Critical Thinking in Everyday Life

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Critical Thinking in Everyday Life Most of us are not what we could be. We are less. We have great capacity. But most of it is dormant; most is undeveloped. Improvement in thinking is like improvement in basketball, in ballet, or in playing the saxophone. It is unlikely to take place in the absence of a conscious commitment to learn. As long as we take our thinking for granted, we don’t do the work required for improvement. Development in thinking requires a gradual process requiring plateaus of learning and just plain hard work. It is not possible to become an excellent thinker simply because one wills it. Changing one’s habits of thought is a long-range project, happening over years, not weeks or months. The essential traits of a critical thinker require an extended period of development. I learned that first we must understand that there are stages required for development as a critical thinker: Stage one: The Unreflective Thinker (we are unaware of significant problems in our thinking). Stage two: The Challenged Thinker (we become aware of problems in our thinking) Stage three: The Beginning Thinker (we try to improve but without regular practice) Stage four: The Practicing Thinker (we recognize the necessity of regular practice) Stage five: The Advanced Thinker (we advance in accordance with our practice) Stage six: The Master Thinker (skilled & insightful thinking become second nature to us). Without being familiar of the levels of critical thinking, our ways of solving problems can lead us into a cycle. We would repeat the same problems without solving anything. Each stage allows me to see which stage I’ve developed as a critical thinker. I’ve been an Unreflective Thinker where I would listen to sources and messengers who were non credible. They only were led by their own emotions and biased opinions. Then I was the Challenged Thinker; the

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