Critical Thinking and Decision Making
..., 2003) Decision making is the art of making informed choices. These knowledgeable choices can only be made once all the information has been gathered. That takes an inquiring mind and from what I am learning in these classrooms, it is an art that is at times tedious but well worth the effort. According to our text “This course is designed to provide us with the ability to make the best and most reasonable decision based on information gained through critical thinking”. (Browne, M.N., McCall, M.W. Jr., Kaplan, R.E., 2001, pg.15) You can’t make good decisions without critical thinking and you can’t have one without the other. Decisions would be made on an uninformed basis without asking questions, listening carefully to others, looking for proof and seeking evidence to support any claims or theories. In the end you really can not know what your decision’s outcome will be, but you will at least have made the best choice possible. In order to know why you are making a choice with your life, certain questions need to be asked, which will in turn give you an idea of what the consequences your decision will entail. Critical thinking is asking questions and seeking knowledge. Questioning the validity of statements, finding out what matters to me, and where my value system lies is the essence of critical thinking. By having that self knowledge and awareness of the world around me I can make the most informed decisions for my life that I possibly can. Of course being new at this, I am still prone to making errors or snap judgments. There are many benefits to critical thinking. Critical thinking keeps you aware of your surroundings and your world. It engages your curiosity and life becomes richer and fuller because you are an active participant in your world. Furthermore, having this knowledge helps build self confidence and self esteem, because these strategies allow for a feeling of wholeness. I get the information I need from the Internet, library, magazines, journals and school. Talking to friends that have shared similar experiences and finding out how they see the situation is helpful. Knowledge can even be gained from strangers. The key to gaining facts and being an informed decision maker is keeping an open mind and listening to other people. Always questioning, always being willing to examine beliefs, assumptions and opinions and weigh them against facts. I find that I need to suspend judgment until all the specifics have been gathered and considered. My own experiences in the past are just as valuable. It is said that those who fail to learn from past mistakes are condemned to repeat them. So I take into account these “learning experiences” and remember them for the next time a similar situation should arise. I see critical thinking at my organization in some instances and then again, I have to wonder what they are thinking about, if anythi...