Self Criticism, Essay Example

In their book “Critical Thinking”, authors Richard Paul and Linda Elder describe strategies to become better at critical thinking (Paul and Elder). Critical thinking refers to realizing your maximum potential in terms of thinking ability in any given situation. An essential requirement of becoming an effective thinker is being able to criticize one’s own thinking. Self-criticism involves several processes including being aware of thinking style, information one possesses, the quality of information, personal experiences, and sources of information.

Thinking is not a quality many people posses or enjoy but those who do observe many things other may miss and achieve a better understanding of the way the world works. Becoming an effective thinker is a long-term process and often requires engaging in difficult, uncomfortable, and challenging thoughts. We often speak a language correctly without being aware of the language rules and similarly, we often think without being aware of our thought processes. An effective thinker is able to become aware of his though processes

Critical thinking skills are usually build upon one’s own strength and hard work because other stakeholders in our lives such as employers and family members etc. have their own priorities, misconceptions, ideologies, and biases. Critical thinking helps us survive in any environment and allows us to be both idealistic and realistic at the same time. Critical thinking applies to almost every aspect of life whether personal or professional including financial matters, ideologies, politics in life, health, security, and future plans. Thus, we should become a critic of our own self because it will help us become better at thinking and learning. Self-criticism will also help us discover our strengths and weaknesses and identify steps that should be taken for self-improvement.

References

Paul, Richard and Linda Elder. “Becoming a Critic of Your Own Thinking.” Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life. 3. Prentice Hall, September 10, 2011. 7-15.