What is Critical Thinking?

The question of what is critical thinking can be answered in a lot of different ways which are in effect very much related to each other. But what is critical thinking exactly? According to experts on the subject, there is no one concrete definition of what is critical thinking  and that all definitions should be considered as a good reference on how to understand such a topic. According to the statement made by Michael Scriven & Richard Paul for the National Council for Excellence in critical thinking, in 1987, critical thinking is the rationally or intellectually disciplined process of skilfully and actively conceptualizing, analyzing, applying, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information generated by, or gathered from, reflection, experience, observation, communication, or reasoning, as a guide to belief and action.

Other sources also cite that “what is critical thinking” is not merely thinking but also trying to improve on the quality of your thoughts. It is about imposing discipline and restraint on our thought processes by putting a standard on our thinking level, thus making it possible for improvement. It is also the ability to apply logic and reasoning to unfamiliar opinions, ideas, and situations and involves seeing things in an open-minded way. What is critical thinking is it allows people to look past their own points of view and to adopt a more aware way of seeing the world around us.
What is critical thinking: It is also a combination of skills that are complex and characterized by traits such as rationality, self-awareness, open-mindedness, discipline and judgment.

According to John Dewey, the acknowledged father of the modern critical thinking tradition, it is about “reflective thinking” and is an active, persistent consideration of a perceived form of belief or knowledge in light of the ground which support it and the deeper conclusion on which it tends. As an active process, what is critical thinking goes way beyond the normal thought process in which you are just listening to a certain piece of idea or information and understanding that idea or bit of information. It is about thinking thoroughly on the information, raising questions and finding other relevant ideas and/or information regarding the knowledge received. Hence, it is a contrast from making rash judgments and snap decisions. In a way, it allows you to be more careful in making decisions or forming opinions especially regarding important matters or sensitive issues.

Even more so, what critical thinking is, it is an effort to develop reliable thought processes that enables you to make evaluations that are reasonable enough for you to believe or not to believe. It also helps you to differentiate or separate these beliefs based on how you perceive it emotionally and logically.
This is necessary in the application of what is critical thinking because a person’s emotional state can interfere with their logical perception of an idea. It is quite understandable that you, as a human being, tend to believe an idea because of the way you feel towards that idea but sometimes the way you feel is contrary to the logical perception of that idea that what you feel could not be considered as a rational thought. That is why, in some instances, the concept of what is critical thinking is applied in order for people to avoid assumptions that may seem irrational or illogical.
It also helps you to develop a non-prejudiced and objective approach to reasoning because with what is critical thinking, people are able to accept the fact that not all knowledge and information is known to everyone and that some of these knowledge and information have to be thoroughly thought about as to leave no room for hasty conclusions. It can save you a lot of anxieties because you are limiting the amount of erroneous judgment that you could be making otherwise, if you do not practice what is critical thinking.