Critical and Creative Thinking Skills - Essay Example

Critical and Creative Thinking Skills Introduction Critical thinking is one of the most important activities that involve a person’s development of argument and learning to recognize, to gather evidence and draw conclusions and make a decision to solve problems. Interpreting, evaluating, analyzing, reasoning, comparing, sequencing, questioning, testing and generalizing are some of the common examples of Critical thinking process. Creative thinking involves a person to think in a specific way to apply new ideas and identifying problems in a different way. It includes constructing theories, acting on specific intuitions. Creative thinking enhances the brains activity and balances the differences between reality and virtual reality. The two methods of thinking help a person to analyze a circumstance and deliver a proper resolution. It is very helpful in making decision in real life. This essay will spot light the main features of the two thinking process and its significance in making a positive decision. Discussion In order to understand the significance of creative and critical thinking in a person’s live one must try to make a decision based on an unknown fact. Our brain sends signals about the possibility of a solution but understanding and anticipating the appropriate solution requires critical and creative thinking. The most important decision that I have made in my life is making a career objective. Many people have many thoughts that they like to think about in order to make living worth. I have decided to become a civil engineer to make my life successful. Initially in my school days I used to think according to the discussions other people had about making a goal. I was always influenced by what people say and tried to imagine the prospects in my own way. Everyone once in a life has this situation deciding what could be the best way to grab greater opportunities. First of all I decided to become a pilot influenced by my family. Later on I decided to join film industry and become an actor to get fame but as time passed on and maturity evolved I had to understand what could be the best path to attain success. This was the time when I had to analyze things in my own way. The first thing that came to my mind was my grades. With my grades I could study something that I could easily get a chance to study. I realized that being a pilot requires lot of skill and possibilities are less because there are not much openings in this sector (Lau, 2011). Hence I had to graduate in such field from where I could get a job easily. The most critical part in making decision was the graduation. The next question I had was about the subject that could help me fetch good grades. Being good in mathematics I had to make a choice something related to mathematics. During this time my critical thinking was working at its optimum level. I started analyzing all the possibilities for subjects related to mathematics then I compared myself to fit myself into the subject that could be best for my future. I had many questions in my mind regarding this issue. The first question that rose in my mind was “Would I be able to complete the course in a prosperous way”, the next thing I was doing was hypothesizing. I started to assume that it could be possible for me. I started to compare all the subjects related to mathematics and found civil would be a great opportunity because I have interest in the subject and it was the most growing industry. There were huge constructions growing all over the world and I could visit many places in order to fulfill my dream. Then I concluded that this was the best fit job for me. However making this decision was not that easy because I had to explain others the reason behind making this decision and the growth prospective behind it. Here comes the creative thinking. Understanding and explaining the complex situations was the greatest factor (Caroselli, 2011). The main objective for me was to represent the virtual reality that I had in my mind in front of others. This was the first time I had to go through certain consequences that I had never dealt before. I was questioned by various people against the belief I had. And application of creative thinking made my vision clear in front of others. Some of the characteristics of creative thing are to engage in reflection, looking for many possible answers except one, allowing own my today-dream or fiddle with thoughts in several ways, making mistakes, learning from mistakes etc. However the characteristics of critical thinking are somewhat different; example suspicion and skepticism, being active, lack of ego etc. Critical and creative thinking are considered as higher level of thinking because they are the best way of analyzing a particular solution. These processes of thinking lead to appropriate decision making. Critical and creative thinking requires huge amount of concentration and energy because mind works efficiently when things are thought deeply. For an example solving a mathematics problem that is unknown is a tough job. By implementation of several trial and error methods a perfect solution can be achieved but it requires huge amount of focus and a critical thought on the solution (Schwartz, 2004). Conclusion It is clear from the above discussion that critical and creative thinking have many positive impacts on decision making process of an individual. Critical and creative thinking work hand in hand in order to analyze a situation and decide about the best possible solution. Creative thinking and critical thinking have some characteristics that are quite significant in a person’s behavior. Application of high level thinking in life increases the performance of brain and increases memory. It also helps to learn and capture things and use captured thoughts when required. Every person should try to increase their creative thought as it helps in every aspect of life. Increasing creative thinking also helps to increase the critical thinking and results in making the best possible decision. Hence creative thinking and critical thinking have many positive impacts on decision making procedures. References Caroselli, M. (2011). The Critical Thinking Toolkit. New York: Amacom. Lau, J. (2011). An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Schwartz, L. (2004). Critical Thinking Social Studies. New York: Creative Teaching Press. Read More