[Music]
this video is sponsored by Squarespace
sign up with the link in the description
to get a free trial and 10% off your
first purchase hey guys I'm giving away
some freedom and thought t-shirts if you
want to enter to win one just follow me
on Twitter Instagram and reply to one of
these posts with your shirt size I have
sizes ranging from small to double XL
the winners will be chosen by next week
[Music]
in my last essay we discussed the
importance of critical thinking now it's
time to answer the trillion dollar
question how do you become a critical
thinker I should reiterate that I am
talking about critical thinking in the
sense that it is a personality trait and
not a skill the tendency to think
critically about the world emerges from
having the proper character traits
I think the following traits serve as a
good starting point open and fair
mindedness inquisitiveness flexibility a
propensity to seek reason a desire to be
well-informed and a respect for and
willingness to entertain diverse
viewpoints
Emily Lai Pearson assessments there is
no quick hack to becoming a critical
thinker but there are some habits that
one can build to alter their character
in the right direction habit number one
read a lot and read widely exposing
yourself to unique points of view is a
good way to spark constant curiosity and
to stay open-minded well-read people
understand that there are multiple ways
to look at a problem and multiple lenses
with which to view the world habit
number two don't jump to conclusions a
good critical thinker has built up the
habit of not jumping to conclusions
especially in the absence of data they
only make a judgement once they have
studied a topic in some depth and can
justify their position with sound
reasoning habit number three create
systems not goals for example creating a
system habit or ritual that promotes
writing every day is more effective than
setting the goal of writing an essay a
week a system can be measured refined
and optimized a goal cannot I can work
on the inputs of my system to create
better quality and quantity of outputs a
goal only focuses on the outputs to
improve the quality of my writing I
created checklist that I can run through
after completing each essay every time I
use my system I create better essays
with every essay I finish I go back and
refine my system it's a feedback loop
that can be measured and improve
habit number four argue with yourself
great thinkers routinely and
intelligently try to counter their own
arguments they go back and forth until
only the most rational and strongest
argument exists based on the knowledge
they have this is also the mission of
any good scientists the scientist tries
to prove themselves wrong not right when
they continually fail to do so it's very
likely that only the truth remains habit
number five be willing to change your
opinion be unattached to information
have the willingness to change an
opinion in the face of better data habit
number six right writing is thinking the
better we get at writing the better we
get at thinking writing also helps us
separate what we actually know from what
we think we know habit number seven seek
adversity this one is controversial but
I believe it's the most powerful the
main reason schools fail to teach
critical thinking is because they don't
create the optimal environment to foster
the correct character trains schools are
overly standardized and structured the
rules are very rigid once students
understand the rules school becomes a
game once they've established a game
strategy that works they can play the
game very passively and get by most
students quickly learn the bare minimum
amount of effort required to get a job
and then they have no incentive to work
harder and to think actively but if you
take them out of that game if you break
the immersion they are now forced to
think critically in adversity they learn
to create new rules and break old ones
they have to because it's either do or
die
the shift from a passive thinker to an
active thinker is very subtle on the
surface because it happens internally it
requires internal conviction a strong
belief in oneself regardless of how many
tips I give someone to become a critical
thinker it ultimately has to come from a
deep desire within most great women and
men have gone through adversity
why because adversity generates a lot of
internal conviction this internal
conviction drives them and constantly
shifts them into active modes of
thinking instead of living defensively
they attack life with ferocity they know
they're gonna die one day time is
running out they don't know when that
day will come so they attack life they
race against death because they have a
purpose to fulfill I like to think of
critical thinking as a tendency and not
a skill great thinkers constantly tend
towards critical thinking in their daily
lives if school doesn't teach students
critical thinking where are
people learning it life adversity books
the Internet these people become
critical thinkers despite school not
because of it they learn it because they
have to I believe that one day schools
will catch up into a better job of
fostering this environment but
thankfully we always have the power to
put ourselves in a position to learn it
thanks to Squarespace anyone who clicks
the link in the description will get a
free trial and 10% off their first
purchase
Squarespace allows you to make beautiful
websites with their all-in-one platform
you don't need to know any coding at all
to get started and they have beautiful
award-winning templates when I first
started freedom and thought it began as
a blog for engineering students and the
platform I used to set up that blog with
Squarespace they made it easy for me to
get a good looking website up and just
get started with the writing and
publishing I now use them to run three
of my websites engineering worth for
engineering students freedom and thought
and my own personal and professional
website whether you're a musician
designer entrepreneur or student a good
professional web site is a must and
Squarespace can help you set one up
easily again click the link in the
description to get a free trial and 10%
off your first purchase as always thanks
for watching and I'll see you next time