The Art of Thinking Critically

Thinking is not powered by the answers we're given, but by the questions we ask

inherent skill needed for critical thinking—asking questions. We need to be able to ask questions, sometimes very difficult ones that cause the personal evaluation of values

Questions lead us to make crucial developments in a variety of fields. They're at the heart of all human knowledge, because if we never asked questions, we would never find the answers

1: Readiness to Learn - This step is a personal assessment of where you are in the learning process. It requires the student to be honest with themselves about their shortcomings and be willing to take constructive feedback.

biggest challenge we face is determining the good sources from bad ones.

you find yourself questioning why you think or perceive something and the only reason you can think of to justify that knowledge or perception is, “it’s how I was raised,” then push yourself to critically examine that part of yourself.

you can separate your head from your heart, you will be able to take a step back from your emotions to resolve a situation in a way that is most advantageous for you.

Every statement in a textbook, in fact, is an answer to a question, but we never think about textbooks this way. Why? Because teachers often like to teach as much material as possible, as opposed to training students to thoughtfully engage with the things they learn

When thinking about what questions to pose a critical thinker, balanced thinking is key. If you only consider one side of an issue, you may only find supporting evidence to sway your opinion or reasoning in the direction supporting that side’s view. It is important to carefully consider arguments and evidence for and against a particular position or viewpoint

Regardless of how much I may like or dislike a piece of writing, I have learned something from all of them