Critical Thinking and Reasoning Skills.

No matter who you are or what you do, you have to make decisions on a regular basis. You may not realize it, but even those decisions that seem like second nature-like deciding what to wear when you are getting dressed in the morning-require some critical thinking and reasoning skills. When you decide what to wear, you take many factors into consideration-the weather forecast; the current temperature; your plans for the day (where are you going? who will you see)?; your comfort level (will you be walking a lot? sitting all day?); and so on.n Thus, you are already a critical thinker on some level. But your life is complicated, and you face decisions that are much more difficult than choosing what to wear. How do you handle a conflict? Solve a problem? Resolve a crisis? Make a moral or ethical decision?

What are Critical Thinking and Reasoning Skills?

Essentially, critical thinking means carefully considering a problem, claim, question, or situation in order to determine the best solution. That is, when you think critically, you take the time to consider all sides of an issue, evaluate evidence, and imagine different scenarios and possible outcomes. It sounds like a lot of work, but the same basic critical thinking skills can be applied to all types of situations.

A quotation from Napoleon Hill:

"The person who thinks before he acts seldom has to apologize for his acts."