Amir Hossein Mousavi's Essay “What Is Critical Thinking and What Use Is It in Life?”

“Critical thinking is an intense desire to seek, to come to terms with uncertainty, to become accustomed to thinking, to exercise caution and restraint in making statements and claims, to maintain a constant readiness for reflection and encountering new ideas, to be cautious in generalizing and imposing artificial order upon phenomena, and to avoid any form of deceiving oneself or others in thinking.”

The above statement is attributed to Francis Bacon (1561–1625), the seventeenth-century scientist and philosopher considered one of the founders of modern science. The fact is that the text before you is neither about philosophy nor is it intended to teach the skill of critical thinking. The aim is to introduce a practical and applied aspect of philosophy, which here means critical thinking. Although proficiency in critical thinking is one of the most important characteristics and prerequisites of the scientific method, its application is far broader than science. We need this skill not only in science, but throughout our entire lives.

A Necessary Exoneration and a Preliminary Definition

Perhaps when we first encounter the phrase critical thinking, the meaning of the word critique and criticizing might come to mind, whose negative connotation is fault-finding and positive connotation is separating the wheat from the chaff (good from bad), but critical thinking has little to do with the above meanings. A very brief definition is that critical thinking is a skill for thinking in a clear and rational manner in order to perform an action, examine an idea, or make a decision. The reality is that thinking is a learnable skill that requires practice. Critical thinking is a tool for thinking correctly. In fact, by emphasizing rationalism, critical thinking seeks to raise the level of rationality in society. A person who has learned and practiced the skill of critical thinking is capable in the following matters.

- Is familiar with the structure of an argument and can distinguish the various components of an argument, including presuppositions or premises and conclusions.

- Can evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of an argument.

- Recognizes errors in reasoning and studies.

- Confronts issues in an organized manner and has the ability to solve them.

- Can identify the main, key, and relevant parts of an opinion, claim, or belief.

- Can judge their own beliefs, values, and decisions.

- Is liberated from black-and-white or zero-sum perspectives and can separate the strengths and weaknesses of a viewpoint or the correct and incorrect parts of an opinion or belief.

- Can offer different answers to problems from different perspectives.

- Distinguishes the difference between facts, analysis and explanation of reasons, definitions, and presuppositions.

- Recognizes the cognitive biases of the human mind and, with this familiarity, strives to minimize their own mind’s cognitive errors.

In summary, critical thinking refers to a set of attitudes and intellectual skills used to evaluate and test claims and arguments. In critical thinking, the attempt is made to test every claim or argument using certain criteria before it is accepted, so that a judgment can be made about its rationality or lack thereof.

This Is a Skill

It should be noted that critical thinking is a skill. A skill is something that requires practice to learn. Consider the skill of driving, for example. No one becomes a driver by reading the driving manual or even by reading 100 books and articles about driving. To become a driver, although one must acquire information through a book or an instructor, the main task is sitting behind the wheel and practicing. Skills are also usually such that we become more proficient in them with more practice.

Thinking critically, after initial instruction through books, teachers, and workshops, requires practice and perseverance. An individual may have read dozens of books in the field of critical thinking, or even be a teacher of this skill, writing about it and familiar with its theoretical details, yet be unable to apply this mode of thinking in their life. Critical thinking is a process that requires continuous practice for improvement. Perhaps to benefit from this skill, we must practice throughout our entire lives and constantly strive to improve our ability in it.

The Lack of Critical Thinking Education in Iran's Educational System and Its Consequences

In Iran's business environment, most employers and managers complain that Iranian universities do not deliver graduates to society who possess the ability to solve the ongoing problems of companies and industries and can identify the key points of complex matters. While our country faces a crisis of unemployed educated individuals, most organizations lament the shortage of competent human resources. Of course, this problem has various dimensions, but certainly one of the most important reasons for this inefficiency is the lack of critical thinking education in our country's educational system.

Today, the extent to which critical thinking skills are spread among citizens is considered one of the criteria for the development of countries, and in developed countries, this skill is systematically taught and practiced in the educational system. As an example, one can point to the GRE exam in the United States. The GRE is a general test that, in America, Canada, and some European universities, applicants for graduate studies (master's and doctoral degrees) must take and achieve a specific score in.

One of the main skills assessed in this exam is critical thinking. As another example, one can look at the conditions and prerequisites for employment in large, reputable companies worldwide. Usually, one of the fixed skills that organizations expect an applicant to possess, in many job positions—from a laboratory microbiologist to an IT manager, researcher, writer, and teacher—is the skill of critical thinking.

What Is Critical Thinking Good For?

The reality is that in today's world, we receive a very large volume of information and messages through various means. Various television networks, advertising messages, newspapers and magazines, social networks, and so on, in different specialized fields, are constantly sending messages to us. A mass of information, only a small part of which might be related to our area of expertise and on which we have a specialized opinion.

Many of them, with various intentions, present flawed arguments, offer deceptive statistics, bring irrelevant reasons, and distort information. Some of it is rumor or pseudoscience, and in fact, this very information shapes our beliefs, and in many cases, we make decisions based on them (for example, buying a specific device for weight loss, a drug for addiction treatment, or learning a foreign language in 72 hours).

The situation becomes more complex when, amidst a mass of studies, pseudoscience, and rumors, there is also correct and real information, genuinely scientific news, and valid and sound arguments, and we must also distinguish these. We must know their status and sometimes act or make a decision based on them.

Critical thinking strengthens our skills in reasoning correctly, thinking creatively, communicating better and more effectively with others, and ultimately making better decisions, and such skills make it easier to distinguish the genuine from the spurious when faced with a mass of information.

Critical Thinking and Intellectual and Moral Virtues

Strengthening critical thinking skills, in addition to the countless positive social effects it has, also leads to certain personal and intellectual virtues, the most important of which are:

* Intellectual humility: meaning that we know, are aware of, and acknowledge (and remain committed to this acknowledgment) that there are many things to know that we do not know. Intellectual humility means being aware of the limitations of our own knowledge and understanding.

* Intellectual courage: meaning the awareness of the necessity of confronting ideas, beliefs, and viewpoints toward which we have strong negative emotions and to which we have never seriously listened. There are many thoughts that we consider dangerous or absurd and fear confronting, yet they are rationally justified. On the other hand, many conclusions or beliefs that have become ingrained in our minds are false or misleading. Understanding these two points brings us closer to intellectual courage.

* Having an empathetic outlook toward different viewpoints: meaning that by using our power of imagination, we put ourselves in others' shoes so that we can truly understand them; of course, understanding others does not necessarily mean accepting their views. To have an empathetic outlook, we must be aware of the egocentric tendency that exists within us. We usually tend to regard our own perception of our beliefs and thoughts as the very truth.

* Intellectual autonomy: meaning that with our reason, we take control of our own beliefs, values, and inferences. One of the important goals of critical thinking is for individuals to learn to think for themselves and take charge of their own thought processes.

* Intellectual perseverance: meaning that achieving deep understanding or insight requires grappling with questions and ambiguities for which perhaps no one has a final answer. The virtue of intellectual perseverance requires that we do not flee from grappling with these questions, ambiguities, and difficulties, and that we invest time and energy in confronting them.

* Confidence in reason and commitment to reasons: meaning that individuals are encouraged to cultivate their rational faculties and thereby reach conclusions on various matters themselves; a firm belief that if humans are properly encouraged and nurtured, they can learn to think for themselves, arrive at rational viewpoints, reach reasonable conclusions, think logically and coherently, and persuade one another with reasons.

* The virtue of intellectual fairness: meaning that we strive to treat all viewpoints justly and fairly and allow our treatment of some viewpoints to be less influenced by our own emotions or interests (those of our friends, group, or ethnicity).

Introducing a Few Persian-Language Sources

As mentioned at the beginning, the present writing was a very introductory overview of the skill of critical thinking and did not, in fact, address these skills themselves or how to acquire them. Fortunately, in recent years, very valuable books and materials have been translated and authored in Persian in this field, some of which we will introduce:

* The book The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli, published by Cheshmeh Publishing House, translated by Adel Ferdosipour, Behzad Tavakoli, and Shahr Shahrouz.

* The book Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking by Neil Browne and Stuart M. Keeley, published by Minouye Kherad Publications, translated by Kourosh Kamyab.

* The book Critical Thinking by Richard Parker, published by Shahrtash Publications, translated by Dr. Akbar Soltani and Maryam Aghazadeh.

Several valuable Persian-language websites are also active in this field, among which we can mention Critical Thinking at www.sanjeshgari.blogfa.com and also Smart Thinking at www.smartthinking.ir.

And the final word is that critical thinking builds an identity for us that we can be proud of. Let us employ and promote critical thinking for our own sake and for the society in which we live.

One of the problems of thinking is attribution bias, which is considered one of the types of cognitive errors of the mind. In one instance of this mental bias, a person attributes their successes to their own ability and their failures to external factors, and vice versa. They attribute the successes of others to external factors and their failures to their own weaknesses! One of the skills emphasized in critical thinking is recognizing mental errors of this kind.

.

---

.

What Is Critical Thinking and What Use Is It in Life?

Daneshmand Monthly - Amir Hossein Mousavi

.

---