Critical Thinking,

Creative Thinking

Life Skills for Self

Development

Chapters – 15, 16

Human brain

• Human brain – average weight at birth – 230g. It reaches a peak of 1400g by the age of

20-24 years. We have a very complex brain and the weight of our brain is proportion to

the total body weight of the subject. This is found only among humans.

• Human brain is programmed to learn and add to its basic functions by listening,

watching, imitating and improvising. Human brain is like a sponge – soaking in all that is

happening in the environment, especially during our childhood.

• Brain not only gathers information and reacts but also thinks and responds. Human

brain is divided into the left and right hemispheres.

• Humans learn by trial and error. As children we made mistakes and learnt from them.

Thinking and Human Brain

Cont. (page 135*)

Left brain

• Linguistic

• Reading and writing

• Verbal

• Numerical

• Mathematical

• Logical

• Analytical

• Scientific

• Linear

• Sequential

• Listing

• Clear

• Rational

• Motor activity

Right brain

• Emotional

• Spontaneous

• Intuitive

• Visual

• Face recognition

• Holistic

• Patterns

• Colors

• Spatial

• Rhythm

• Parallel processing – managing many things at a time

• Day dreaming

• Imagination

Cont.

• Certain parts of human brain are better developed than others, either from birth

or because of the efforts put in to develop certain skills. This makes it easier to do

mental work that uses these well developed areas.

• To build creative thinking skills, people need to stimulate the different areas of

the brain.

Roadblocks to learning and thinking

• Once children entered school, roadblocks started being erected in the path of learning and

thinking.

• They are:

• Don’t make mistakes. Be careful.

• Being criticized for scoring less marks and being compared to other children.

• Threatening that failure leads to suffering.

• Being labelled (stupid, idiot, lazy, etc.)

• Feelings associated with such road blocks:

• Anxiety

• Intimidated

• Unrewarded

• Humiliated and feeling unworthy

Thinking

• Thinking – automatic process. It is used to understand and make sense of information,

take decisions, solve problems and generate new ideas. It is the conscious use of our

brains to make sense of the world around us and also decide how to respond to it.

• Thinking involves connecting different information. It happens automatically but there

are times when it happens consciously. It involves the connecting and integrating new

experiences into the existing understanding.

• Effective thinking skills are developed over time.

Types of thinking – Critical and Creative

Creative thinking • Creative thinking means looking at something in a new way. A definition of creative thinking is as a way to

look at and solve problems from a different perspective, avoiding orthodox solutions and thinking outside

the box. This allows people to seek solutions that are unusual, original and fresh.

• Creative thinking, therefore, is the ability to think differently: to see a problem or issue from a new angle or

perspective. This often allows you find a new solution, or even to see that the problem does not

necessarily need a solution.

Critical Thinking

• Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe. It includes the

ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Critical thinking is a deeper kind of thinking in which we

question, analyze and evaluate what we read, hear, say or write. Critical thinking is the act of analyzing facts to

understand a problem or topic thoroughly.

• Critical thinking often occurs in order of a few steps from identifying a problem or issue to developing a solution.

• Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following :

• understand the logical connections between ideas

• identify, construct and evaluate arguments

• detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning

• solve problems systematically

• identify the relevance and importance of ideas

• reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values

Cont.

Blocks to Critical and Creative Thinking

• Fear of questioning, punishment, making mistakes and responsibilities.

• Lack of clear direction

• Unwillingness to say no

• Willingness to follow without question

• Fear of rejection and being ridiculed

• Lack of research and failure to understand the big picture