An Introduction to Critical Thinking in Some Number of gifs

So you find yourself in the enviable position of having signed up for a course in critical thinking with an instructor that thinks gifs are an academically acceptable form of content. Stay tuned on how that plays out.

The view of critical thinking represented here may be different from yours, and from billions of others on the planet. This view is one representation, and you are significantly encouraged (given the nature of this topic) to challenge the content in this chapter (and the rest of the workbook) and communicate (speak out) if you have a different, evidence-informed viewpoint.

The most critical element of a conversation about thinking and gifs is what you call them – jifs with a soft “g” or gifs with a hard “g.” This is an important conversation. Is this just a preference? Or is there evidence to support one option over another?

Hmmm….. (a personal critical thinking sound)

One logical place to begin an exploration of critical thinking is to define it. There are a many options for that and here are a couple of fundamental ones.

Dictionary.com, is an easy to find website to define things quickly and they have a starter concept as follows:

Critical Thinking – disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence:
The questions are intended to develop your critical thinking (Dictionary.com, n.d.).

Slightly more complex, and with some backup sources, is Wikipedia’s version of critical thinking as follows:

Critical thinking is the analysis of facts to form a judgment. The subject is complex, and several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, unbiased analysis, or evaluation of factual evidence. Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem-solving abilities as well as a commitment to overcome native egocentrism and sociocentrism (Wikipedia, “Critical Thinking,” n.d.)

Yes, Wikipedia. It’s a common place to start when exploring fact and information accuracy. It requires that you think critically and verify the sources used to cite the information, but it’s not the anti-academic, inaccurate, evil den of misinformation that some may claim.

A helpful media literacy expert I know named Dan Gilmor uses the phrase “trust but verify” in his work, and I think that’s an important element of critical thinking. It’s okay to initially trust a source or piece of information that someone tells you or shares with you through social media, but if you agree with Wikipedia’s notion of “rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use,” as a critical thinker you’ll want to confirm the source of the information that’s being shared with you. Generally speaking, opinionated and biased humans are a source that need a lot of verifying.

Here are some of the characteristics of a critical thinker and some of the ways that critical thinking, as a practice, might have a positive impact on your learning, relationships, and professional career.

Critical thinkers embody some or all of the following characteristics:

• They adopt a “trust but verify” attitude about information and “facts” they learn about, hear about, or view in their academic and personal environments
• They have explored a variety of go-to resources and places that they know are accurate places to verify information
• They have examined their personal biases and cultural experiences to know what might be influencing their ideas and opinions (especially their defensive, reactive, or judgmental behaviours). They are able to overcome personal biases in favour of listening, caring, and learning
• They approach the art of learning and knowing with a set of self-examined values and ethics
• They are able to listen carefully to the ideas and arguments of others without interrupting
• They have strategies for admitting they have learned something new, or posing respectful counterarguments to information they believe is inaccurate or misleading
• They can define and give examples of logic, accurate evidence, fallacy, opinion, rational practice, data-informed decision-making, and bias

These (and other) characteristics will be the focus of your course in critical thinking this semester.

Reflection Question: What would you say are some additional characteristics of critical thinkers?

As a sales pitch for why you would invest your time exploring critical thinking, please consider this…

Critical thinkers experience some or all of the following positive impacts in their practice:

• Their academic writing and communication skills are improved (they are able to provide evidence, examples, and citations for information shared as part of assignments and presentations)
• They are able to provide clear and logical arguments and be persuasive (for example when writing an employment cover letter describing how their skills align with required skills for the role)
• They know things, and they know how they know things
• They are self-informed and self-critical about their biases and are able to overcome internal reactionary behaviours in favour of emotionally intelligent interactions (often they make better friends, co-workers, and life partners)
• When and where an important personal, family, or community issues emerges, they are able to advocate, act, and speak out against dysfunctional systems and injustice

Reflection Question: What are some other positive impacts of critical thinking? What might be an unintentional negative impact of critical thinking?

This completes the first element of your course content!

References

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Critical Thinking. Retrieved from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/critical-thinking?s=t

Gilmor, D. (2010). Mediactive. Self-published and released with an open Creative Commons CC BY NC SA 3.0 United States license: San Francisco, CA.

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Critical Thinking. Retrieved on August 22, 2019 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking

All Gifs for this article were found on Giphy.com and were linked from the giphy.com website and used in an editorial context for public education (which I’m very much hoping is a correct application of Fair Dealing and appropriate use for copyright elements).