Barriers of Critical Thinking

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Recommended: Importance of critical thinking in daily life

A learner who masters the art of critical thinking will be able to perform certain tasks” (Paul & Elder, 2001). Critical thinking is important and essential in everyday life because a critical thinker will be able to make wise judgments and good decisions. “Critical thinking is the ability for individuals to be able to think both clearly and rationally, it includes the ability to be reflective and also to be able to think independently.”(Lau & Chan, 2014) In addition to this being critical thinkers allows us to be more open to more possibilities and other’s opinions which would aid us in making better decisions. Unfortunately there are a few challenges that keep us from being effective critical thinkers such as prejudice, egocentrism and stereotyping. Firstly let’s look at prejudice. According to Oxford dictionaries Prejudice is defined as the preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. For instance let us look at a scenario where by a young woman is ousted from society solely because of the way she dresses. Because of the way she dresses people believe she is sexually active when it just might be simple her unique style of dressing. Another example is in school many that are seen using glasses are most of the time immediately dubbed geniuses or nerds. This may not always be so it could very well be due to some kind of optical problem. Although many of us at times do not realize it we all pre judge people based on their looks and this is a problem. Critical thinkers are expected to be able to look past prejudice. If prejudice is evident in an individual they will no longer be critical thinkers due to the fact that they are quick to judge people without much information. Consequently it would cause indi... ... middle of paper ... ...wever there are many things that hinder our progression to becoming critical thinkers. A few of these hindrances are prejudice, egocentrism and stereotyping. So as to become extraordinary critical thinkers we need to face these challenges and overcome them only then will we be able to come about with the best decisions when we are faced with issues in our everyday lives. Works Cited Elder, Linda. Paul, Richard. Benefits of Critical Thinking. Texas A&M. 2001. Web. 20th January 2014. Chan, Jonathan. Lau, Joe. What is Critical Thinking? Critical Thinking Web. 2014 “Prejudice”. Def 1. Oxford dictionaries. Oxford: United Kingdom. Oxford University Press. Oxforddictionaries.com. web. January 20th 2014. Bassham, Gregory. Irwin, William. Nardone,Henry &Wallace, James M. Critical Thinking. 2011. January 20, 2014. Santrock, John W. Adolescence. 2003. January 20, 2014

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