Ever feel overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information you have to process every day? Become a better thinker—and a better learner—with these essential steps for improving your critical thinking skills.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information you have to process every day? Between school, work, and everything in between, it can be a challenge to remember it all—but remembering is just the half of it! We not only have to retain all that information, we also have to use it to formulate an educated opinion or find a solution to one of life’s nagging problems.
So while having a good memory is helpful, it’s the ability to investigate and piece together information that will help you think critically and navigate the important stuff most effectively. Below are seven tips for critical thinking to help you get started.
Take a minute to identify one key problem or question you want to delve into. Then break it into parts. Taking a systematic approach to problem-solving makes the issue much easier to handle.
Once you identify the problem, then you can create a plan, determine the resources you’ll need, and flesh out actionable steps you can take to get from point A to point B.
Remember, you can’t believe everything that pops up in your Facebook newsfeed or every statistic you hear on TV. It’s easy to comment, like, and share memes that support your personal beliefs, but are they really based in truth? If you want to think critically, you need to investigate facts yourself and question the sources other people use to obtain their information.
Use authoritative sources like scientific white papers or peer-reviewed journals when fact checking, but be wary of sources that may have a vested interest in a particular outcome. That’s when research biases can impact a study’s findings.
Find studies based on quantitative research—that is, statistical and scientific analysis that uses measurable data—as opposed to qualitative research—which is largely based on focus groups and observing human behaviour. The latter is used a lot in marketing research, which can be swayed to influence consumer buying behaviour.
Being a critical thinker means being an empathetic thinker. When you don’t agree with someone, put yourself in their shoes for a moment. Think about what motivates them, what their background is, and—if you know them well enough— the struggles they face. By doing this, you’ll gain insight into their rationale, which will ultimately help you express your viewpoint more persuasively.
Now’s the time to acknowledge your own motivations and emotions about the issue at hand. Try not to judge or jump to conclusions until you have adequate information to back up said conclusions. When you keep an open mind, you’ll be able to adapt more easily and approach problems from different angles. Removing your biases may even expose you to surprising (and hopefully enlightening) information.
Whether you’re trying to solve a real-life problem or critiquing a novel for your literature class, the most effective way to organize your thoughts is to write them down. By putting your thoughts on paper, you can better visualize how all these bits and pieces of information are connected. A great way to do this is to create a mind map (see some mind mapping examples here).
You’ve probably heard the saying, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.”
This is true, but it doesn’t explain why asking “stupid” questions is so important. In the words of astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson: “No one is dumb who is curious. The people who don’t ask questions remain clueless throughout their lives.”
If you want to understand something, you have to have a firm grasp of the fundamentals. And the good news is: you can ask simple questions while still sounding like a capable person. Just be confident, ask open-ended questions, and never diminish yourself by starting the question with, “I know this is a dumb question, but…”
It’s easy to get comfortable in the familiarity of our own little social circle. But college is filled with people from all different walks of life; this is your chance to learn more about what makes them tick! Instead of only talking to people with similar backgrounds as you, challenge yourself by listening to those with different ideals and beliefs. Social diversity is scientifically proven to enhance creativity and problem-solving.
A few conscious tweaks in your everyday thinking can open your eyes to new possibilities, make you a more empathetic and understanding person, and help you see the world from a different perspective. It’s not about changing your beliefs, but rather knowing that what you believe in is based on fact—and not the latest online meme.
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