Part One: Main Ideas and Insights
Critical thinking does not necessarily come naturally to people, who are subject to biases and prejudicial assumptions. According to Paul & Elder (2016), critical thinking can be learned and mastered. Critical thinking is essential for improving quality of life and promoting best practices in any field. With critical thinking, a person actively seeks answers and solutions to problems, probing multiple points of view and perspectives. Therefore, critical thinking requires open-mindedness and strong communication skills. Critical thinking also requires time and self-discipline, including the painstaking gathering of data, information, and evidence, and picking apart each issue using systematic methods. Rather than being reactive or subjective, critical thinking involves thorough analyses and assessments, with problem solving as its primary goal. Critical thinking is clear, accurate, significant, and ultimately, fair.
According to Paul & Elder (2016), all thought involves the same eight elements including point of view, problems or questions, implications or consequences, purpose or goals, assumptions, information, concepts or theories, and interpretations. Based on these eight elements of thought, the authors also provide a checklist readers can use to gauge critical thinking and improve critical thinking skills. For example, all reasoning should have a purpose or goal that can be communicated clearly, and which is also relevant and realistic. All questions should ideally be sub-divided into smaller issues for simplification and clarification, and to avoid complications. The critical thinker should also cultivate sufficient self-awareness to identify biases and assumptions in thought patterns, acknowledge points of view and potential alternative ways of looking at the subject. Critical thinkers also support their analyses with appropriate data and evidence, guided by established and articulate theoretical orientations. The conclusions of critical thought should also lead to solutions, with all implications taken into account.
Paul & Elder (2016) also claim that there are universal standards...
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