Emily Biles

Eng M01C
T/R 8AM
6/30/14
Critical Thinking
What does it mean to be a critical thinker? According to my group, certain standards had
to be met. It takes more than the ability to argue to be a critical debtor. First of all you must
know what you are talking about. According to my group, to be a critical thinker you must not
only listen well, you must also interpret what you hear and develop responses in a timely
manner. You must have evidence to support yourself, and that evidence must come from a
reliable source and not be muddied with emotion. People like Participant #4 and Participant #5
justified their responses to the topic of pit bulls with personal experience and strong points.
To be a critical thinker, you must first realize what not being a critical thinker is. People
with strong emotional biases toward one side or the other are usually not open to listening the
other side of the debate. One must also realize where their opinions come from. Sources like
religion, media, and family often dont provide enough strong evidence to support an opinion.
On the other hand, sources like personal experience, facts and statistics are excellent evidence in
debating any topic.
We found that what led to the most critical thinkers was a strong interest in the topic.
With Participants 3, 4, and 5 there was clear interest shown and therefor they made the best
debaters. Participants 1, 2, and 6 were a little more timid and less interested in the topic.