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“Critical” is derived from the Greek word krisis, which means “to
separate.” When we think critically, we are pulling things apart to
evaluate them, but we are also separating ourselves from our thinking
(our interests and biases) to be better thinkers.
Let’s take something easy to digest: sports. It’s easy to have a favorite
team. Mostly, loyalties come from who your family favors and where
you grow up. You can root, root, root for the home team, but if you are
going to make a claim that any one team is better than another, you’re
going to have to back it up with evidence.
There is a big di erence between saying (1) the Cubs are the best team
in baseball and (2) the Cubs are the best team in baseball because they
had the best regular season record and went on to win the World
Series. (Yes, that really happened.) Critical thinking can be directed
toward others, but we need to be the most critical about our own views.
https://medium.com/@StevenMichels/what-is-critical-thinking-d2fa8b71cecc 1/4
11/14/2017 What is critical thinking? – Steven Michels – Medium
Critical thinking is almost always radical because it goes “to the root” of
things, which is why it is so essential to problem solving. Karl Marx,
rather cynically, alleged that people can only see a problem once a
solution is available. A more optimistic, if idealistic, version comes from
John Lennon (from “Watching the Wheels”), where he sings, “there’s
no problem, only solutions.” Marx and Lennon were both critical
thinkers, but Lennon wrote better songs.
https://medium.com/@StevenMichels/what-is-critical-thinking-d2fa8b71cecc 2/4
11/14/2017 What is critical thinking? – Steven Michels – Medium
https://medium.com/@StevenMichels/what-is-critical-thinking-d2fa8b71cecc 3/4
11/14/2017 What is critical thinking? – Steven Michels – Medium
https://medium.com/@StevenMichels/what-is-critical-thinking-d2fa8b71cecc 4/4