Critical thinking: What is it?
It's a mode of thinking in which you can benefit from theory and rules of logic and logical thinking to come to an unbiased opinion regarding a specific idea subject or object through creating logical connections and making reasonable conclusions.
Why and when?
The ability to think critically (i.e. the ability to objectively evaluate) is important both in personal as well as academic/professional life. In personal life, it will help you identify the reality and truth of ideas, news, pieces of information and anything available around you. in academic life, it is of great importance because it can help you evaluate your sources, refine them and be able to know what is reliable and what is not.
How?
Critical thinking first requires identifying the issue, idea, or problem, and this should be followed be the careful examination and consideration of all its dimensions, sides and aspects. Seeing it from different perspectives will provide you with the necessary information that you need to form a logical view of what there is. Having this logical view can widen your own perspective and thus help you have a more reasonable view of things, which in turn will help you create an unbiased standpoint toward anything.
Ideas or behaviors
This, however, differs from one case to the other. That is because approaching ideas and theoretical material is totally different from approaching human behaviors. Approaching ideas requires better knowledge of their perspectives, origins and contexts. Approaching behaviors is more about understanding the nature of the environment in which people live and the other one in which they act; for the first one is the one that shaped their personality while the other one is the one that they accidentally or deliberately affect.
Academic or normal life
Both in academic and normal life contexts, you will always need to stay "aware" of what you receive or use. In academic life, it is even more strict: you have to follow the rules to be able to "refine" all the sources available to you online and offline. You have to make sure that your sources are "reliable" and trustworthy (according to the academic rules and regulations).
In your normal life it's a bit different, yet in fact is not less serious! You need to be aware not to be affected by the deceptive "ornaments" that surround a specific person or source of news or information. By deceptive ornaments I mean "whatever that is used to give the person or thing higher credibility than that they actually deserve"; like the random use of catchy titles, styles of dress, ways of playing (or better "performing") a specific role (be it ideological or spiritual) that can keep you hypnotized while being spoon-fed whatsoever they aim to "feed" you.
In all cases, you are a receiver who gets affected by persons and ideas. So, you need to be always able to refine what you receive, interact with, or even use. You need to be aware of the way it is going to affect you. And there's something to always remember: it doesn't have to be big, hugely felt, or visible to affect you! Huge changes happen because of really small things coming together on an extended period of time. So, try to control your own surroundings before having them control you without even realizing it.
Good wishes and blessings to you all.
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