Critical Thinking in Decision-Making PDF - Informative Essay

MABOLO, KEZIA N. INFORMATIVE ESSAY GRADE 6 WISDOM Date Submitted: February 3, 2025 ***THE ROLE OF CRITICAL THINKING IN EVERYDAY DECISION-MAKING*** **Have you ever wondered how people who use critical thinking more often become wiser and more successful in life? People become wiser and more success...

MABOLO, KEZIA N. INFORMATIVE ESSAY GRADE 6 WISDOM Date Submitted: February 3, 2025 ***THE ROLE OF CRITICAL THINKING IN EVERYDAY DECISION-MAKING*** **Have you ever wondered how people who use critical thinking more often become wiser and more successful in life? People become wiser and more successful when they use critical thinking more often where it comes to a point that they have disciplined their minds. With the help of critical thinking, they are able to think outside the box or to think smarter. Decisions are usually successful and smart when it is carefully planned and can lead to success. Since critical thinking acts as the main part of making decisions, it could widen one's perspective or understanding. The word "critical" has the etymological meaning of "to analyze or divide". The Greek word "Kriterion" which means "a standard for judging". Critical thinking is the thinking that everyone uses in their daily life. Students can upgrade their level of thinking by developing this. To think critically, it must always start with gathering details and analyzing the problem. Observe and try to think of solutions for it. After that verify each solution and draw conclusions to decide the best decision. This process will create a positive result. However, some people see that making decisions with this process is time-consuming and too much work because they don't exercise their cognitive skills frequently which leads to poor performance in their decisions. This will lead to many consequences due to the lack of analyzing, comparing, and evaluating. If they continue to practice this habit, nothing will change in their way of thinking, and end up with negative effects. This is one of the reasons to practice critical thinking to train the mind to use thinking skills more often, especially in making decisions. It is also proven that critical thinking not only helps in making decisions but also in other aspects of life. Therefore, critical thinking plays an important role in decision-making because it affects the outcome of the decisions that results to better and informed decisions and makes a person open-minded and aware of the decisions made.** **Critical thinking affects decisions by improving the quality of the outcome and leading to a successful and good impact. Practicing critical thinking can help you make decisions that avoid inaccurate results. In the chapter Critical Thinking and the Critical Person of the book Thinking, Author Richard W. Paul said "Robert Ennis defines critical thinking as "reasonable reflective thinking that is concerned with what to do or believe"." It is interpreted here that critical thinking also serves as a reflection that recognizes errors and ensures that they result in precise decisions. Besides critical thinking valuing the right choice, it also values achieving a desired outcome. It helps create and fulfill objectives or goals like executing a decision that will give benefits without failing. With goals, people can perform better and focus on their objectives even when facing obstacles. To fulfill these goals, some requirements or conditions must be prioritized to achieve the desired result. Critical thinking enhances skills and modifies decisions to conduct these requirements effectively. Since critical thinking can also help achieve an aimed result, it can help choose and make wise decisions that will lead to success. Author Joe Tichio states "Every choice you make is creating your future. Choose wisely." This quote explains that choices influence our future and life so it is better to make wise choices that can make us successful. Wise choices also lead to decisions without uncertainty and can boost self-confidence. This explains that critical thinking can influence our future through decisions and our mindset. Better and informed decisions can benefit us more than decisions that hold risks.** **When we think critically, our decisions are better and well-informed because of the usage of wide range of ideas that ends up with great judgement. With the help of critical thinking, decisions are based on information with logical and reasoned evidence. Information that includes facts and well-analyzed data can support decisions well and can avoid biased judgements and poor results. According to the article Reasoning critical thinking: Is it born or made on page 192, Authors Xiaoli Wang and Huibin Zheng defined and said that "Critical thinking is systematic because it involves distinct procedures and methods...And it operates according to rational standards in that beliefs are judged by how well they are supported by reasons." It states how critical thinking involves a process that depends on a valid and logical basis to reach an informed decision. Critical thinking not only makes decisions based on concrete evidence but also allows one to think creatively about other possibilities and viewpoints. It teaches one to consider and accept other ideas, not only depending on his/her own. It can help give a deeper insight into a situation and even learn from their viewpoints. Thinking creatively about possibilities lessens stress and makes decisions easier. It prevents reckless decisions that will only cause regret. In addition, critical thinking also handles problems well and makes solutions fast. In the book Making better business decisions: Understanding and improving critical thinking and problem solving skills on page 11, Author Steve W. Williams says, \"Critical thinking greatly increases the ability to identify problems and develop relevant criteria." This means that solutions can be made quickly by first analyzing the issue. Using the information and ideas, many solutions are created leading to many choices. Critical thinking also helps in choosing what can be the best or most appropriate decision. This expresses that better and more informed decisions rely on ideas and analysis with critical thinking. Critical thinking affects a person by making them open to new things and prepared for unanticipated happenings.** **A person is open-minded and aware of the decisions made and ends up with a well-reasoned conclusion and solution. Being open-minded means being willing to explore and accept different ideas. A person develops curiosity when discovering new things which can also make him/her know how to observe and decide for the best. Critical thinking helps to use those observations to improve the quality of decisions. A person who learns to observe is aware of his/her surroundings and it is easy for him/her to gather evidence and decide the most fitting decision. In the article Conscious action through conscious thinking in page 8, Dr. Karim Benammar says "Observing one's acting from an outside position leads to a greater degree of awareness, of conscious acting." It elaborates that being an observant person can make us conscious not only of our surroundings but also of our acting and thinking. It also means that a person can develop conscious thinking when he/she knows how to observe and decide for the best. Critical thinking also teaches us to always control or discipline our minds to be attentive and alert. It also teaches us to think carefully before doing an action or step in making decisions, thinking if the action can benefit or harm us. According to the article Conscious Awareness of H Liao, MCS Trumbo, RE Cardona-Rivera, they say on page 4 "The conscious mind has goals and intentions and we like to think of ourselves and others as purposeful, goal-directed beings." It says here that when our mind thinks consciously, we focus more on our goals and intentions. Critical thinking guides us to stay on the right track and be conscious of our actions. Most likely, a person applies strong critical thinking skills to his/her decisions which makes him/her a critical thinker. Applying strong critical skills teaches a person to not only focus on one option but also find other available resources which makes him/her flexible and prepared. In making decisions, we use these skills to identify, analyze, evaluate, and many more. These skills are essential because they are the key to thinking critically and help us make smart decisions in our everyday lives. Critical thinking plays a role where it can influence our decisions, life, and way of thinking. It explains why it is important because it can help us in many ways.** **Critical thinking is a fundamental part of decision-making because it helps us shape the outcome of our decisions, improve their quality, and foster open-mindedness and awareness of a person. Our critical thinking abilities will enhance the capabilities of one's decision-making in life because it requires a process to deliberate good choices and execute a well-planned decision efficiently. Critical thinking builds the foundation of decision-making for it gathers information and observations, identifies errors, and makes changes if necessary. Furthermore, critical thinking can make a person become a curious explorer and have deeper insights into a situation. It is important for everyone to exercise critical thinking in our lives, especially for students because it will train our minds for upcoming levels of challenges in decision-making. Critical thinking not only plays its role in everyday decision-making but also helps us develop new skills that we can use to make us successful. Critical thinking is, in short, self-directed, self-disciplines, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking.** **REFERENCES:** **Richard W. Paul (2018) "Critical thinking and the critical person" Thinking, 2018 taylorfrancis.com** **Xiaoli Wang, Huibin Zheng (2016) "Reasoning critical thinking: Is it born or made" Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2016 - academypublication.com** **Steve W. Williams (2002) "Making better business decisions: Understanding and improving critical thinking and problem solving skills" books.google.com** **Karim Benammar (2004) "Conscious action through conscious thinking" Reflection tools in experiential, 2004 - academia.edu** **H Liao, MCS Trumbo, RE Cardona-Rivera (2013) "Conscious Awareness."**