Personal Barriers to Critical Thinking, Essay Example

We do not go to college to gain knowledge only but also to acquire a number of soft skills of which one of the most important is critical thinking skills. But in order to improve one’s critical thinking skills, it is important to identify the barriers that may stand in the way. Understanding personal barriers to critical thinking is important so that one develops a greater sense of self-awareness and can also develop strategies to deal with such barriers. This is why I have spent a great deal of time to identify the personal barriers that negatively affect my critical thinking skills some of which have been addressed in this paper.

Personal Bias

One of the personal barriers to critical thinking is personal bias. Life experiences play a major role in shaping one’s personality and this is true in my case as well. Thus, I have the tendency to evaluate observations and/or ideas through personal lens and moral criteria. Personal bias sometimes leads me to assume that what is true for me is true for everyone. Thus, I have a tendency to judge others through the moral criteria I apply to my own life.

Groupthink

One finds comfort in numbers which may be why instances of groupthinking are found in both our personal and professional lives. One of the benefits of groupthinking is that it minimizes personal risks. If I am wrong, I won’t pay high price because I am part of the group, thus, it is difficult to blame responsibility on me only. Another benefit is convenience because one assumes group members may already have carefully evaluated everything and the majority cannot be wrong. Thus, it is safe to follow the decision/conclusion of the majority.

Peer Pressure

I have observed it is not easy to stand out from others. When one tries to be different, there is often a pressure to conform or else pay the price. This explains why even out-of-date customs or ideas continue to persist because it is not easy to resist peer pressure due to fear of being outcast or left out.

Scapegoating

I believe few people have the courage to take responsibility when things go wrong and most adopt the option of blaming things on other individuals or circumstances. Failure is never easy and taking responsibility for a failure or a mistake is equal to admitting that one has not lived up to the expectations. Thus, scapegoating is a convenient way to relieve one of the embarrassments of failure.

Lack of Information

Critical thinking often requires a good amount of information regarding different sides of the issue on hand. Thus, my critical thinking ability is also negatively affected when I have very little information because it forces me to make lot of assumptions, often biased ones.

Confirmation Bias

I read somewhere and I have found it to be quite true that most of us engage in confirmation bias. In other words, I may seek ideas or explanations that support what I already believe in or hold to be true and try to avoid or resist ideas or explanations that challenge my worldview of life. In other words, I should keep my ego in check because it negatively affects my ability to think critically.

Emotions

I have observed our emotions have great influence over our critical thinking ability and I suspect this is true for the majority of the people. We sometimes think in terms of how things should be rather than how they really are. In addition, our ideals of how things should be are often shaped by our belief systems and moral criteria. One example of emotions negatively affecting critical thinking skills in my case are poor investment decisions such as buying stocks during economic boom even though they were overpriced.

Laziness

One of the requirements of critical thinking is the willingness to spend time when information may have to be sourced. I am guilty of forming opinions on the basis of incomplete information in order to avoid the need to do research and/or put efforts in understanding complex ideas. In other words, I choose an easy way so that I can avoid the hard work that may be necessary to form more objective opinion.

Reliance on Authority

I am also guilty of avoiding critical thinking by relying on authority under the assumption that they must know what they are talking about. Instead of critically evaluating the different point of views, I sometimes choose to save time and choose convenience by referring to experts and agreeing with them even if I may not exactly understand their rationale.

Poor Listening Skills

One of the keys to effective communication is patient listening skills. I am aware of the importance of effective listening skills yet I sometimes interrupt others because I assume I already know what they are going to say. Similarly, I am not always paying attention to the other person because I am busy with formulating a response. This prevents me from listening to the whole argument put forward by the other person and as a result, my opinions are formed without fully understanding contrasting point of views.