Critical thinking An introduction

Question: Describe the critical thinking and logic, the characteristics of a critical thinker, explain the benefits of critical thinking, identify the barriers to critical thinking and explain the role of reason in critical thinking? Answer: Critical Thinking and Logic is often argued to be two different ideologies but both of them are interwoven and complement each other. Both critical thinking and logic are very old concepts and have their roots in the ancient times. Critical thinking is extremely important in every field and has contributed to the success of the different fields. The critical thinkers are often hailed for their wise decision making which stand to be effective in whatever they do. Hence it is essential that we are able to comprehend the meaning of Critical thinking and Logic. Critical Thinking is a rational process of actively and dynamically conceptualizing, implementing, assessing, and amalgamating gathered information through effectual observation, experience, reasoning, communication to come to a certain conclusion to support a notion. On the other hand logic could be defined as the branch of science which deals with the assessment of arguments and reasoning gathered from critical thinking (Moore et al., 2011). The case study provided with the assignment sheds light on one of the biggest problems that United States has suffered that is the racial discrimination. In the given case study the author has tried to demonstrate certain ideas and reasoning that has seriously emphasized on the essentiality of elimination of racial problems within educational institution. In this case the author showed the capability of critical thinking as the author has tried to delve deep into the problem of racial differences within colleges in universities and tried to reflect on the importance of affirmative action cases to eliminate race problems with the help of the example of the Syracuse University and the Chancellor Nancy Cantor (Bean, 2011). Through the case study attached with the assignment it could be said that the author has certain authentic characteristics of critical thinking which are given below: The author is extremely inquisitive about the subject of affirmative action and hence discussed different issues related to race and its problems. The author has tried to remain well informed about the latest movements made in the issue of affirmative action which he or she has reflected while discussing the case of Syracuse University and cases of Brown vs. Board of Education which took place a long time back in the USA. The author has showed self confidence which is a major characteristic of a critical thinker, in the form of criticizing the US President and his diplomatic character that he showed while commenting on the race issue (Nosich, 2012). The role of critical thinking in assessing a particular case is extremely appreciable as it has certain benefits which support reasoning, but on the other hand this also has to face certain limitations which impede the conclusion made after the critical thinking process is over. Benefits Critical thinking helps in developing attention and observation and cognitive intelligence. Emphasized study. Efficacy in handling key subjects and addressing key issues. Great analytical skills and situation handling ability. Barriers Often critical thinkers misunderstand criticism. Unwillingness to evaluate scholars. Miscomprehend information. Being pompous about ones own reasoning abilities (Ruggiero, 2012). Reasoning is an extremely important aspect in critical thinking. Reasoning has a purpose and hence the role of reasoning stands to be crucial. Reasoning attempts to bring out the best possible rational ideas which help to conclude a particular case. For example in this case the author reasoned the role of race in the field of education and in the life of a student which clears the air about bringing affirmative action cases which would help to eliminate the problem if racial discrimination from education. Critical thinking and emotion are related to each other. They are intertwined as emotion drives thinking and plays a huge part to impetus the process of critical thinking. In this case it was visible that emotion played a huge role which helped the author to critically think about certain points related to the case. The study showed what he felt about the racial discrimination in universities and colleges and on the other hand also rebuked the US President which was clearly a reflection of his or her emotions. Hence it could be said that in order to indulge into effective and healthy critical thinking it is essential to know how to recognize and harness ones emotions (Jackson, 2015). Artificial Intelligence is an evolution in computer technology which is expected to help ease peoples lives. AI could be defined as the concept which will help to develop computer systems that could have human intelligence. Though this concept is at its initial stage but has created a huge buzz in the society with its android system human cognitive abilities to serve human needs. Artificial Intelligence is said to have a huge impact on critical thinking as it will have a significant impact on human emotions. There is a strong connection between faith and reason. Though often said to be differentiating each other faith and reason help in critical thinking. Faith could be delineated as a strong belief, complete trust on something which is obviously there for a reason. It means reason is the attribute which support faith. When a person has faith on something it comes from reason. It is the complete trust shown on something through pragmatic and logical reasons (Fisher, 2011). To conclude it could be said that the author has the faith that racial discrimination would be eliminated from the educational houses in fact from the society as people have understood the ill effects of racial difference and also what it brings to education obviously in a negative form. References Bean, J. C. (2011).Engaging ideas: The professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom. John Wiley Sons. Fisher, A. (2011).Critical thinking: An introduction. Cambridge University Press. Jackson, S. (2015).Research methods and statistics: A critical thinking approach. Cengage Learning. Moore, B. N., Parker, R., Rosenstand, N. (2011).Critical thinking. New York: McGraw-Hill. Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum. Ruggiero, V. R. (2011).The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought. Pearson Higher Ed.