Teach them how to catch a fish and they'll never go hungry"

Proverbs like this remind us how learning skills

helps to move us towards self-reliance.

This is never more true than with critical thinking.

Memorize the solution to a problem

and you may master that particular problem.

Improve your critical thinking

and you'll give yourself the tools

to create your own effective solutions

to a multitude of unfamiliar problems.

Critical thinking refers to a diverse range

of intellectual skills and activities

concerned with evaluating information - as well as our own thought -

in a disciplined way.

When we're willing and able to examine our own capability as thinkers

acknowledging problems and weaknesses

this can help us refine our thought processes

so that we learn to think and assess information

in a more comprehensive way

that increases our ability to identify and reject false ideas and ideologies.

Critical thinking isn't just 'thinking a lot'.

A person may spend a great deal of intellectual energy

defending a flawed position

or pursuing a question that actually needs reformulating

before progress can begin.

If they never examine possible flaws and biases behind their approach

that's not thinking critically.

We must want to be better at thinking;

to pinpoint and minimise any biasing influence on our thought

from culture and upbringing;

to seek out and be guided by knowledge and evidence

that fits with reality, even if it refutes our cherished beliefs.

Indeed, when we think critically

beliefs tend not to be cherished

but held on the understanding that if they're shown to be unfounded

a change of position is the most appropriate response.

Critical thinkers cultivate an attitude of curiosity

and eagerness to widen their perspective and broaden their knowledge

and they're willing to do the work required

to keep themselves properly informed about a subject.

They recognise that explanations must actually explain

and be testable to be worthy of serious consideration;

and that legitimate theories

clearly define the circumstances in which they will concede defeat.

Critical thinking embraces scepticism.

Scepticism doesn't mean an indiscriminate rejection of ideas

as some mistakenly believe.

It refers to doubting

and suspending our judgment about claims with which we're presented

so that we don't simply accept claims that may be unjustified

but first take the time to understand them

examining the reasoning and possible assumptions and biases behind them.

Reasoning behind factual claims should be based in sound, consistent logic

not on emotions and social pressure

because the truth-value of factual claims isn’t determined

by the emotion that accompanies them

or the fact that they may be believed by certain social groups.

Sometimes people try to persuade us that reason has no value

but that's an untenable position.

Arguing against reason is cutting off the branch on which you sit

using the very thing you're dismissing

in order to construct a case against it.

Reason has an intrinsic role in the decisions and judgments we make

as we negotiate our way through life

whether they be momentous or trivial.

If a particular line of reasoning is flawed, what will increase our understanding?

Dismissing the value of reason or looking honestly at the flaws?

A lack of respect for reason or evidence

or any number of obstructive character traits

will sabotage one's capacity for critical thought.

One of the biggest barriers to critical thinking

is an unwillingness to see complex issues

in anything other than black and white terms.

If one sees only two options, when more exist

this constitutes a false dichotomy.

Consciousness is often presented as something

that's either an eternal immaterial entity

or reducible and identical to brain states

when in fact there are various other positions...

Many divide people into those who accept evolution

and those who believe in specific gods

when these categories are not mutually exclusive.

If we think in false dichotomies, we'll tend to draw false conclusions

for example, by judging that if option A is false

option B must be true.

We may also misrepresent others by wrongly assuming

that if they don't hold attitude X they must hold attitude Y.

Black and white thinking often reflects

an underlying reluctance or refusal

to deal with the uncertainty that results from complexity

and an absence of definite answers.

But leaping to flawed conclusions

because you can't tolerate the ambiguity of not knowing

is not about truth or curiosity, but comfort.

The critical thinker can handle uncertainty

preferring to be aware of their own areas of ignorance

and they can wait for valid evidence and evidence-based answers.

Critical thinking provides each of us

with keys for unlocking our own intellectual independence

leaving us willing and able to explore and solve problems for ourselves.

It moves us away from rash conclusions, mystification

and a reluctance to question received wisdom, authority and tradition.

And it moves us towards intellectual discipline

the clear expression of ideas

and the acceptance of personal responsibility for our own thinking.

Communities in which individuals are eager to acquire and apply the best knowledge

and reason in all fields

and willing to acknowledge and correct flaws in their own thinking

are better equipped to create more profoundly effective solutions

to the challenges we face in living and living together.

When we teach and encourage critical thinking

we empower individual lives

and invest in our collective future.