Critical and creative thinking defined.
It appears to me there is a lot of debate or misunderstanding in terms of how to articulate a clear definition of critical and creative thinking. It seems the definition is conceptualized differently depending on the discipline it is being viewed in. If we look at the Webster’s dictionary definitions:
Creative means:
• having or showing an ability to make new things or think of new ideas
• using the ability to make or think of new things : involving the process by which new ideas, stories, etc., are created
Critical means:
• expressing criticism or disapproval
• of or relating to the judgments of critics about books, movies, art, etc.
• using or involving careful judgment about the good and bad parts of something.
It is evident that critical and creative thinking is a product of thought. With Webster’s definitions in mind, creative thinking is the process and critical is the assessment of thought. Critical thinking is active and careful consideration of knowledge based on evidence while creative thinking is the generation of new ideas. Higher level thought requires one to perform both creative and critical thinking in concert.
How are critical and creative thinking different?
Creative and critical thinking differ in many ways. According to Dr. Robert Fisher, a researcher and writer on teaching, thinking and creativity, conceptualized creative and critical thinking with the following table.
Critical Thinking Creative Thinking analytic generative convergent divergent vertical lateral probability possibility judgment suspended judgment hypothesis testing hypothesis forming objective subjective answer an answer left brain right brain closed open-ended linear associative reasoning specu...
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... (survival of the fittest). If enough of those adaptations were accumulated, a new species could arise. Once Darwin developed his theory, he moved into the critical thinking by studying evolutionary theories of other scientist and philosophers such as Robert Chambers, Erasmus and even Aristotle. He also conducted a multitude of experiments to test his theory. Lastly, he tested out his theory of evolution on friends like zoologist Thomas Henry Huxley. After twenty years of work, he finally published his paper, On the Origins of Species. Darwin clearly challenged assumptions and prior knowledge. He took new perceptions of things and did not take them at face value. He created a new frame of reference and re-examined the existence of information. I believe this is a clear example of creative and critical thinking working in concert to solve a complex problem.
Critical thinking occurs when a person thinks about a subject or problem to where the improvement of the quality of ones own thinking using skillful analogies, then assessing and reconstructing them. A few important skills that is learned through critical thinking is learning how to discipline oneself in thinking, understanding the world as well as learning themselves. Critical thinking in the business world has many benefits in the process of decision making by employers as well as employees.
My personal definition of critical thinking is your ability to think using sensible, adequate, and level-headed thinking about things you believe in, the things that you do, and how you ultimately decide what needs to be addressed. This includes your ability to interconnect in independent, reflective, and authentic thinking that helps you recall information and details so that you can better understand them. Critical thinking also entails your ability to make the right choices while boosting your ability to solve problems and arguments while evaluating the evidence. This also includes your thought process in being rational, open-minded, and understanding the connections between thoughts and ideas. Critical
The Critical Thinking Community defines critical thinking as, “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication,
Critical thinking provides an opportunity to explore the positive and negative sides of an argument for and against an idea, theory or notion. Reasoning and perception is attuned to personal impression and provides outcome to belief and opinion.
Critical thinking is the process of examining, analyzing, questioning, and challenging situations, issues, and information of all kinds. Without thinking critically, you're only looking at the surface of things. It means not taking what you hear or read and believing it, but using your critical power to what you agree with and what you do not agree wit...
Questions are something that must be asked and can be very important when reading a literary work, watching a movie, or just simply trying to understand the habits of people today. Asking questions opens up the human brain to dig farther and deeper into the meaning of why someone did something in a specific way and what purpose it has that something must be done in that way. Critical thinking is asking question and trying to hypothesize on what the answer to that question might be. Critically thinking is a healthy aspect of opening up the brain and will improve one’s thought process on how to apply critical thinking in situations where it is dependent, like a future
Dictionary.com defines critical thinking as “the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion” (2011). A well-educated critical thinker will raise important questions as well as define problems or issue, in a clear and precise manner, gathering, and evaluating relevant information using abstract and informative ideas. The critical thinker as well will interpret the information effectively to come to a well-rounded conclusion and a well formulated solution, testing them alongside the relevant standards and criteria. Open mindedness is vital, within one’s thinking processes within alternate systems of thought, the critical thinker will recognize and assess, his or her assumptions, practical consequences, implications, by communicating effectively with other individuals to figure out a possible outcome to multifaceted issues (Criticalthinking.org).
When trying to define critical thinking you might run into some challenges along the way. Critical thinking is a widely used yet vague term that is practiced by different people in a variety of locations throughout the world. Critical thinking is a strong virtue for the majority and the worst enemy for others. Needless to say without critical thinking we would be nowhere close to where we are today pertaining to our technological and social endeavors.
Many types of thinking are used with critical thinking. Among those of types of thinking, creative thinking has shaped the world into what it is today and what it evolves into in the future. Children are born as creative thinkers. However, if one does not improve and build upon his or her creative skills, the creative thinking potential may diminish throughout a lifetime. “Creative thinking involves creating something new or original. It involves the skills of flexibility, originality, fluency, ima...
The author Vincent Ruggiero defines critical thinking in his book Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking, as a “search for answers, a quest.” It is the idea that one does not accept claims, ideas, and arguments blindly, but questions and researches these things before making a decision on them. From what I learned in class, critical thinking is the concept of accepting that there are other people and cultures in this world that may have different opinions. It is being able to react rationally to these different opinions.
Critical thinking is the process in which one challenges their emotive, self-centered way of thinking. It causes one to test their own assumptions and question their reasoning. Critical thinking is the process in which one mentally explores deeper than the superficial matters at hand into the deeper layers in order to find out what the real issues are. Successful critical thinking is a process that allows one to creatively problem solve, seek innovative solutions, and essentially "think outside of the box." It also allows one to become more open minded to various situations. Logic and perception both play a role in critical thinking. However, when it comes to weighing their beneficial impact on the critical thinking process, logic and perception are by no means equal. While logic is firmly rooted in reason, perceptions are just as firmly rooted in one's senses, and can easily be corrupted. Therefore, perception is certainly not reality. This is a lesson that I had the opportunity to have reinforced in a recent in-house promotion at work.
Critical thinking is the careful scrutiny of what is stated as true or what appears to be true and the resulting expression of an opinion or conclusion based on that scrutiny, and (2) the creative formulation of an opinion or conclusion when presented with a question, problem or issue, (Kist-Ashman, 2011, p. 33).
Critical thinking means accurate thinking in the search of appropriate and dependable knowledge about the world. Another way to describe it is sensible, insightful, responsible, and skillful thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do. Critical thinking is not being able to process information well enough to know to stop for red lights or whether you established the right change at the supermarket.
None of us think critically all the time. Well-cultivated thinkers communicate effectively among others in solving complex problems and other matters in question. In short, creative and critical thinking is all about ones’ self (self corrective, self discipline, self directed).
Knowledge is generated through critical and creative thinking. Creative thinking is something new or original that is created with value. Critical thinking is a type of thinking that questions assumptions and validates or invalidates a current belief or something that is said to be previously true. Knowledge is created through the culmination of generally accepted assumptions and creativity. How do you separate general assumptions and creativity? These two types of thinking can be easily separated in regards to concrete or realistic ideas compared to abstract or original ideas however to generate new, acceptable knowledge critical and creative thinking must interact together. The questioning of established beliefs with the creation of unorthodox new ideas will expose the most beneficial knowledge for the world.