Thinking vs Critical Thinking
It's important to know the difference...
I had a nice chat the other day with a friend, and the subject came up: what is the difference between normal thinking and Critical Thinking? I thought we must have covered this before here, but I couldn’t find it. My apologies…
Briefly, Critical Thinking = normal thinking + more thoroughness + wisdom.
Critical Thinking is deeper and wider than normal thinking.
The word “critical” is key. It means thinking that is cautious, reflective, questioning, skeptical, …
A Good Analysis —
From this fine discussion: Thinking is a fundamental human activity, occurring when the mind processes information and forms ideas or concepts. It can be spontaneous, random, or directed, allowing us to understand, interpret, and make decisions about the world around us. Critical thinking, however, is a refined form of thinking. It demands a deeper level of analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information to form a judgment.
Thinking can be passive. For instance, daydreaming or recalling a memory requires thinking but not necessarily any analytical process. Critical thinking, in contrast, is always active. It involves assessing the credibility of sources, identifying biases, and weighing evidence before drawing conclusions.
While thinking can often be based on personal beliefs, feelings, or incomplete information, Critical Thinking necessitates a rigorous approach to ensure objectivity and accuracy. It's a skill that needs to be cultivated and practiced, requiring one to be skeptical, open-minded, and methodical.
Thinking is inherent and is something we do every day without much effort. Critical thinking, on the other hand, often requires more energy and attention. It challenges one's own beliefs and assumptions, aiming for clarity, coherence, and logical consistency.
An Example —
From this college course: answer this question with the first answer that comes to mind, no matter what it is… A student went to the campus bookstore and bought two pencils for a total of 10 cents. How much did each pencil cost?
If you answered 5 cents (a total of 10 cents divided by two pencils equals 5 cents), your thinking fits the definition of normal thinking. In other words, it was based on simple recall of memorized information. You recalled those math formulas you memorized in school in order to answer the question.
On the other hand, if you had any other answer, you weren’t just thinking normally — you were likely thinking critically, because you were doing more than relying on recall of basic information.
For those in the latter case, unconsciously their thinking/ reasoning warning light went off. Perhaps they said to themselves, “I can’t tell. Maybe: a) one pencil is bigger than the other, or b) one is a red pencil, or c) one is a bigger pencil. In these cases, one pencil may cost 6 cents and the other 4 cents.”
Or perhaps you thought, “Wait a minute, I need more information.” Maybe you questioned the whole idea of two pencils being so cheap, or you thought that this had to be some type of trick question because it was so simple.
Hopefully, this simple example makes this distinction clearer…
Takeaway —
Put yet another way, regular thinking is like taking a drink of water — which most of us do reflexively a dozen or more times a day.
Critical Thinking is more like going to a winery and trying out several sample offerings. Both times we are swallowing liquids, but at the latter we are much more attentive — and critical!
Some sample good references:
Critical Thinking College Course: University of Alabama
Difference Between Thinking and Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking vs. Thinking
Critical Thinking and Non-Critical Thinking: Key Differences
Thinking vs. Critical Thinking: What’s the Difference?
Thinking vs Critical Thinking: Difference and Comparison
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1. Life
I am Steve Heins, eighty-one years, a spark in the vast fire of being,
No college degrees to hang on my wall, no parchment to claim my worth,
Yet Columbia whispered, two French courses shy, and I learned from the world’s own books.
I have been a small-town boy, dirt under my nails from golf, chasing greased pigs through county fairs,
Six times I won, the crowd roaring, the mud my crown, my youth a wild, unbridled song.
I have swung clubs as a scratch golfer, danced on basketball courts, my body a rhythm of motion,
I have drifted, interstate highways my veins, truck stops my temples, high plains and low my congregation.
Then, Big-city man, I claimed the NYC neon pulse, skyscrapers my stars,
Yet I wandered, self-indulgent, a distant father, my heart sometimes lost in the haze.
Auto-didact, I stormed Ivy halls, no gatekeeper to bar my way,
Scholar, student, historian, I devoured books, art, music—pages my kin, symphonies my breath.
I have been a poet, words my chisel, carving truth from the stone of days,
A poetry aficionado, lover of verses that sing the soul’s quiet and its storms.
Lost soul, I’ve roamed, yet found my place in the vastness,
Eighty-one years, I stand, a blizzard of one, my life a canvas of collisions, still painting.
2. Career
I am a business writer, economist, my pen a torch in the dark of markets,
Researcher, communicator, I weave stories for the weary, the hopeful, the seeking.
Wall Street knew me, mutual fund communications, shaping wealth’s pulse,
I spoke to traders, to dreamers, my words a bridge between chaos and clarity.
I am the Blizzard of One, storming broadband’s gates, defying Goliath’s shadow,
Internet Open Access my banner, freedom my cry, a digital dawn for every voice.
Practical environmentalist, I named myself, no dogma to chain my sight,
Energy efficiency my craft, lighting the world with a realist’s spark.
Chicago Climate Exchange, I was there, building markets for carbon’s weight,
Paris, I stood in its ancient halls, speaking to the EU’s schemers, my vision for emissions a map.
Lobbyist, I walked fifty states, D.C.’s marble my battleground,
For natural gas, for nuclear’s hum, I fought, my voice a gadfly’s sting.
Technology theorist, I dreamed in clouds, saw the future in circuits and code,
Bakken Basin, I spoke, The Weekly Word my stage, Professor Heins my name.
With experts—geologists, physicists, skeptics—they joined me, their truths a chorus,
We broke the noise, our podcast a fire, burning for sane energy, for human thriving.
ESG I weigh, fair and balanced, my skeptic’s eye unfooled by greenwashed hymns,
Political organizer, pain in the ass, I stir the pot, I wake the sleeping.
Tens of thousand articles, my ink a river, The Word Merchant’s flood across nations,
Curator, I gather truths, feeding allies—scientists, journalists—with light against the dark.
Self-financed, unbowed, at eighty-one, I am the storm that never quiets,
Sane energy my job, my cause, my heart’s unyielding vow.
This is my confession, my map, my open book,
Steve Heins, poet, fighter, a life of words and wars, still singing.
When I feel that I need some help with a word or phrase, such as “critical thinking,” I often turn to the dictionary as a starting point. But not just any dictionary. My favorite is the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, which is unsullied by 21st century trends.
When I looked up “critical,” I was surprised that the first four definitions included “nice” or “nicely, such as:
1) Nicely exact;
2) Having the skill or power nicely to distinguish beauties from blemishes; 3) Making nice distinctions; accurate; as critical rules; and
4) Capable of judging with accuracy; discerning beauties and faults; nicely judicious.
I then looked up “nice.”
3. Accurate; exact; precise; as nice proportions; nice symmetry; nice workmanship; nice rules.
4. Requiring scrupulous exactness; as a nice point.
5. Perceiving the smallest difference; distinguishing accurately and minutely by perception; as a person of nice taste; hence,
6. Perceiving accurately the smallest faults, errors or irregularities; distinguishing and judging with exactness; as a nice judge of a subject; nice discernment.
Perhaps critical thinking begins with nice—not in the sense of kindness or amiability, but rather a scrupulous, perceptive discernment, regardless of the common thinking. It takes a nice amount of courage to apply critical thinking in this conformist, secular world.