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Every day, we make choices, big and small. From what we eat for dinner to our careers to life-altering decisions, we are continually confronted with challenging and even intriguing complex choices.
It can be easy just to follow our usual habits, ask friends and colleagues, or search the internet for advice. Sometimes, we sit back and wait for things to happen, hoping they’ll sort themselves out. But that’s not really how things work.
Here’s the point: if you want to make informed decisions with solid outcomes, practice critical thinking.
Critical thinking means being aware of what we don’t know and actively seeking out different information, even if it’s very different from what we’ve heard before or out of our comfort zone. When you try a new food, if it doesn’t taste great, it’s still a new experience that can help you understand the tastes you do like and expand your culinary horizons.
With critical thinking, we can contextualize information and improve how we understand it. When we make informed decisions, we can leverage this knowledge to make more effective choices in the future and even assist others in making sound choices. Naturally, the more we learn and explore, the more proficient our critical thinking skills become.
Functioning as a formidable superpower, critical thinking enables us to discern deception and manipulation. When we’re curious, critical thinking empowers us to differentiate between fact and fiction, identify our genuine beliefs, and comprehend their impact on us. By intentionally gathering a wide range of information, we can make informed decisions and expand our knowledge. It’s like having a resourceful compass that guides you towards making decisions that are both effective and minimize potential negative consequences.
As an added bonus, making informed choices and seeing the results can be incredibly satisfying and boost your confidence. When we make informed decisions consistently, we reduce stress, procrastination, and self-doubt. Critical thinking is an effective skill that offers three main benefits:
- Identifying valuable and unexpected information: Critical thinking enables us to locate information and content that may be challenging to find or comprehend.
- Understanding new things in new ways: It helps us understand unfamiliar information or ideas that might differ from what we’re used to thinking.
- Expanding your knowledge and building new relationships: Critical thinking empowers us to explore novel ideas, solutions, and perspectives beyond our existing knowledge base. It’s like having a giant box full of new items waiting to be uncovered. This new knowledge can build relationships in our professional and social communities and bridge information gaps.
How AI Relates
AI is at the forefront of many thought processes. As AI undergoes testing to assess its utility and potential risks, it is important to recognize and remember that AI is a product of human creativity and ingenuity. While AI possesses remarkable capabilities, our human minds remain the most adept at critical thinking. We still possess the ability to think, believe, act, and interpret information in ways that AI cannot.
Critical thinking can be like having a superpower that lets you immerse yourself in a vast expanse of information and analyze it from different angles. It’s not just about mere problem-solving; it’s about being open to different ideas and even entertaining the most unlikely possibilities. Throughout history, this has been the key to innovation; not merely reinventing or making something new out of something old. Thinking critically involves observing global needs and generating ideas that make the world a vibrant place for everyone.
The next time you find yourself faced with a difficult decision, remember that critical thinking is your key to unlocking new possibilities. Don’t be afraid to explore all the different ways you can think. Developing your mind with critical thinking reveals a world of innovative solutions.
