Critical Thinking and Decision Making

Human beings have been preoccupied with thought and the concept of

thought for centuries as is evidenced by the many philosophical and

religious writings we find dating from ancient times. After all, we as

human beings hold ourselves to be the masters of intelligence in the

natural world since no other specie seems to exhibit the capability of

thought and intelligence as demonstrated by human beings, the very

term "homo sapiens" infers the ability to think. Critical thinking is

asking the right questions about the information we are presented with

on any given situation. Or as Brown and Keeley put it, it is "asking

critical questions." (Pg. 2) To put it more specifically, asking

critical questions "provide(s) a structure for critical thinking that

supports a continual, ongoing search for better opinions, decisions,

or judgments." (Brown and Keeley, 2000, Critical Thinking, Asking the

Right Questions, Pg. 2). This is, in the view of the writer, the best

and most accurate way to define critical thinking. There would be no

need for critical thinking, or asking pertinent questions, except we

are in search of "better opinions, decisions, or judgments" about what

we think. It is also the opinion of the writer that critical thinking

may not involve asking questions; some times it may be as simple as

recognizing facts. In this case we have not asked a question, but we

have seen an answer, we have recognized a process, or we have

discovered something before the question was even asked. Penicillin,

for example, was discovered by accident. As we examine the events that

lead to the discovery of this miracle drug, we are told that in 1929

Alexand...

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...as we

ask the right questions, we may be able to find that desired but

elusive nugget of gold hidden in the chaotic mess of the torrid

organization, a good decision. In other words, critical thinking is a

necessary part in decision making. It allows us to identify the

problem, evaluate the information, choose an alternative, and decide.

Working in the finance office of a medium size business, this writer

finds the decision-making and problem-solving processes not only

present, but utilized by some to a high level of skillfulness.

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[1] Quote from T.Connolly, "Uncertainty, Action, and Competence: Some

Alternatives to Omniscience in complex problem-solving," in

Uncertainty: Social and Behavioral Dimensions, ed.S. Fiddle (New York:

Preger, 1980)