Critical thinking involves engaging in a variety of intellectually disciplined forms of thought. The thinker must be able to assess his own thoughts and reject them if they turn out to be false. The thinker must also assess the strengths and weaknesses of an idea.
Critical thinkers must infer a conclusion from one or more premises. For example, if a critical thinker smells smoke, that thinker will likely infer that there is a fire. Critical thinkers have specific criteria for what constitutes an argument. The argument must be based on facts that are exact, free from logical fallacies and strongly rational, as stated by Karen I. Adsit at the University of Dayton. Critical thinkers are also open to changing their minds when they receive arguments that are supported by evidence.
Students apply various forms of higher order thinking, such as analysis, problem recognition and problem solving. To think critically, students must ask questions, avoid emotional reasoning, define problems, analyze assumptions and biases, study evidence, avoid oversimplifying and show openness to other interpretations. Thinkers must also tolerate ambiguity.
Critical thinkers establish relationships between different groups of data. Those who can reason take information from long-term memory and apply it to information they are currently consuming. They must be able to take information from long-term memory and determine whether they can categorize it. They must also notice similarities between otherwise different ideas and evaluate ideas by comparing them to an internal structure of logic, as written on the Purdue University Calumet website.
Reason allows people to engage in actions that would be impossible otherwise. For example, people use reason to elaborate on information that does not explicitly state something, thus mining out new knowledge. Elaboration comes from the individual’s ability to make inferences based on incomplete information. Rational people can more effectively find information or strategies that allow them to solve problems or accomplish goals. Finally, reason is essential for creating and expressing new information through speech and writing.
People are fed large amounts of information because of technological advancements that disseminate information more cheaply. As a result, they need critical thinking methodologies to help them assess information and apply this information to complex problems they face.
Reason is essential for developing a consistent form of ethics that transcends religious beliefs, social conventions and local laws. For example, governments may legalize actions that are considered universally wrong, such as torture. Ethical reasoning is used to help people think about why these actions are wrong under all circumstances.