Week 14 - Characteristics OF Critical Thinker PDF

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Week 14 - Characteristics OF Critical Thinker

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WEEK 14

CHARACTERISTICS OF A CRITICAL THINKER

Critical thinking is more than just the accumulation of facts and knowledge; it’s a way of approaching whatever is presently occupying your mind so that you can come up with the best possible conclusion. If you are hoping to reach your full potential and make your mark on the world, cultivate the following 16 characteristics of critical thinkers.

1. Observation

Observation is considered as one of the first innate critical thinking skills that people learn as a child. You observe when you perceive your environment to be more aware of the world around us. As you observe, you also take mental notes of relevant details, which you can use to develop deeper insight and a more profound understanding of the world.

2. Curiosity Curiosity is a core trait of many successful leaders. It is prerequisite to learning. Without it, there would be fewer discoveries and fewer inventions. Furthermore, there would be less radical principles as people would have been afraid to challenge the status quo, resulting to dormancy in our society.

Being inherently inquisitive and interested in the world and people around you is a hallmark of leaders who are critical thinkers. Rather than taking everything at face value, a curious person will wonder why something is the way it is, and will not be afraid to impose changes as deemed necessary. Curiosity forces you to keep an open mind and propels you to gain deeper knowledge -all of which are also fundamental to being a lifelong learner.

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Characteristics of a Critical Thinker

3. Objectivity

A critical thinker remains objective despite the situation being affective and personal. That person is able to distinguish facts from opinions, logic from emotions and reality from wishful thinking. Moreover, judgment is not dictated by other compelling people. Nevertheless, being objective does not mean losing all your personal beliefs, biases and preferences. It only means being aware of your own weaknesses, and knowing how to separate subjectivity from objectivity. It is also the first step to becoming an analytical thinker.

4. Introspection Introspection is the state of being aware of your own manner of thinking and train of thoughts. It means knowing when to shift thoughts or to stop altogether. Introspection allows you to stay alert and attentive at all times. It is also a good quality to have when self-reflecting on your decisions and actions. 5. Analytical thinking

Critical thinkers are innate analytical thinkers, and analytical thinkers are on their way to becoming critical thinkers.. The ability to analyze information is key when looking at anything, whether it is a piece of business document, statistical data or a pressing situation. To analyze information, you need to break information down to its component parts and evaluate how well those parts function together and separately. Analysis relies on observation—on gathering and evaluating evidence so you can come to a meaningful conclusion.

6. Identifying biases

Critical thinkers challenge their own beliefs by verifying the sources of their information and looking for alternative sources. Doing this helps you understand your own biases and question your preconceived notions. 2

Characteristics of a Critical Thinker

7. Determining relevance

When gathering information, you should not be distracted by the reputation of the source, the complexity of the data and the popularity of the information. Only look at its relevance to the topic and the arguments that you are planning to raise.

8. Inference Information does not always come with a summary that spells out exactly what it means. Critical thinkers need to assess the information and draw conclusions based on raw data. Inference is the ability to extrapolate meaning from data and discover potential outcomes when assessing a scenario. It is also important to understand the difference between inference and assumptions. For example, if you see data that someone weighs 100 kilograms, you might assume they are overweight or unhealthy. However, other data points like height and body composition may alter that conclusion since the normality of weight depends on the combination of weight and height, also known as the body-mass index (BMI).

9. Compassion and empathy At first, having compassion and empathy may seem like a negative quality for critical thinkers. After all, being sentimental and emotional can skew our perception of a situation. However, the point of having compassion is to have concern for others and to value the welfare of other people.

10. Humility Humility is the willingness to acknowledge one’s shortcomings and see one’s positive attributes in an accurate way. It makes us aware of our own assets and flaws, which shows how open minded you are and willing to learn.

When you have intellectual humility, you are open to other people’s viewpoints. This is without saying that you accept all viewpoints presented in front of you. You only acknowledge their existence, but not their validity. 3

Characteristics of a Critical Thinker...