How can I become better at critical thinking?

Question

I want to say things that will make my professor and classmates say, wow!, she is very intelligent. How can I develop these skills. Are they simply IQ or can they be learned? I'm having trouble understanding the concepts in my philosophy class. I want to be deep. A critical thinker. Albert Einstein. Wake up Brain! Wake Up!!!

I need some serious answers. College.

Can anyone do this?

Thanks Johnny.

Some great answers.

Answer 1

Be logical and rational. If you wanna impress your proffessor then always stick to the simplest answer but avoid the obivious, be creative. You don't need Einstein's brain to be a critical thinker. Just try to look at the issues with varieties of angles and find the one which you can support it with strong explanation.

Answer 2

Listen. The first thing to do when an argument is presented is hone down on what the argument is. There is usually a lot of information that people and organizations put out with an issue, that really has no relation to the central question. So read and listen carefully to what is being said.

Reason. Once you have honed in on what the real meat of the matter, then look for logical problems with what is being said. A lot of times people will argue A is B without thinking about what they really said. People will confuse issues, purposely or otherwise and their argument will have no legs.

Analyze. Read between the lines. Part of critical thinking is giving the best possible interpretation of what is really being said. Sometimes when one side muddles his argument with unclear thought, everyone really knows what they mean. If you attack the muddled thought, your side wil be seen for what it is, just rhetoric attempting to win. You should be attempting to understand and make others understand the issues. If the other side does not present the issue well, take the torch from them and make it as strong an argument that you can counter. Thinking from the other's point of view brings better understanding.

Read. For all the logical thinking in the world, it doesn't mean a thing if you are not informed about what you are talking about. Both sides can be ignorant of information that is readily available. The better versed you become in a subject, the more thouroughly you can understand and help others understand your point of view.

Don't try to beat the opponent in an argument: try to win them to your side, or even better, join with them in a deeper understanding caused by the fusion of two sides of the same coin.

Peace

Answer 3

Critical thinking is a skill that can be learned. My approach is to be skeptical of everything I read. I not only evaluate things in context, I also often weigh things in other related contexts.
A word of warning, however. If you're merely looking to impress your professor and the other students, you'll probably fail. I think your best bet is to identify and question the assumptions behind an idea. Identify and question your own assumptions concerning that idea. Do you basically agree or disagree? Why? Form arguments that support and refute the idea. Place the idea in different contexts and begin the above process again. This is how to develop your critical thinking skills.

Answer 4

It can be learned, no doubt about it. Practice makes perfect. Take part in discussions, try to express your point of view, see the flaws in your argument, pay attention to others. Even answering the questions here may help. You try to formulate a good answer in a relatively short time, see how others have answered, how they judge your answer. Reading also helps. Don't expect critical thinking to come out of nothing, read other peoples critical opinions, try to read authors that disagree with each other so you'll have to reach your own conclusions.
If you have trouble with specific concepts, well, some kind of philosophical dictionary, maybe even an article in Wikipedia will help. No specific suggestions, finding out yourself should be the first task.

Answer 5

practice thinking, especially creatively. Think of at least 3 different solutions to any problem (even if it is how to make and drink your coffee). Make the solutions as different as as you possibly can. study and study again. especially a lot of different concepts read a lot, doesn't matter to much, just get different ideas out of it Choose as motivation curiosity or interest. Much more rewarding than trying to impress. And much more a sign of deep and critical thinking. don't forget to live. Personal experiences are important. Volunteer e.g. in a homeless shelter if you need a different perspective on life...

Answer 6

Critical thinking can be greatly increased by not believing everything that you are read or taught.

Look for the basic assumptions that arguments are built on. Is there is evidence to the contrary. If there is sufficient conflict evidence, a new conclusion can be formed.

It is important to know what others think about topic X, however, this does not mean that you have to accept X without scrutiny.

Answer 7

Levels of Thinking

1. Knowledge - Describe it
2. Comprehension - Associate it
3. Application - Apply it
4. Analysis - Analyze it
5. Synthesis - Compare/contrast it
6. Judgment - Argue for or against it

Hope this helps!

Answer 8

I give you one answer to start. Learn every single type of logical fallacy. Most infomation around us usually has some type of logical fallacy. Part of being a good critical thinker is exposing bad information

Answer 9

By looking at everything as having a positive and negative outcome. Critical thinking is something that you learn by analysing the pros and cons through knowledge, understanding, experience (reading and researching) and fairness on the subject.

Answer 10

Did you take logic first?

You should have.

The rest is all aplication of the skills you learn in logic to analyze and synthesize the material that comes to you in the order it comes to you.

Of course the quickest way to seem deep is to read the funny papers. This is the last bastion of true creative thought in the world.