It is possible you have seen the standpoint of cognitive psychologists regarding the relationship between the act of thinking and the sense of feeling. These experts defy common belief that the first thing you do when something happens is to feel or show emotions, and only after that do you begin to ponder over what happened. Cognitive psychologists do not agree that feelings come automatically, and, as such, precede all other senses.
On the contrary, they hold the premise that the feelings you carry result from your own thought process, and so if you can influence your thought process, you also can change the way you feel. Essentially what is being said here is that if you think of a good outcome, you will be happy even before you have seen the results, and if you think of a bad outcome you will feel low and lose motivation even before you have begun your process.
How to Test Your Mastery of Critical Thinking Skills
Whenever you are skilled at critical thinking:
● You rely on reasoning more than you do on emotions
● You do not stubbornly stick to your viewpoint, but rather you accept that it’s better to evaluate different points of view
● You listen to what other people have to say, all this with an open mind
● You are prepared to receive fresh evidence whenever you are evaluating an issue, and you are also glad to accept fresh findings as well as new explanations, irrespective of whether the phase being discussed is deeply underway and is probably nearing completion.
● You are open to reassessing the information you already have
● You are prepared to set aside personal prejudices, and also ignore any biases you ordinarily have
● You are perceptive to vary options
● You are able to avoid the temptation to hastily make conclusions, and just as hastily make judgments
Looking at these points, you may conclude that critical thinking comes easy to you, but just believe it, there are many people who do not think critically when faced with a problem that needs to be solved. As such, it is important to learn the easiest way to learn critical thinking, and also the most convenient steps to take in employing those skills.
