Everyday we are bombarded with new facts and opinions coming from sources like the newspaper, magazines, and TV. Knowing what information to believe and not to believe can be hard, especially if both sides sound very convincing. Although difficult, we must learn to think critically as we take in this new information and decide which to accept and what to reject. In this paper I will discuss what critical thinking is, what decision making is, how they relate to each other, why critical thinking is important, and how I see these process present or absent at my work. .
Critical thinking is all about asking questions about information and ideas. The critical thinker will evaluate the possible answers to determine if it is useful and valid information. The new information can formulate new ideas that can used to solve problems and make decisions. Most importantly, this new information will help the critical thinker to grow and learn. Our text explains critical thinking by using descriptive examples of thinking styles, the sponge and panning for gold. When you try to absorb every single thing you learn, weather you believe it or not, your thinking style is the sponge. When you are panning for gold you are actively interacting with knowledge and absorbing only what is important. The sponge technique stresses knowledge absorption, panning for gold stresses interaction with knowledge. Both techniques complement each other and would be best used together. The way I look at is when you use both techniques, you are sifting through the dirt and only absorbing the gold. Ultimately, you must make the decisions on the best way for you to learn. .
Everyday we are faced with decisions we must make. Most decisions are simple like "what are we going to have for dinner?" It isn't that important weather this decision is made or what the decision is. But, there are decisions that we must make in our lives that are important.