Critical thinking - free course from 4brain, training 30 days, date November 30, 2023.

How often in your daily life do you have to work with information and process everything you see and hear? Do you trust everything you learn unquestioningly, or do you still evaluate its reliability? Are you looking for confirmation and proof of what you think is right or wrong? Do you give reasons for your position when communicating with other people?

Most likely, you will answer all of these questions (or at least most of them) positively. And this means that literally every day you are faced with the need to think critically. This is probably true of most of us. But doubts and the search for reliable facts do not at all mean that we know how to think critically correctly and do it effectively. Based on what exactly we are doing in life and at the current moment, we can apply different levels of critical thinking.

In everyday life, we are forced to take quite a lot of different things on faith, otherwise we would have to scrupulously study and check every little thing. Therefore, we ourselves have the right to decide when and how much information we may need, whether it is worth questioning and verifying it, and to what extent.

Simply put, critical thinking is the ability to determine when, where and what we need information, and the ability to select the optimal type and level of complexity of data for each specific case. But not every person has such skills, and critical thinking technologies are not taught everywhere. However, the importance of the ability to think critically is undeniable (we will talk about this later). Anyone can learn to do this, including you. And especially for this we have developed the presented course.

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking is a system of judgment used to analyze phenomena, things and events and then formulate sound conclusions. This is how people get reliable assessments and interpretations, as well as the opportunity to apply the results to problems and issues that are relevant to them.

Critical thinking promotes an objective view of ideas, decisions and actions, allows you to determine weaknesses and establish the veracity of facts and assumptions, relying on logic and cause-and-effect communications. However, critical and logical thinking should never be confused.

Critical thinking, coupled with logical thinking, gives a person the ability to find patterns, predict options for the development of events, and determine the relationship of objects, subjects and phenomena without the need to immerse yourself in serious research, competently justify your point of view through linguistic tools.

Taking a closer look, teaching critical thinking offers us a wealth of benefits that can bring practical benefits in personal, social and professional spheres activities.

Why be able to think critically?

We need a critical approach everywhere. In order not to be unfounded, we will give just a few examples of its practical benefits:

• In professional and everyday life, critical thinking helps you think and work more accurately and accurately, quickly. determine what is important and unimportant, solve problems more effectively, cope more carefully and effectively with various tasks.
• In training, along with the development of critical thinking, you will develop the skills of quickly recognizing arguments, quickly identifying key ideas in texts, the use of evidence and testimonies of experts and specialists, distinguishing critical and analytical materials from others.
• In the personal sphere, critical thinking will teach you to quickly analyze the judgments, views, evidence and opinions of others, competently justify your words and argue with arguments what you do not agree with, better understand other people’s and your own beliefs, thoughts and actions.

A person who can think critically can:

✔ Observe and be attentive to details.
✔ Study information carefully and with concentration.
✔ Quickly determine what is most important without distracting attention to the unimportant.
✔ React to key points in messages.
✔ Substantiate your point of view without much effort.
✔ Apply analytical skills in a variety of situations.

In addition to this, the development of critical thinking also forms a number of auxiliary skills, such as:

• Ability to express oneself competently.
• Ability to be persuasive.
• Ability to interpret effectively.
• Ability to make your own judgments.
• Ability to analyze and criticize.
• Ability to make effective decisions.
• The ability to be reasonable.
• Ability to reason logically.

It often happens that a person overestimates his ability to critically comprehend what he sees, hears, reads; what you encounter at school or at work. In addition, many people believe that they know “more than everyone else” and can tell everyone “what it costs.” But when others disagree, self-doubt appears and the inability to justify one’s position appears. This causes unnecessary problems both in study and work, and in banal communication.

We can assume that you are already using some critical thinking skills (you know the difference between good and bad, right?). But as you get older, get an education, and gain new life and professional experiences, you will certainly need more advanced skills. The more skills you master, the more confident you will be in handling new projects, tasks and problems.

Critical thinking is an intellectual activity, and in order to master it, you need to have good theoretical and practical materials. Our “Critical Thinking” course is one of these, during which you will get acquainted with all its basic elements.

The aspects of critical thinking that our course examines can be successfully applied in teaching and work, when preparing presentations and writing scientific papers, when resolving conflict situations and everyday problems.

Purpose of the course: Learn in depth the principles and techniques of critical thinking and teach you to use them confidently. The main information, as you should expect, will be given in the lessons (we will touch on their content later), but now we want to talk a little about practice.

Before you move on to developing critical thinking, we suggest you solve a case and check how developed this skill is in you now.

Methods for developing critical thinking

If you consider yourself a comprehensively developed person or strive to become one, you cannot do without critical thinking, because this is what allows a person to form his own views and not depend on outside opinions; it is this that helps a person grow and develop personally.

The technology for developing critical thinking is such that you need to train regularly, and you can start such training at absolutely any age. Systematic classes allow you to achieve a new level of development and new goals. Although developing critical thinking and staying on track can be difficult if you... If you initially set priorities and define your life goals, you will get much closer to the result easier.

Learning to think critically takes time. Almost always a person has free time, he simply spends it on unnecessary activities, for example, watching TV, “hanging out” on social networks or playing computer games. And the first step towards critical thinking should be taken right here - critically evaluate where your free minutes and hours go.

Another way to start learning a new skill is to analyze your day every day: what you did, what successes you achieved, what failures you had, what you did wrong. errors, etc. When the analysis is done, you can begin to draw up a plan for eliminating errors, eliminating chronophages (“time eaters”), and managing time.

Even these simple actions will begin to develop your ability to think critically about everything. If you suddenly face a new task, try to search for the maximum amount of information on solving it, consider a variety of options for action and choose the most effective one. By the way, we advise you to take a critical approach to completing our course: think carefully about how and when you will take it, and find time for this in your schedule.

Here are some critical thinking techniques for you. At first it may be unusual to use them, but this is just a matter of practice. Try to constantly evaluate how you think, what you think about, whether you are occupying your brain with useful things or doing whatever the wind takes you.

To make your critical learning more effective, adopt the right approach to everything you do and encounter. This means:

1.  Adequately assess reality. Everything that happens to you does not always depend on your desires and aspirations. Take it for granted. Assess reality: what you can influence and what you cannot control.
2. Be prepared for new information always and everywhere. If you are closed to new things, you will cut yourself off from real life.
3. Make confident and clear decisions. But before you do this, arm yourself with knowledge and do not forget about the previous point.
4. Give up the herd instinct. This doesn't mean you should immediately stop going to the movies or attending sports games. This means that you should always think with your own head, form your own opinion on this or that matter.
5. Draw a line between observation and conclusion. Check out everything you learn that is interesting to you.
6. Keep your sense of humor. Develop the ability to laugh at yourself and the events that life brings to you. This way your mind will always be clear and your opinions more objective.

However, applying critical thinking techniques is only one side of the issue. Another is that you need to develop a critical mindset. Let's tell you how it's done.

Formation of a critical mindset

A person in modern society is under constant pressure from other people's opinions. One of the most effective ways to develop a critical mind is to start by being as critical as possible. refer to information disseminated by the media, advertising, agitators, etc.

Not all information people receive is true. You need to distinguish between truth and lies and stop taking everyone’s word for it. It is also necessary to think about the prospects, so all situations should be assessed critically, and an action plan should be developed as carefully as possible.

Another method of developing a critical mindset is to develop correct self-esteem. You always need to objectively evaluate yourself and understand the possibilities of your potential and act, taking them into account. At the same time, it is important to improve by reading books (we will provide a list of references at the end), leading a healthy lifestyle, gaining new knowledge and improving any skills.

Among other things, human behavior is often determined by unspoken rules. If you know them, it will be easier for you to make the right decisions and act effectively. In any unfamiliar situation, you need to be observant and collect as much information of various kinds as possible.
As you probably know, people communicate with each other not only verbally, but also nonverbally. It is recommended to master this form of communication. Learn to read hidden signals in people's behavior, compare them with what you already know, and only then analyze them.

Before making any decision, weigh all the pros and cons again, avoid haste and unfounded conclusions. Be resistant to pressure from others, the imposition of other people's opinions, the influence of advertising, fashion and the media. Careful analysis of everything that happens is a direct path to the formation of a critical mindset and the development of critical thinking.

In the lessons of our course we will talk about these and many other useful and important things. A lot of interesting and useful information awaits you. However, you can get acquainted with what you have to study now.