Critical thinking is a set of judgments, on the basis of which certain conclusions are formed, and an assessment of the objects of criticism is made. It is especially characteristic of researchers and scientists of all branches of science. Critical thinking takes a higher level than ordinary thinking.
The value of experience in shaping critical thinking
It is difficult to analyze and draw conclusions about what you are poorly versed in. Therefore, in order to learn to think critically, it is necessary to study objects in all possible connections and relationships with other phenomena. And also of great importance in this case is the possession of information about such objects, the ability to build logical chains of judgments and make informed conclusions.
For example, one can judge the value of a work of art only by knowing a lot of other fruits of literary activity. At the same time, it is not bad to be an expert on the history of human development, the formation of literature and literary criticism. Separated from the historical context, a work may lose its meaning. In order for the assessment of a work of art to be sufficiently complete and justified, it is also necessary to use your literary knowledge, which includes the rules for constructing a literary text within certain genres, a system of various literary techniques, classification and analysis of existing styles and trends in literature, etc. At the same time, it is also important to study the internal logic of the plot, the sequence of actions, the arrangement and interaction of the characters of the work of art.
Features of critical thinking
Other features of critical thinking include the following:
- knowledge about the object under study is only a starting point for further brain activity associated with the construction of logical chains;
- consistently built and based on common sense reasoning leads to the identification of true and erroneous information about the object under study;
- critical thinking is always associated with an assessment of the available information about a given object and the corresponding conclusions, while the assessment, in turn, is associated with existing skills.
Unlike ordinary thinking, the critical is not subject to blind faith. Critical thinking allows, with the help of a whole system of judgments about the object of criticism, to comprehend its essence, reveal true knowledge about it and refute the false. It is based on logic, depth and completeness of study, truthfulness, adequacy and consistency of judgments. At the same time, obvious and long-proven statements are accepted as postulates and do not require repeated proof and evaluation.
