So today I was reading through my "Business for Engineers" book and realized that I don't know what "critical thinking" means. I hear it all the time: "Critical Thinking"...  And all I have are context clues as to the definition -- my best guess is the following definition:

To really think about something and try to understand it.

...

Well, I don't know what it means to "really think" if it isn't what humans do all the time, and I thought that the whole point of all schooling was to try to understand concepts and ideas. So, why all the fuss about "critical thinking skills"? Why not just call it "the common ability of humans to learn"?

That said, I'll now search Google for "define:critical thinking"... The highlighted result is to a Wikipedia article on critical thinking. The article has 4 bulleted definitions:

• "reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do"^{[3][page needed]}
• "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, as a guide to belief and action"^{[4][page needed]}
• "purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based"^[5]
• " includes a commitment to using reason in the formulation of our beliefs"^[6]

My knee-jerk response to the first bullet is: "You mean the average person doesn't do this?!" But then I read the second, third, and fourth definitions and the word which stands out to me is "skillfully", (no, not "criteriological", although I will be looking that word up promptly). What skill is needed to use judgement? Hmmm.... That question itself may be indicative of my lack of judgement skill. Reading on, the definition of critical thinking is broadened to include the use of morals. I suppose more thought on it is required. I don't have time for it now.... if all these words were applicable to the paper I'm supposed to be writing, I'd be done with the paper.

Anyway, my book says I can practice critical thinking by doing problems at the end of each chapter. Lets see if those questions produce any significant lifestyle changes meriting the description "use of critical thought".

"They can't govern my peace."