What Are Critical Thinking Skills and Why Are They Important?

Key takeaways

Critical thinking bolsters creativity, decision-making, and professional development by helping you interpret, analyze, and solve problems logically:

• According to the University of the People, having critical thinking skills is crucial for the economy, promotes creativity, and is foundational to democracy [1].

• With consistent practice, building your logic and reasoning will naturally strengthen your critical thinking skills.

• You can develop your critical thinking by asking thoughtful questions, listening actively, and routinely practicing logical decision-making.

In today’s fact-challenged world, being able to identify fallacies is important. If you’re looking to improve your ability to recognize, break down, and assess arguments made by others, then enrolling in Duke University’s Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking Specialization is a great place to begin. In as little as four hours a week, you can learn to determine whether or not an argument is deductively valid, plus analyze and assess five common forms of inductive arguments.

What are critical thinking skills?

Critical thinking is the ability to interpret, evaluate, and analyze facts and information that are available, to form a judgment or decide if something is right or wrong.

More than just being curious about the world around you, critical thinkers make connections between logical ideas to see the bigger picture. Building your critical thinking skills means being able to advocate your ideas and opinions, present them in a logical fashion, and make decisions for improvement.

Why is critical thinking important?

Critical thinking is useful in many areas of your life, including your career. It makes you a well-rounded individual, one who has looked at all of their options and possible solutions before making a choice.

According to the University of the People in California, having critical thinking skills is important because they are [1]:

• Universal

• Crucial for the economy

• Essential for improving language and presentation skills

• Very helpful in promoting creativity

• Important for self-reflection

• The basis of science and democracy

Critical thinking skills are used every day in a myriad of ways and can be applied to situations such as a CEO approaching a group project or a nurse deciding in which order to treat their patients.

Read more: Could AI Replace CEOs?

Does the SAT test critical thinking skills? 

The Scholastic Aptitude or Assessment Test, more commonly called the SAT, is a standardized test that measures the high school skills and knowledge of graduating seniors preparing for college. Although it does not measure critical thinking as its own category, the questions require the person taking the exam to use critical thinking skills to be successful. For example, questions in the math section may focus on critical thinking skills in a deeper way than other similar tests, like the ACT. 

Critical thinking skills examples

Critical thinking skills differ from individual to individual and are utilized in various ways. Examples of common critical thinking skills include:

• Identification of biases: Identifying biases means knowing there are certain people or things that may have an unfair prejudice or influence on the situation at hand. Pointing out these biases helps to remove them from contention when it comes to solving the problem and allows you to see things from a different perspective.

• Research: Researching details and facts allows you to be prepared when presenting your information to people. You’ll know exactly what you’re talking about due to the time you’ve spent with the subject material, and you’ll be well-spoken and know what questions to ask to gain more knowledge. When researching, always use credible sources and factual information.

• Open-mindedness: Being open-minded when having a conversation or participating in a group activity is crucial to success. Dismissing someone else’s ideas before you’ve heard them will inhibit you from progressing to a solution and will often create animosity. If you truly want to solve a problem, you need to be willing to hear everyone’s opinions and ideas if you want them to hear yours.

• Analysis: Analyzing your research will lead to a better understanding of the things you’ve heard and read. As a true critical thinker, you’ll want to seek out the truth and get to the source of issues. It’s important to avoid taking things at face value and always dig deeper.

• Problem-solving: Problem-solving is perhaps the most important skill that critical thinkers can possess. The ability to solve issues and bounce back from conflict is what helps you succeed, be a leader, and effect change. One way to properly solve problems is to first recognize there’s a problem that needs solving. By determining the issue at hand, you can then analyze it and come up with several potential solutions.

How to develop critical thinking skills

You can develop critical thinking skills every day if you approach problems in a logical manner. Explore a few ways you can start your path to improvement:

1. Ask questions.

Be inquisitive about everything. Maintain a neutral perspective and develop a natural curiosity, so you can ask questions that develop your understanding of the situation or task at hand. The more details, facts, and information you have, the better informed you are to make decisions.

2. Practice active listening.

Utilize active listening techniques, which are founded in empathy, to really listen to what the other person is saying. Critical thinking, in part, is the cognitive process of reading the situation: the words coming out of their mouth, their body language, and their reactions to your own words. Then, you might paraphrase to clarify what they're saying, so both of you agree you're on the same page.

3. Develop your logic skills in critical thinking.

This is perhaps a more abstract task that requires practice and long-term development. However, think of a schoolteacher assessing the classroom to determine how to energize the lesson. You have options such as playing a game, watching a video, or challenging the students with a reward system. Using logic, you might decide that the reward system will take up too much time and is not an immediate fix. A video may not be relevant at this time. So, you may decide to play a simple word association game.

Scenarios like this happen every day, so next time, you can be more aware of what will work and what won't. Over time, developing your logic and reasoning will strengthen your critical thinking skills.

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• Subscribe to Career Chat: How to Strengthen Your Critical Thinking Skills

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