The unexamined life is not worth living. –Socrates
A few days ago I was visiting my favorite coffee shop and as I was meandering to my table I passed a table of four folks. I had just passed by when I heard, ‘That’s not critical thinking…’ After settling in at my table I emerged this question: ‘What is critical thinking – what does it mean to think critically?’ I’ve been holding this question for more than three days now; yesterday afternoon a reply began to emerge and I made some notes. I am not sure how many postings I will devote to this topic, but it will be more than one. So, ‘What is critical thinking?’
Let’s begin with what it is NOT. It is not something that only philosophers do; in fact, it is not something that only ‘well-educated’ folks do (if they do it at all). It is not the same as ‘being critical’ of something (being critical of an author, a child, a friend, a play, etc.). It’s not something professional ‘critics’ do (although there are elements that are present in both ‘being critical’ and in ‘thinking critically’). I do have a sense that with discipline and the ‘right’ practice most of us can develop our capacity for critical thinking.
Consider, Gentle Reader, critical thinking happens when we engage four steps:
Discerning and Naming Assumptions. We all hold a variety of assumptions. Some are easy to discern and name (‘I assume that if I travel this route I will reach my destination’); some are discernable with a bit of effort (‘I assume that if I follow my physician’s counsel that I will feel better.’) and some assumptions are deep tacit assumptions – we hold these to be ‘truth’ and we believe they are rooted in ‘reality’ (‘I assume that people are inherently trustworthy’). The most difficult assumptions to discern and name (and own) are the deep tacit assumptions I hold (for they are ‘truth’ for me and who wants his or her truth challenged). The first step in thinking critically is to discern and name our assumptions – particularly our deep tacit assumptions. As I think about it, most of the actions I take are rooted in the assumptions I hold to be ‘true’ (this, of course, is also an assumption I hold to be true). Anyone who has attempted to discern and name his or her deep tacit assumptions knows how challenging it is to do so.
Checking Our Assumptions. Once I discern and name the assumptions that inform my thinking, my perceptions, and that guide my choices and actions the next step is that I will take some time to check whether these are as ‘true’ as I believe them to be. Are my assumptions valid and are they reliable; do they inform my thinking and my choices and my actions – are they ‘good guides’ for me? Are my assumptions ‘situational’ and yet I apply them generally? It is crucial, it seems to me, that we identify and assess the ‘convincing evidence’ for our assumptions (what validates them for me). Sometimes the evidence is based in my experience (when I do ‘A’ this has happened again and again and so, based upon my experience, I believe that if I do ‘A’ then this will happen again). Sometimes the evidence is based upon an ‘authority’ (a person we trust tells us it is so and so we assume that it is so – the person speaks ‘the truth’ and we trust). At other times the evidence is rooted in disciplined searching and seeking – inquiry and research; we do the searching and seeking, it is not done for us.
So, thus far, we have ‘Discerned and Named’ our assumptions (especially our deep tacit assumptions as in ‘life is a competitive struggle’) and then we have taken the time (sometimes a great deal of time will be required) to check our assumptions. Next time we will explore steps three and four.
To refuse to examine the assumptions one lives by is immoral. –Robert K. Greenleaf