Critical thinking is an essential life skill that can help us process information independently and learn from experiences in a more meaningful way.
Why is this important?
As we learn new things in our adult lives, it will benefit us if we don’t merely just “adopt” other people’s thoughts, opinions, and conclusions as our own. Instead, we should form our personal opinions and ask ourselves why these things matter to us, regardless of why they may matter to other people.
I’ll give an example that you may find familiar.
Regardless of where you happen to be at this stage in your life (a college student, an employee, a new parent, a job seeker, an entrepreneur), sooner or later you will hear opinions or get advice from other people. When that happens, it’s wise to take their comments with caution. Why? Because other people’s advice is a bit like listening to an autobiography of their own life experiences. These experiences are a product of their cultural background, the way they were raised, the education they received (or perhaps did not receive), mistakes they made and fears they developed because of those mistakes, goals and values that are important to them that may or may not be aligned to your own goals and values. Just because someone tells you what they think about something, doesn’t automatically make it a fact. It’s just their version of reality — what they think, how they feel, why they consider it important enough to talk about — but it likely is not what reality means to you.
How can you work on developing your critical thinking skills every day?
- Be open to different points of view (f.ex., on politics, world history, philosophy, literature, spiritual practice, art, science, technology, etc.) so that you see just how different people’s perspectives can be on various topics. Just because someone believes in something you do not, doesn’t mean you cannot learn from what they have to say.
- Ask questions to better understand how things work. Don’t just ask questions that others can respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to; instead, ask open-ended questions that begin with why and how. Gather information both for and against an issue so that you can see it from all angles. Give yourself a 360 degree view of the situation.
- Extract from all the information you gather what is important to you. This thinking process will be based on your personal goals, value system, priorities, and other factors you consider relevant that will help you figure out what you can learn.
- When someone offers their opinion or advice on what you should do, ask yourself these questions: Does this align with my personal values? How would I benefit from taking their opinion seriously or following their advice? Do they encourage me to think independently or do they want me to agree with what they’re saying? Are these comments valuable to me or am I seeking their approval? Do I admire them, or do I just want to be liked? Understanding the motives for our behavior is important because as we’re interacting with people around us, we are experiencing personal growth and developing our independent thinking skills.
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