Critical Thinking
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Through the ages, Greek philosophers and modern-day personal development experts have discussed the need for every person to develop their critical thinking skills.
Today, with the growth of social media and the inability of many people to recognize false news stories and faulty arguments, there is a sense of urgency in these discussions.
As a success principle, critical thinking is aligned most closely with Napoleon Hill’s principle of Accurate Thinking.
According to Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ethics-everyone/201206/standards-critical-thinking
“Accuracy is unquestionably essential to critical thinking. In order to get at or closer to the truth, critical thinkers seek accurate and adequate information. They want the facts, because they need the right information before they can move forward and analyze it.”
Napoleon Hill refers to our minds as a piece of land that can be used to grow beautiful gardens or can be left alone to be overrun with weeds.
If we want a beautiful garden, we must tend the soil, feed it nutrients, plant seeds that will grow into beautiful flowers and fruits. This takes work based on planning, skills, and tools.
Using critical thinking skills takes work. Part of that work involves seeking accurate information by asking questions, comparing answers to determine relevancy to the question, and thorough analysis of the final answers to determine if they are, indeed, the factual and final answers.
What exactly is accurate thinking? How do we know we’ve received accurate information?
Accurate thinking is based on two types of reasoning:
- Induction. This is the act of reasoning from the specific to the general, from the individual to the universal. It is based on experience and experimentation and you are able to draw conclusions.
- Deduction. In this act of reasoning, specific conclusions are based on general logical assumptions.
“The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.”
Christopher Hitchens
Induction allows for false results. For instance, suppose that every time you throw a rock at a window, the window breaks while the rock remains unchanged. You do this repeatedly and it causes you to reason inductively that the glass is fragile and the rock is not. There is a conclusion based on experience that could still be proven inaccurate, but at the moment it is reasonable.
Deduction starts with a general statement and examines the possibilities to reach a specific, logical conclusion. For instance, you can take the experience with throwing a rock at a window and reason that another non-fragile object would also break the glass. Or, that the rock would also break another fragile object like a china dinner plate. There is a logical connection between the non-fragile object and the fragile object.
So how do you apply this throughout your day?
To be an accurate thinker, you must take two important steps:
- Separate facts from opinions, fiction, unproved hypotheses, and hearsay.
- Separate facts into two categories: important and unimportant.
One area to apply this process is other people’s opinions.
Opinions are everywhere and almost everyone is willing to share whether they’re asked for it or not. And more often than not, these opinions are worthless.
They can also be dangerous and destructive, especially when they are shared with great enthusiasm and presented as factual.
The accurate thinker, the critical thinker, will ask for facts to support the opinion expressed. Will want to know what that person is basing the opinion on and if there are no facts, written or otherwise, ask them to show examples of experience to support that opinions. The critical thinker won’t offer an opinion except when it can be shown to be based on facts.
What you can do is to stop reacting to what other people are saying and begin questioning whether the information they share is accurate.
The same is true of newspaper stories and reports and especially of gossip and rumor. Without asking for facts, you are relying on unproven information to influence how you make decisions in your life and business.
Question ideas and assumptions other people put forth. You want to determine whether the idea, argument or finding that is stated represents the entire picture or if there is more that needs to be known.
Try this exercise to help you to start thinking critically in response to someone’s statement or opinion.
Think of something that someone has recently told you. Then ask yourself the following questions (from SkillsYouNeed.com):
Who said it? Was it someone you know? Someone in a position of authority or power? Does it matter who told you this?
What did they say? Did they give facts or opinions? Did they provide all the facts? Did they leave anything out?
Where did they say it? Was it in public or in private? Did other people have a chance to respond an provide an alternative account?
When did they say it? Was it before, during, or after an important event? Is timing important?
Why did they say it? Did they explain the reasoning behind their opinion? Were they trying to make someone look good or bad?
How did they say it? Were they happy or sad, angry, or indifferent? Did they write it or say it? Could you understand what was said?
The successful decisions we make in life and business were made because we found no reason to not make them.
We can apply the same questioning process when we find ourselves hesitating to make a decision. Ask yourself these questions:
- Will it hurt someone close to me? Who will be affected and how?
- Will it benefit me personally? How?
- Will it benefit my company? Will it add to the bottom line or be an expense?
- Does this support my goals for my business? Will it move me forward or backward?
- Does this align with my values? Will I regret my actions if I move forward with this? Why?
The key isn’t to just ask questions. It’s to ask better questions. Think about the end goal and how the decision you make, the problem you solve, the person you invite into your life affects your ability to achieve that end goal. Those are the questions to ask.
For instance, you’ve been thinking that it’s time to move the operations of your business from your garage to a location closer to town. This means you will be less mobile and tied to a space you must lease. You have the money, so that’s not a factor. You can move, so that’s not a factor. You’re still uncertain if now is the right time to make the move.
Ask yourself the questions, ask those who will be affected for their input, ask questions of the space owner. Gather as much information as possible, ignore the beautiful view of the river, and ignore the easy walk to the coffee shop.
Focus on concrete facts and evidence. You’ll soon see whether the decision to move is a good one. And, if it’s not, then you’ll prevent future regret by having made the decision using your critical thinking skills.
Action Steps
- Write out the questions listed and recall an instance when someone shared an opinion with you. Review that instance with these questions. Can you answer them? If not, it’s time to review those questions and commit to asking them the next time someone shares an opinion.
2. Make the decision, now, to ask at least two questions the next time someone shares an opinion or you learn of a news story.
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