"Give someone a fish and they'll eat that day.
Teach them how to catch a fish and they'll never go hungry"
Proverbs like this remind us how learning skills
helps to move us towards self-reliance.
This is never more true than with critical thinking.
Memorize the solution to a problem
and you may master that particular problem.
Improve your critical thinking
and you'll give yourself the tools
to create your own effective solutions
to a multitude of unfamiliar problems.
Critical thinking refers to a diverse range
of intellectual skills and activities
concerned with evaluating information - as well as our own thought -
in a disciplined way.
When we're willing and able to examine our own capability as thinkers
acknowledging problems and weaknesses
this can help us refine our thought processes
so that we learn to think and assess information
in a more comprehensive way
that increases our ability to identify and reject false ideas and ideologies.
Critical thinking isn't just 'thinking a lot'.
A person may spend a great deal of intellectual energy
defending a flawed position
or pursuing a question that actually needs reformulating
before progress can begin.
If they never examine possible flaws and biases behind their approach
that's not thinking critically.
We must want to be better at thinking;
to pinpoint and minimise any biasing influence on our thought
from culture and upbringing;
to seek out and be guided by knowledge and evidence
that fits with reality, even if it refutes our cherished beliefs.
Indeed, when we think critically
beliefs tend not to be cherished
but held on the understanding that if they're shown to be unfounded
a change of position is the most appropriate response.
Critical thinkers cultivate an attitude of curiosity
and eagerness to widen their perspective and broaden their knowledge
and they're willing to do the work required
to keep themselves properly informed about a subject.
They recognise that explanations must actually explain
and be testable to be worthy of serious consideration;
and that legitimate theories
clearly define the circumstances in which they will concede defeat.
Critical thinking embraces scepticism.
Scepticism doesn't mean an indiscriminate rejection of ideas
as some mistakenly believe.
It refers to doubting
and suspending our judgment about claims with which we're presented
so that we don't simply accept claims that may be unjustified
but first take the time to understand them
examining the reasoning and possible assumptions and biases behind them.
Reasoning behind factual claims should be based in sound, consistent logic
not on emotions and social pressure
because the truth-value of factual claims isn’t determined
by the emotion that accompanies them
or the fact that they may be believed by certain social groups.
Sometimes people try to persuade us that reason has no value
but that's an untenable position.
Arguing against reason is cutting off the branch on which you sit
using the very thing you're dismissing
in order to construct a case against it.
Reason has an intrinsic role in the decisions and judgments we make
as we negotiate our way through life
whether they be momentous or trivial.
If a particular line of reasoning is flawed, what will increase our understanding?
Dismissing the value of reason or looking honestly at the flaws?
A lack of respect for reason or evidence
or any number of obstructive character traits
will sabotage one's capacity for critical thought.
One of the biggest barriers to critical thinking
is an unwillingness to see complex issues
in anything other than black and white terms.
If one sees only two options, when more exist
this constitutes a false dichotomy.
Consciousness is often presented as something
that's either an eternal immaterial entity
or reducible and identical to brain states
when in fact there are various other positions...
Many divide people into those who accept evolution
and those who believe in specific gods
when these categories are not mutually exclusive.
If we think in false dichotomies, we'll tend to draw false conclusions
for example, by judging that if option A is false
option B must be true.
We may also misrepresent others by wrongly assuming
that if they don't hold attitude X they must hold attitude Y.
Black and white thinking often reflects
an underlying reluctance or refusal
to deal with the uncertainty that results from complexity
and an absence of definite answers.
But leaping to flawed conclusions
because you can't tolerate the ambiguity of not knowing
is not about truth or curiosity, but comfort.
The critical thinker can handle uncertainty
preferring to be aware of their own areas of ignorance
and they can wait for valid evidence and evidence-based answers.
Critical thinking provides each of us
with keys for unlocking our own intellectual independence
leaving us willing and able to explore and solve problems for ourselves.
It moves us away from rash conclusions, mystification
and a reluctance to question received wisdom, authority and tradition.
And it moves us towards intellectual discipline
the clear expression of ideas
and the acceptance of personal responsibility for our own thinking.
Communities in which individuals are eager to acquire and apply the best knowledge
and reason in all fields
and willing to acknowledge and correct flaws in their own thinking
are better equipped to create more profoundly effective solutions
to the challenges we face in living and living together.
When we teach and encourage critical thinking
we empower individual lives
and invest in our collective future.