Source: Daisy Daisy/Shutterstock One of the most important disciplines we can practice is the discipline of Critical Thinking. It involves holding a kind of magnifying glass up to our thoughts and the information and data constantly swirling around us.
What’s true and what isn’t? It’s the job of critical thinking to find out.
We are all constantly making decisions. Some of those decisions are trivial and unimportant (Should I wear the blue or yellow shirt today?). But other decisions can affect our very lives and the lives of those around us. We want those decisions to be based on truth so that they have good outcomes. Critical thinking can help make that possible.
Where do we start?
Here are seven questions, thoughts, and strategies to have available at all times to help with our different decision-making processes:
- Who is saying it? Who is it that is proclaiming the idea or thought in question? Are they dependable and truthful? Do you trust what this person says?
- How do they know what it is they are saying? Are they open about how they know what it is they're sharing? Do you trust their route to knowledge? Is it credible and reliable?
- What’s in it for them? Do they have an obvious incentive to promote the idea they’re sharing? Is there a conflict of interest?
- Explore your own biases. Our own personal biases may dispose us to (falsely) accept or reject the idea being presented. A good way to assess our own personal biases is to look at two or three close friends. What are their attitudes toward such things as race, politics, religion, money, family, or personal life values? Our own values or biases may likely be very similar to theirs.
- Remember, the whole point of critical thinking is about finding the truth. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted from seeking and valuing the truth in all areas of your life.
- Read a book about some subject you’re not interested in. This may sound like a strange idea, but in fact, it is beneficial. Read a book involving new ideas and concepts can help your brain develop new neural pathways and alternative modes of thinking. Reading a book filled with unfamiliar material can be like giving your brain a “re-set.”
Almost ten years ago, I undertook just such an experience. I chose a book about the Panama Canal, a topic I had zero interest in. The title was The Path Between the Seas.
I knew it was by an excellent writer (David McCullough), but it was about a subject I was not in the least attracted to.
The book was enthralling! I had never imagined what huge, consequential problems the building of the Panama Canal presented! There were multiple crises involving leadership, manpower, disease, technology, weather, administration, bizarre personalities, feuds, government bureaucracies, and constantly inadequate funding. How could they ever hope to achieve their impossible goal? It was truly a page-turner and is one of my all-time favorite books I always recommend to friends.
And it helped freshen my mind for the critical thinking that is always essential.
The Serenity Prayer
The serenity prayer might seem like a surprising suggestion to aid critical thinking, but I believe it is one of the most important.
Here’s why:
In situations where good critical thinking is essential, we become tangled up emotionally. We may feel that we ought to act decisively, but we don’t know if it will do any good, and there are often complicated constraints against any actions we might take. Then we find ourselves confused, not knowing what to do.
It is in this kind of situation that the Serenity Prayer is so clarifying. Simply stated, the prayer is this:
Lord, help me accept the things I cannot change, give me the courage to change the things I can change, and give me the wisdom to know the difference.
Instead of getting emotionally bogged down in determining what we can or should change, the Serenity Prayer removes ambiguity and brings clarity.
So, critical thinking is an essential life discipline, and these seven strategies can help bring us clarity of thought and understanding.
It's all about truth.
© David Evans