Seven Significant Traits of Critical Thinkers

Disclaimer: The following article was submitted by guest contributor Jessica Robinson from The Speaking Polymath, a sub-blog of Assignment Help 4 Me.

Critical thinkers tend to stay one step ahead of others and outshine some of the people around them. They stand out in the crowd for they have the spark to grab attention. Besides, those who have the prowess to think critically exhibit strong reasoning and analytical skills. If you can think critically, you will never be scared of the challenges that life tosses up. You will instead find an opportunity in every hurdle because that is what critical thinkers do! Critical thinkers have subtle traits that impress everyone and inspire others to learn. What are these traits precisely that distinguish critical thinkers from others? This is precisely what this blog will answer so that you also realize the immense significance of being a critical thinker. Let us find out then without any more delay! 

Seven significant traits of critical thinkers

1. Inquisitiveness 
   Critical thinking is the intellectual process of gathering, processing, and evaluating information. Hence, inquisitiveness and curiosity are the highlights of the personality of a critical thinker. They want to collect as much information as possible to make informed choices. Perhaps the best thing about critical thinkers is that their decisions are backed by reasoning and scrutiny. Given this quality, they are not much vulnerable to making regretful decisions. This is a significant reason why you would want to master the art of critical thinking. 

2. Clear communication 
   Communication is the key to the success and growth of an individual irrespective of the profession. But not everyone can effectively communicate their thoughts and ideas. This can further lead to misconceptions and perplexity hence stalling the progress of things. One thing that critical thinkers do without a blemish is that they communicate well. They are impressive and confident communicators who present their ideas with sheer clarity and purpose. This, of course, is possible because critical thinkers do not have tangled thoughts and have a logic behind everything. Such endorsement of ideas through practical communication skills propels growth and achievements across all spheres of life. 

3. Adaptation 
   Being a critical thinker means that one can adapt to fast-changing scenarios. Critical thinkers are quite flexible in their approach and do not act rigidly to pursue their tasks. They make suitable adjustments to their actions and strategies as per the prerequisites of a situation and task. Besides, this trait of their persona adds to the prospects of their success in a significant manner. The ways of the world are ever-evolving, and people should have the ability to match the pace. While others may strive to do so, critical thinkers will do it with ease owing to their adaptability. 

4. Collaboration
   From school projects to corporate office goals, we need to collaborate with others many a time. However, not everyone has the skill or trait of practical cooperation. Some people are not able to work with others to accomplish common goals. Further, this can have some adverse effects on career growth. Contrary to this, an individual who can think critically will constructively collaborate with others. He will know the exact difference between tasks done individually and tasks performed better in a team. He will analyze the situation and then figure out the best response to it. You may not realize the importance of this trait in school or college, but you will see how essential it is to enter the corporate world. 

5. Self-Reflection
   How often do you make it a point to spare some time for introspection? When you do so, are you able to reflect on your actions and thoughts in a productive manner? The art of self-reflection is meant to make us realize our shortcomings and work on them. Constant self-reflection without improvements may only be a waste of time. It should serve as a useful means of self-improvement. However, this is something that critical thinkers do with perfection. With their reasoning, analytical, and evaluative skills, they examine their thoughts and actions. Based on this careful examination of self, they work to improve on every drawback. We can hence say that critical thinkers present the finest example of how self-reflection should be done rightly! 

6. Flamboyance 
   Humans do not seem very attractive without self-confidence, isn’t it? Individuals who exhibit great confidence can easily convince others and shape the opinions of others. This quality is of invaluable importance in industries that depend on customers and clients. A striking individual can easily win the faith of a customer and make him invest in the idea. Those who can think critically are always oozing with confidence and instead radiate their confidence onto others. They examine things well, communicate things well, and show a lot of self-believe in their abilities. All these attributes pave the way for uninterrupted leadership and success. Intriguing, isn’t it? 

7. Open-mindedness
   Critical thinkers are open to entertaining the opinions and thoughts of others. They are good listeners because listening is by default a binding domain of communication skills. Besides, they also make an effort to understand the other person, for they value logic and rationale. Furthermore, they also display remarkable open-mindedness toward divergent views of the world and the individuals around them. This helps them in gathering more useful information as they tend to learn from the perspective of others. This willingness to listen to others is crucial to the right decision making for students and professionals.  

Now, when we have looked at the key traits of a critical thinker, it is also vital to understand how you can think more critically. Besides the characteristics, you have also seen above how critical thinking can make you outperform others. It has the power to overhaul your persona entirely and add a silver lining to your personality. So, let us shed some light on the process of being more efficient critical thinkers. 

1. Be more inquisitive
   To improve your critical thinking skills, you need to ask more and more questions. Those who think critically make it a point to gather enough information before making a decision. How are you going to collect that information? By asking questions from people around you and challenging the logic of things! Thus, the knack for critical thinking and curiosity go hand in hand. The more questions you ask, the better is your collection of crucial information and data.
2. Confront assumptions
   To be a critical thinker of the highest order, you should develop the habit of challenging and confronting the world’s basic assumptions. Almost all great discoveries and inventions were possible because some people questioned the basic assumptions. Who were these people but? These people include Albert Einstein,  Graham Bell, Bill Gates, Newton, and so on. They chose to examine the assumptions of their surroundings rather than falling in line with them. Henceforth, to upscale your critical thinking, such an attitude will be priceless.
3. Avoid Cognitive Biases
   At times, even if we feel we are in control of our thoughts, that may not be the case for real. This happens because our prejudices and cognitive biases flaw our mental processes. To explain simply, cognitive biases are thinking errors that arise from our tendency to make intuitive judgments. In such a case, we end up jumping to conclusions too soon without analyzing things enough. But those who think critically do not reach conclusions without evaluating things in an informative way. They believe in terms of legitimacy rather than deciding based on their personal preferences. Not everyone can make this distinction of thoughts. This is what puts critical thinkers ahead of time and ahead of regretful decision making.
4. Evaluate the evidence at hand
   Collecting evidence and then examining it are two different things altogether. You have to develop the habit of even evaluating what seems obvious. Talking of evidence or facts that are in front of you, you have to analyze its credibility. You have to ask questions like:
   
   How was the evidence gathered?
   Who gathered the evidence?
   Is the evidence from a trustworthy source?
   
   To cite a basic example, let us say you are preparing for a college assignment that involves a lot of research. So, when you look for facts and evidence to back the claims you make in your assignment, you have to make sure the internet resources you use are credible. You should pick information from websites and blogs that are trusted and widely used because many details on the internet can be misleading.
5. Know when critical thinking is required
   No one can think all the time critically. You do not have to stress all the time to invest critical thinking in every decision of your life. You should know the exact difference between which situations require critical thinking and which situations do not. For the most crucial decisions and circumstances, you should bring out the critical thinker in you. For typical situations, you should just let yourself loose and feel at ease. Remember, critical thinking is a prowess that should be conserved for critical instances and decision making. 

In a nutshell, the traits that critical thinkers are known to have can boost your prospects for success. From students to employees to entrepreneurs, success is a common goal. You can see how these traits make an individual more confident, intellectually curious, independent, and empowered. 

The personality of a critical thinker is so dynamic that it attracts opportunities and achievements. Besides, we have glanced at the various ways in which someone can be a more powerful critical thinker. It takes curiosity to ask questions, the habit of evaluating things closely, and avoiding prejudiced thoughts to be a critical thinker. The success it offers is worth the effort that goes into the process of critical thinking. 

So, in our ultimate goal of reaching the pinnacle of success, mastering critical thinking’s art should be a supplementary goal for sure! 

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Photo by Roman Bilik 💙💛 on Unsplash

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