and evidence.

Fourth, test your ideas and look for what others have missed. Again, don’t take their word for it. Keep looking and questioning every side. If you have an idea, even if it is a longshot, test it.

I know this all sounds a bit extreme, I mean you’re not a detective after all, right? But when talking about critical thinking, you’re doing detective work, and you’ll see this in the next part.

Critical Thinking in School and Universities

Nowadays, no one is teaching critical thinking in high schools and universities. One of the most important skills to acquire before approaching higher education is being ignored.

When you are taking a class, you have to take everything they teach you with a grain of salt. Don’t believe everything.

Critical thinking allows you to think by yourself. You can use the information provided by others and make a judgment based on your reasoning of that information, as well as evidence that supports the same.

Most people nowadays are taking everything they are taught at schools as absolute. Sometimes the teachers and professors share their personal views without being aware of it. Just because they say that something is, it doesn’t mean it is that way in reality.

In his work “Beyond Good and Evil,” Fridrich Nietzsche said about philosophers:

“They are all advocates who do not wish to be regarded as such, generally astute defenders, also, of their prejudices, which they dub “truths,”— and VERY far from having the conscience which bravely admits this to itself, very far from having the good taste of the courage which goes so far as to let this be understood, perhaps to warn friend or foe, or in cheerful confidence and self-ridicule.” (Chapter one, Prejudices of Philosophers).

To summarize that, he means that all philosophers are biased by their prejudices, past life experiences, etc.

If philosophers are biased, so are university professors and others, which is the reason why we should be making our conclusions.

So, again, take everything with a grain of salt, and don’t accept anyone’s views. Instead, take what they say and analyze it, think, and draw your own conclusion. If something doesn’t feel right, then keep making questions until you find a suitable explanation that satisfies your curiosity.