Critical Thinking: How to Ask the Right Questions?

How often do you know that the answer to the essay question is right? Can you be sure of the credibility of the news you read in the morning? These are the smallest questions that emerge in your brain once your critical thinking turns on. Like a muscle in the human body, you can train your critical thinking. How to do that? By asking the right questions.

Anyone can improve their critical thinking skills and master the art of truth. By honing your critical thinking skills, you can navigate the complex world of information with the precision of custom resume writing services information technology, ensuring your grasp on truth remains steadfast.  – to make the paragraph logical and well-balanced? This would consistently present ideas. Check the tips from our experts and the questions to ask in the article below. 

Why Is Critical Thinking Important? 

Critical thinking is a feature that separates humans from the animalistic world. It is also one of the top skills required in the job market, especially if your profession includes dealing with tons of data and analyzing it. 

“Can I pay someone to write my cover letter and land my dream job?” Sure, you can. But we suggest you develop critical thinking and use it in your daily life. In the end, critical thinking will let you make the right decisions and save you from the toughest choices. But in any case, if you want to choose the right one resume writing service just check topresume resume review first.

How does critical thinking improve your daily life, work, and education?

  • You learn how to differentiate the credible source of data from the one that isn’t worth your trust. 
  • As a student, you’ll master the art of writing analytical and argumentative essays. 
  • When accepting a job offer, you’ll learn how to weigh the pros and cons yet make a balanced decision. 
  • You’ll be able to solve daily problems fast and with minimum effort.

What Is the Source of the Message?

This question is the first one that should emerge in your head when you’ve read the news. Unfortunately, social media tends to appeal to the reader’s emotions rather than logic. Once you react, your reasoning gets clouded. Imagine you read the news about aliens found in New York. What if the news says that the aliens have kidnapped the citizens?

What you should do is check the source. If the article was created by NASA and posted in the New York Times, then the source is credible. If the author is unknown and the site is not credible, forget about the aliens. 

Who Is the Author?

Social media loves manipulating its readers. Unfortunately, you’ll find this kind of manipulation in the scientific community as well. Let’s say you found an article on immigration. The author states that immigrants commit crimes more often than locals. Can you believe the author? Check their qualification, experience, and sociopolitical views.
There is a high chance that the article was written by an author with right-wing views. 

After you find the info on the author, check sources that state a different opinion. Imagine you’re writing an argumentative piece. How would you respond to the author once you read more sources? Will your opinion differ?

What Do the Statistics Say?

The language of statistics is the language of truth. If you’re not sure about the opinion you hold, check the relevant statistics. Let’s say you get the job offer of your dream with a sky-high salary. What if your gut feeling tells you things are too good to be true?

If this happens, write down the questions that bother you. Is it the salary or the number of hours you’ll have to work? Check the statistics on the average salary and the number of working hours in the industry. 

If you’re a student, knowing the language of statistics will help you persuade the opponent – the reader of your analytical and argumentative essays.

What About Examples?

Examples illustrate the idea and prove the author’s opinion. Like statistics, examples show the reader how a particular message lives in our reality. 

Imagine you read an article about global warming. The author persuades you that humans should change their way of living to reduce plastic consumption. But there are no examples of how one can change their living style.
Will you consider the message important? Obviously, no. There are no solutions in the article, so it sabotages the significance of the problem. 

What Does My Gut Feeling Tell Me?

We often misjudge the whole situation once we decide to follow our logic rather than intuition. The latter is a compass that helps us navigate in situations when a quick decision is required. 

Our intuition works in mysterious ways. Most art professionals follow their inner feeling when asked to detect a forgery. All because they’ve seen so many art objects that their eyes are trained to find mistakes. An art dealer would follow their first impression and only later analyze the painting or sculpture. 

How is intuition a part of critical thinking?

  • Your intuition is a pack of memories and experiences your brain uses to evaluate the situation quickly. An intuitive response happens long before the actual reasoning begins. 
  • Think of intuition as a defense mechanism. While the whole analytical process takes a long time, intuition is a matter of a moment.
  • Intuition helps your reasoning take a particular course. For instance, your intuition warns that you should not accept a particular job offer. Later, your thinking system will start giving you reasons why the job offer isn’t good.

Final Thoughts

As children, we are taught that there is always the “good” and the “bad.” But we’re never taught the importance of asking questions. In reality, what’s good for one person will be bad for another. That’s why we should master the art of critical thinking. By doing so, we can find which idea is credible and which idea isn’t.

Maria Colombo
Maria Colombo
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