Critical Thinking
Introduction
Life is on a constant dynamic cycle that is unpredictable and hard to catch up with. The advancements made in technology require critical thinking to give us a better understanding. Critical thinking can be attributed as the single most basic important skill required in the professional arena. It enables individuals to view careers, completion, and simple basic life on a different yet empowered level. In addition, thinkers are able to analyze other people’s ideas and as well present their own in a clarified yet prudent manner. This can be attributed to the fact that critical thinking lays emphases on proving facts, the basis of arguments, and the process of reaching into conclusions. It seeks a deeper meaning to every thought and action. Reflection, testing, and probing questions is also a common attribute in tis school of thinking. The most intriguing part is that critical thinking is not restricted to certain fields of specialization but is important in every career field whether technical or not. Attributively, critical thinking is the more developed prowess of thinking that involves dissimilar and progressive analysis thinking skills diverged in complex ways.
As a critical thinker, certain situations will ignite the urge to think critically momentarily. The first reason that prompts thinkers into thinking critically is to identify bias. Bias may not be necessarily bad but it certainly restricts forward thinking. An individual may be addressed with an object of analysis that may be inclined to a certain perspective and a single most common way to tackle. However, a critical thinker should be able to identify the bias in the point of view. The individual should be able to digress from expected school of thought and see the idea in a different light.
Often, Individuals are encompassed with complex situations that may require immediate attention. These problems may not be traditional due to the changing time and society. Time to make the decision and the urgency may increase the pressure at the moment. In addition, the decision might be critical in that it affect the life of an individual. Critical thinking may come in handy in such complex situations.
Education is another instance that requires critical thinking. Education requires self-question probing, critical analysis of textbook traditional situations. Critical analysis of a point enables the thinker understand better the situation and gather more information on a subject. This makes the thinker more knowledgeable on the subject. It also gives a complete picture of the study due to the research done to satisfy the question brought about by thinking critically.
Critical thinking gives a person of interest a more realistic view of the situation. Normally, an individual will just take what he is offered by the source. However, a critical thinker will take a deeper look and analyze the realistic and fantastical dimension of the argument. They also derive objectivity and value of a certain thought. Reality aids individuals in making better decisions since they are more informed and have a clearer view of the anticipated future.
Finally, critical thinking helps individuals remain employed. Having a source of income does not give an employee a bump free future. Complex situations that may determine promotions or the loss of the job all together may present themselves. The way that the individual handles clients, employers and other subsidiaries is determinant of the life line of one’s employment. Also in the case of self-employment, individuals are able to make critical decisions as the head of a business venture that dictate either the success or the failure of the venture.
Examples of critical thinkers
Critical thinkers have evolved throughout the ages. Despite their time differences, they all hold a similar passion and dedication to the philosophy of critical thinking. An example of an early critical thinker was Socrates. He unveiled the science of probing questions and deeper searching. He gave people the idea that independent thinking was allowed and questioning higher authority was advisable. He also showed the world that people in high positions could also be confused and wrong. He was the father of logic and clarity thinking.
Thomas Aquinas was a critical thinker in the 15th century. This was also a dark time for critical thinkers since it was a re3ally heard of notion. However, this was also a time of enlightment and when numerous critical philosophers grew. Critical thinkers like Thomas Aquinas started thinking in critical way about belief, government, art, natural law, and culture. Other critical thinkers of this time were Colet and Erasmus.
Descartes of France emerged in the 16th century as another notable figure in this field. He articulated for a disciplined mind specialized in lucidity and clarity. His method of thinking became commonly known as principle of systemic doubt. He advocated for an apt foundation for every school of thought. His theme was to thinkers to analyze, question, doubt and test the truthfulness of every notion that they ever come across.
Memorial Address
Heidegger was an outstanding philosopher due to his outstanding philosophies. He had very complex ideas that might pose as a challenge for simple thinkers. However, his most noted key words in his work are memorial address, calculative and meditative thinking. Memorial address is the possibility of the loss of mankind from thinking meditatively. Hence meditative thinking is the deeper for of thinking that guides humans to do or not to do something. Finally, calculative thinking is the technical way of thinking that is involved in more practical procedures in life and performance. In addition, the resentment towards things and openness to mystery is the declining ambition by man to continue thinking meditatively. It could also be dubbed as the failing meditative thinking that will affect calculative thinking as well. Therefore, According to Heidegger urges us to remain vigilant in our efforts to think since as people and times change, people may neglect to change the way they think. This may end up affecting the continuity of thought as critically as it should be.
Slavoj Zizek
Zizek is a modern time philosopher that changed the traditional way of thinking in culture, politics, and film. His kind of thinking is called the dialectical thinking. He bases his arguments on Hegel. His work is also notably an inspiration of Karl Marx. He ties to add input to Karl Marx’s work. Finally, he also has interest in Lacan as he tries to interpret his terminologies.
Jacques Derrida
He is among the few modern philosophers who make an impact in the 20th century. His philosophy is widely recognized as deconstruction. He developed this ideology in the 1960s. his ideas are mainly linked with the western tradition and are ment to digress from the common ways of thinking.
Conclusion
In conclusion, critical thinking is a very vital part of culture and society. Numerous critical thinkiers have emerged from early in time but al advocate for similar ideas. The main idea is independent thinking and constant analysis of others idea. this should be the stronghold for every educator, researcher and student in order to derive better understanding on phenomena as well as modern issues.
Works cited
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