What do I think Critical Thinking means? Without looking up the definition, to me it means that I am thinking critically about any topic verses thinking logically and/or taking the first thing that comes to mind. With critical thinking I will have to look at different view points rather than looking at one view point. I have heard this term before while working in the philosophy office but at the time I still wasn't completely sure what it meant or even what it meant to me. Now taking a look at the experts definition compared to mine theres says "Critical thinking clarifies goals, examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, accomplishes actions, and assesses conclusions"
The expert and/or Wikipedia does not say that there is an exact process needed to go through to thinking critically. Yet thinking critically means that you need to look at the topic from more than one point of view and look at all different aspects verses from your own point of view or thought. With thinking critically it will help you as the researcher understand what is completely going on to be able to fully comprehend the subject.
As a student being in the class IM 204 I think that the topics will correlate because in researching I need to look at all different view points rather than the one i'm most familiar with and most comfortable with. It will help me to become a better researcher and in doing research itself.
Wikipedia 1/11/12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking#Meaning
Hi Beth,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. You are definitely correct--critical thinking helps people look at different points of view, which makes them better researchers.
In the beginning of your post, you defined critical thinking and said that it was different from thinking logically. Could you explain to me the difference between thinking critically and thinking logically?
Well, I would say that critical thinking would be looking at different assumptions to find an end result between them all and to come to an understanding of the subject. Then I would define logical thinking as more of reasoning to come up with an answer.
ReplyDeleteHi Beth,
DeleteCritical thinking, reasoning, and logical thinking are all synonymous with one another, aren't they?
When you say that you would define logical thinking as "more of reasoning to come up with an answer", do you mean only one answer, as in a math problem? This is the difference between critical thinking and logical thinking...during the process of critical thinking, it is possible to come up with multiple answers to a question, as well as to understand the subject.