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Observations on Critical Thinking

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Submitted By robertaake
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I have learned three lessons from this course. First, critical thinking assists in understanding various options that are available for realistic consideration. It helps in preventing me from being taken advantage of or throwing my support for an idea or initiative that is not completely true. It helps me to discern between true and partially true statements and to identify bias. It is also helpful in my work place and makes me a better employee. Second, critical thinking makes me more intellectually active because I no longer allow others to think for me. They can provide me opinion, but it is up to me to decide what facts I choose to consider and to ultimately believe. I have become more skeptical. There are some areas of life that I considered to believe valid but have now decided to do my own research and analysis. I am much more, for instance, critical of claims made on miracle drugs or cosmetics that have well known spokespersons. I no longer believe that there are certain occupations, such as clergy, that speak with the purest of motives. Third, I have learned not to take input from only one source. I used to just watch one television news source. But now I have taught myself to watch multiple sources and evaluate the various points made with an eye to bias. The media is far from unbiased and put a spin on many of the stories they cover. Facts are reinterpreted and then spewed at the public over and over to change opinions. This is especially true in politics. These lessons can easily be applied to everyday life. Critical thinking identifies them and questions them as well. Critical thinking is an essential tool in health, work, and community activity. It is the process of questioning, examining, and analyzing situations, issues, problems, people (in hiring

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