Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Application

John Martinez

University of Phoenix

September 6, 2010

Steve Varga

Critical Thinking Application

The mind is a powerful tool that through the art of thinking helps make sense of everything humans experience. To improve thinking it is imperative that individuals express their thoughts. Communication whether written or verbal provides a mirror for one’s thoughts (Kirby & Goodpaster, 2007). Critical thinking is the ability to think about thinking to improve the way one thinks (Paul & Elder, 2006). By having a clear understanding of one’s thoughts, the goal of improved thinking becomes much more attainable. Several characteristics define one’s ability to think critically; however, using these traits conjunctively forms a series of steps that helps the process function as a system.

Fair-Minded Thinkers

Critical thinking requires determination and intellectual work. Self-serving skilled thinkers (weak-sense) usually obtain what they want, but thinkers who think in a non-egoistic way (strong-sense) reflect on all viewpoints and develop a fair-minded approach toward thinking (Paul & Elder, 2006). Fair-minded thinkers do not pursue self-interest, so to have an open-minded view they develop traits and practices that help characterize their strengths or weaknesses as highly skilled thinkers. The weak-sense though skilled are manipulative and misleading, but the best of all skilled thinkers are the strong-sense, which are hard to deceive because of their unwavering pursuit for fairness and justice (Paul & Elder, 2006).

Among the traits that define a fair-minded thinker one will find intellectual integrity, intellectual humility, intellectual empathy, intellectual courage, intellectual perseverance, intellectual confidence in reason, and intellectual autonomy. These traits exercised simultaneously constitute the state of fair-mindedness (Paul & Elder, 2006). Staying true to one’s own thinking, building awareness...