Thinking Skills in the Age of Globalization

Whether we like it or not, globalization is changing the way we work and live. First of all,
we are increasingly faced with complex problems that affect the whole world, whether it
is global warming, pollution, financial crises, or new epidemics. We need good thinking
and creative ideas to coordinate efforts to solve these problems.

At the personal level, globalization brings about anever-quickening pace of life. We

have a huge amount of information available, but what we learn today might easily
become obsolete tomorrow. Although fast changes also bring new opportunities, we
now have to compete with talented people across the world. To be successful in this
environment, we need good thinking skills that can help us make reliable decisions and
acquire new knowledge quickly.

But what do we mean by good thinking skills? Basically, it comes down to two things—
critical thinking and creativity. Critical thinking is thinking clearly and rationally. It
involves thinking precisely and systematically, and following the rules of logic and
scientific reasoning, among other things.

As for creativity, it is a matter of coming up with new and useful ideas, generating
alternative possibilities. This subsection is about these two sets of thinking skills, but at
this point, you might ask, which is more important, critical thinking or creativity? The
short answer is that they are equally important. We need creativity to come up with
ideas to solve problems, but we also need critical thinking to evaluate and improve
these ideas. They complement each other, and we need both to survive and to prosper.

Misconceptions about Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a discipline that many people have a misconception of what the
concept is all about. These misconceptions have negative consequences on people
who are willing to acquire skills and become effective critical thinkers. Below are some
of the most common misconceptions raised by Andrew Beck (2011) in his book titled
“Critical thinking: an appeal to reason”

What Critical Thinking is not!

• It is often believed that critical thinking means excessive criticism. This means always
employing a negative criticism of the arguments people make. This is not true because
as we are going to see, it has to do with making a balanced judgment about the
truthfulness of an argument.

• Critical thinking is not about being partial or biased in your reasoning or decision-
making. Impartiality and objectivity are core values of the art of critical thinking. It has to
do with making a faire judgment of your own claim or argument and that of others.

• Critical thinking is not about being passive in discussions and debates. On the
contrary it involves being an active contributor in debates and discussions and to defend
your own arguments and claims

. • Critical thinking is not practically useful because people in real life do not listen to
reason. They act on the basis of self-interest, emotion, or personal relationships. The
first problem with this objection is that it confuses rational thinking with talking about
reasons. It might be true that many people are irrational, and to influence them we need
to appeal to authority, emotions, or anything other than reason. But we can still use
critical thinking to think strategically about the best means to achieve our objectives.

• Critical thinking is not opposing emotions, relationships, and so on. Consider for
example love and friendship. They are certainly valuable, but critical thinking can help
us cultivate them. For example, thinking carefully about what is good or bad about a
relationship can help us improve it and make it more fulfilling. Besides, it is not always
wise to act solely on the basis of emotions. They can be biased by ego, fear, and greed.
Thinking more about our decisions can counteract this problem.
What Critical Thinking is!

Thinking is a mental activity that the mind engages in with the help of the senses.
Although the Rationalist proponents are in strong support of their theory of innatism
which argues that man is born with innate ideas, the Empiricist school rejects this
theory.

The leading proponent of the Empiricist school and distinguished British philosopher,
John Locke argues that at birth, the human mind is like a tabula rasa (a black sheet of
paper). Hence whatever the mind acquires is from experience. Therefore, to him,
knowledge comes from experience and not inborn because it is the sense that feed the
mind with ideas to perform its functions.

The word critical in Latin is criticus and in Greek is Kritokos, both meaning able to make
judgment. There are several definitions of critical thinking as this concept has been
under research for several decades. Among the numerous definitions advanced by
scholars in this discipline, that of Robert Ennis is one of the most explicit. He defines
critical thinking as reasonable reflective thinking that is aimed at deciding what to belief
or what to do (David Hunter, 2014). There are some key elements of this definition
worth revisiting. Let’s take a look!

• Critical thinking is reasonable thinking: This has to do with the ability of exercising
logical reasoning skills. It is reasonable because there is a method that needs to be
applied in working out things.

• Critical thinking is reflective thinking. This refers to thinking that pushes us to question
our thoughts and decisions and that of others as well. We are bound to question any
information, action or object that do not appear intellectually satisfactory to us. We have
mentioned before that critical thinking leads us towards what to believe in the sense that
it is a matter of what the facts or evidence are. For example, to say it is rainy outside is
a fact. It also involves reasoning about what the facts are and this is known as
theoretical reasoning

To say critical thinking leads us towards what to do involve two key elements: what to
value or what to strive for. It has to do with your goal and the best means to attain that
goal. It is all about focusing on the right idea and the right action to take. For example,
should I buy a new dress now or continue with the old ones?

We decide what to do on the bases of what we already value or what we already think
makes for a good life. Decisions about what to value are among the most difficult and
profound decisions we can make. But critical thinking can help us to make some of
these decisions.

Hence deciding what to do involves reasoning about what to do and how to do it. This is
call practical reasoning. To think critically on what to belief or what to do is reasonable
because we have to have not just reasons but good ones for the decisions we make.
The relevance of critical thinking

Critical thinking is very relevant in our everyday lives as humans for several reasons:
• It gives us the ability to reflect skeptically. Within the context of critical thinking,
skepticism gives us the ability to apply doubts in certain situations. It does not mean we
doubt everything we hear and see. It means being open and holding to the fact that
there is a possibility that what you know at a given time may only be part of the picture.
Hence critical thinking gives us the tools to use skepticism and doubt constructively.

 Critical thinking helps us to make better and informed decisions whether

something is likely to be true, effective or productive. It guides you on when to be
trustful or skeptical.
 Critical thinking gives you the ability and skills to defend yourself from false
accusations and manipulations.
  It enable you to be able to provide evidence and reasons for the opinions we
hold.
 Critical thinking skills enable us to ask the right questions and to say yes or no
when these responses are appropriate.
 Critical thinking enables us to be able to provide good reasons for our decisions
and actions.
 When we become critical thinkers, you possess an intellectual mind that is
autonomous, independent and free, rather than just sticking to or being drilled by
what people say.
 As a critical thinker, you will possess the ability to distinguish cultural and
irrational believes that carry no evidence for their stands.
 As a critical thinker, you can live an examined life. The distinguished Greek
thinker, Socrates once said” The unexamined life is not worth living’. As humans,
we are able to examine our lives objectively in order to improve it.
 Critical thinking skills help us to solve practical and theoretical problems that we
encounter in our daily lives, by seeking the right solutions.

Critical Thinking Skills

Every human being has the ability to become a critical thinker because we all have the
minds and brains required for this mental activity. However, the art of critical thinking
requires a number of skills and abilities which can be acquired through learning and
training.
A critical thinker is someone who is able to do the following:
 Understand the logical connections between ideas.
 Formulate ideas succinctly and precisely.
 Identify, construct, and evaluate arguments
 Evaluate the pros and cons of a decision.
 Evaluate the evidence for and against a hypothesis.
 Detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning.
  Analyze problems systematically
 Identify the relevance and importance of ideas.
 Justify one’s beliefs and values.
 Reflect and evaluate one’s thinking skills.

Below, are some of the skills that are indispensable to practice the art of critical thinking.

• You need to be a logical and rational thinker. This kind of a person uses good reasons
to make decisions or to solve problems. You cannot separate logical reasoning from
critical thinking given that the two go together.

• Evaluation skills. You need to be able to evaluate your own beliefs and actions, as well
as that of others whether they are right or wrong or have sufficient grounds to convince
others

• Analysis. You should have the ability to relate concepts to ideas and categories and to
derive meaning from them. Irrespective of the form it takes, analysis always aims at
giving a meaning to a set of statements or arguments. It also involves analyzing
evidence and drawing conclusions from them. This can be applied in a variety of
settings.

• Synthesis. You need to be able to isolate irrelevant from relevant information to be

able to come out with the most relevant message from any written or oral discuss,
argument or debate.

• Reflexive thinking. You need to develop your own ability towards using the right
approach to problem solving by asking the right questions.

As we can see from the list, critical thinking skills are essential for all sorts of careers in
which we have to communicate ideas, make decisions, analyze, and solve problems.
This is why critical thinking is called a domain-general thinking skill. But critical thinking
is not just for the workplace. To live a meaningful life and plan for the future, we need to
think about ourselves honestly and carefully. The Greek philosopher Socrates (469–399
B.C.E.) once said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” One big difference between
human beings and other animals is our capacity for self-reflection.

We can examine the purpose and meaning of our life and change ourselves
accordingly. Critical thinking contributes to this process of self-evaluation and
transformation.

Good critical thinking is also the foundation of science and democracy. Science requires
rationality in designing experiments and testing theories. A vibrant and progressive
democracy requires citizens who can think objectively about social and political issues
and are able to avoid biases and prejudices. So obviously the cultivation of critical
thinking should be a central aim of education.

Barriers to critical thinking

There are a number of factors that can hinder one from becoming an efficient critical
thinker, which includes the following:

• Traditional beliefs and customs

• Religious beliefs
• Misconception of the subject matter of critical thinking, as many people think that
critical thinking is only about negative criticism of people’s thoughts and ideas.
However, this is not true given that critical thinking aims to offer an objective, balanced
and transparent appreciation of one’s argument and that of others.
• Over estimating our own reasoning abilities. This happens when we think that our own
reasons and belief system is the best
• Lack of method and strategies to practice critical thinking. Some people have the
interest to become critical thinkers but they do not know how to go about it.
• Many people are also very reluctant to criticize experts, for example students and
teachers. The former feel very inferior intellectually to say anything against their
teachers given that they are the ones who trained them.
• Due to impatience, some people do not pay sufficient focus and attention to details.
This kind of attitude hinders a full application of critical thinking skills.

How to overcome these Barriers to critical thinking

All the above barriers can be overcome by improving on the relevant critical thinking
skills through training, reading and applying the knowledge to real world situations. For
example, if you are trained to reason logically, you will be able to question some
religious and traditional beliefs without ample evidence to support their stands.
Note that questioning is not a problem, rather the problem probes in if you are
questioning to learn or otherwise. Each of the critical thinking skills highlighted above
can make a positive impact on improving your ability to think critically.

I have not said you should question the existence of God ooh? Because whether you
believe it or not God exist. Just take it like that. It may be subjective to you, but because
I am your lecturer you will have to take it from me for your own good. However, critical
thinking remains very useful in our society and daily lives.

So how do we enhance our critical thinking if it is so useful? Obviously, we are all able
to think critically to some extent, or we will not survive very long! But there is always
room for improvement. Even with a skill as natural as running, training with an expert
can improve our breathing and posture and help us run even better.

Thinking is something we all do and take for granted, but the fact is that even normally
intelligent people can sometimes be stubborn and biased. Psychology research tells us
that people make lot of mistakes in their reasoning—they overestimate their abilities,
interpret the world to confirm their prejudices, and look for causes and patterns in the
wrong places. By studying critical thinking, we are more likely to avoid such errors. We
can also help other people by studying critical thinking. Sometimes we get the feeling
that an argument is wrong but we do not know exactly why. Critical thinking gives us the
concepts and vocabulary to explain what is wrong. This promotes understanding and
more effective discussions. Hope you understand?

Good critical thinking is a cognitive skill. In general, developing a skill requires three
conditions— learning the theory, deliberate practice, and adopting the right attitudes. By
theory we mean the rules and facts we have to know in order to possess the skill.
For example, one cannot be a good basketball player without knowing the rules that
govern the game. An even after knowing the rules, for you to be a good player, you will
need to devote considerable time in practicing. It was generally noted that top
basketball players trained averagely for 10hours per day.

After understanding the rules of the game in theory and in practice, the one last thing
that is required for critical thinking to be complete is the art of adopting the right attitude.
This is what differentiates good players from great players in and out of the pitch- the
right attitude.

Conclusion

The idea that we should think critically might seem downright boring, and yet we should
not underestimate the power of critical thinking. It requires having the discipline to
reflect on the reasons for our actions, and this is very important if we want to improve
ourselves and become more successful. Warren Buffet is one of the world's richest
persons, widely admired for his investment record and philanthropy.
The adherence to critical thinking is a crucial factor in Buffet's success. Here is what he
says about the importance of being able to give reasons for our actions:
You ought to be able to explain why you're taking the job you're taking, why you're
making the investment you're making, or whatever it may be. And if it can't stand
applying pencil to paper, you'd better think it through some more. And if you can't write
an intelligent answer to those questions, don't do it.
I never buy anything unless I can fill out on a piece of paper my reasons. I may be
wrong, but I would know the answer to that. "I'm paying $32 billion today for the Coca-
Cola Company because..." If you can't answer that question, you shouldn't buy it. If you
can answer that question, and you do it a few times, you'll make a lot of money.
Making money might not be your top priority, but if we can apply the same discipline in
giving reasons for our actions and think about these reasons carefully, we are more
likely to achieve our goals.