Critical thinking is a process of mind that increases the value of thinking and the human life towards a practical life. Flawed human thinking is filled with bias, prejudice, mistakes in thinking and guidelines that should be scrutinized for accuracy and validity using vital questions. One should consider unconventional answers, avoid naive reasoning and recognize the influence of behavior these guidelines may have on individuals. Critical thinking is in opposition to impulsive behavior.
Creative Thinking
Creative thinking contains the skills of brainstorming, originality and associative thinking. Creative thinking has a close relation to critical thinking in that it contains the steps of considering things from a different view, developing numerous resolutions for a difficulty and shunning answers that are too basic. The differences lie that creative thinking allows for lateral thinking; thinking that can encompass outrageous ideas and assistances from a good-natured approach. Creative thinking opens the mind to customs that are not the norm and allow individuals to tackle an obstacle in an unusual or original manner.
Labeled as Higher-Order Thinking
In Bloom's taxonomy, higher-order thinking goes beyond the basics of understanding. It involves analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating, and interpreting. Higher order thinking involves the learning of complex judgmental skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. Higher order thinking is more difficult to learn or teach but also more valuable because such skills are more likely to be usable in novel situations (i.e., situations other than those in which the skill was learned). This requires altered learning and educating techniques, than the simple gathering of facts and ideas. People who engage in this type of thinking will make sound judgments and perceive the deep traces of meaning. Critical explanations validate awareness and complexity in thinking. By critical and creative thinking, individuals will draw clearer conclusions, make appropriate conclusions, and use this information in different circumstances.
In research, the same processes are used. This type of thought proves hypotheses. I find myself actually using this thought process when I do my homework. It is amazing to use something in everyday life you would not normally know you would need it.
In his article “Critical and Creative Thinking Skills,” Robert M. Sherfield asserts that critical thinking skills are essential to today’s workplace, which is less dependent on physical labor and more reliant on intelligence and thinking. Examples of critical thinking skills in use in the workplace include research, statistical analysis, using restraint and careful analysis in judging situations and co-workers, classifying and sequencing information, recognizing patterns, forecasting and making calculations.
Sherfield contends that creative thinking is as important to a successful workplace as critical thinking because it moves humanity forward. Effective creative thinkers demonstrate the courage needed to find new strategies, innovative techniques and unusual solutions and to put them into action. This approach promotes divergent thinking and stimulates curiosity. In a workplace, people often use creative thinking to solve problems, deal with crises, write ad copy, improve products and processes, and address any situation where a new solution is needed.
Critical thinking is an important and valuable skill to have. Critical thinking affects both your professional lifestyle as well as your personal lifestyle. Critical thinkers should encompass skills needed to thoroughly analyze all the variables in a problem. During critical thinking, decisions should be based upon logic, and relevant and accurate data. Problem-solving and decision making is part of our everyday lives. It is important to use critical and creative thinking when solving problems and making decisions. Without thinking critically, you may miss out on important details that may help you come up the best solution or make the best decision. Identify an important decision you have made that required critical and creative thinking One of the most important decisions I have had to make that required critical and creative thinking is selecting an undergrad university to obtain my bachelor’s degree. This decision required critical thinking because the ultimate choice would have a crucial impact on my future endeavors. This decision also affected the major that I would select, which was another decision that required critical thinking. Both of these important decisions influence where I am in life now. Discuss your decision-making process and ex plain how critical and creative thinking contributed to the quality of your decision There were many factors that contributed to the decision-making process of selecting a school to attend for my undergraduate studies. One of the first and very important factors that I considered was the school’s accreditation. I critically assessed the accreditation of the schools I was accepted to while keeping in mind the effect it may have on my employment opportunities. Two of the five schools’ accreditation were questionable.
Since the dawn of humanity, man has sought to gain further insight on life through attaining knowledge. Knowledge can be defined as any information gained through personal experience. The means of obtaining knowledge include four main branches: reason, perception, language, and emotion. Despite the means, all knowledge is formulated through the process of thinking. Thinking refers to the use of the mind to gain understanding of the world. In the modern educational system, students are trained to think critically and apply gathered information to generate knowledge. However, schools also stress the idea of being original, using one’s own creative mind to form new ideas. In the areas of natural sciences and mathematics, critical thinking is primarily conceived as the most valued way of thought. On the contrary, creative thought is more highly coveted in areas of art and literature. In the pursuit of finding new information, which form of thinking is more highly appreciated? Or are both equally important? Can critical thinking be applied to literature and art? Can creative thinking manifest in science and math? Although the degree to which both forms of thinking will vary in each area of knowledge (AOK), all knowledge is acquired through an amalgamation of thought from both the left and right side of the human brain. Within this essay, the two areas of knowledge, natural sciences and arts, will be considered in evaluating the interaction of critical and creative thinking as a methods of generating knowledge.
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