Critical thinking
This topic shows you how to think critically, find hidden contexts and read between the lines
Examples
Example 1
Look carefully at the two vertical lines in the picture. Which one of them is longer? Would you be surprised to find out that they are the same?
Example 2
This picture was created by Edward H. Adelson from Massachusetts Technological Institute. Notice the squares marked A and B. Is there any difference in shade of colour of these two squares? You can find answer here.
Example 3
This “real life” example shows us observation defects in media reality. There is the leader of French extreme left-wing party Front Gauche Jean-Luc Mélenchon speaking for TF1 (French private TV channel) on behalf of protests he organised regarding what he calls “tax revolution”. This shot was made few hours prior real protest, maybe TV wanted to have it “done” and be on the safe side. Find more in link below.
As you could see, observation is important, but it is not the cardinal part of critical thinking. Thanks to observation, a critically thinking person can find new facts, with which, however, s/he has to work further. To use them in a proper way, one has to integrate them into the context, and it requires its knowledge. One has to analyse and evaluate precisely given facts, complete them with other questioning if needed, testing or measuring them, and only then in the end can present the well-founded argument.