INTHEBLACK August 2024 - Flipbook - Page 58
TED-Ed, Samantha Agoos: 5 tips to improve your critical thinking
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FIVE HABITS FOR CRITICAL THINKERS
“If asked, for example,
to analyse data and
draw key insights, after
you pull the data and
review it, you need to
make time to sit on it,
process it and think
about it, rather than
immediately coming
to a conclusion.”
CHARLOTTE RUSH, INVENTIUM
58 INTHEBLACK August 2024
1. EARMARK THINKING TIME
Efficiency is often prioritised over reflection,
creating pressure to respond immediately
to a problem or task, but Rush believes robust
critical thinking requires deliberate allocation
of thinking time.
“Thinking about a task and doing it are two
different processes.
“If asked, for example, to analyse data and
draw key insights, after you pull the data and
review it, you need to make time to sit on
it, process it and think about it, rather than
immediately coming to a conclusion.
“Immediacy is often expected, but we need
to normalise time for processing information
to allow us to think critically, and that might
be a night or a week, not just five minutes,”
Rush says.
2. CRUSH YOUR ASSUMPTIONS
When faced with a conundrum – such as why
a project has stalled, or sales have unexpectedly
fallen – Brown says to avoid the trap of
becoming too invested in the first hypothesis.
“Always think that your first assumption
might be wrong,” she explains. “Approach it
scientifically and generate alternative
hypotheses. By considering alternatives and
questioning your assumptions, you are likely
to gain new and important perspectives
to help hone your thinking.”
3. AVOID CONFIRMATION BIAS
Once alternative hypotheses have been
formulated, check that the arguments
are supported by evidence, ensuring
that disconfirming evidence has been
considered – in an attempt to prove those
hypotheses wrong.
“When we come up with an idea, we often
gravitate towards evidence that is consistent
with our existing beliefs and, in our haste,
we ignore other pertinent information,”
Brown says.
“Actively seeking out disconfirming
evidence is a valuable way of evading our
biases. You are not necessarily going to latch
onto the truth better in every situation, but
it will help you to minimise mistakes that are
dependent on bad thinking.”
4. INVITE DIVERSE CRITICISM
Subject reasoning and ideas to feedback
from others – especially those with
