Critical Thinking

Two of the quotes seem most applicable to me. The first, by MCC Education Initiatives, talks about critical thinking as the ability to respond to materials, and understand that response. It refers to asking questions, creating good answers and using the information available to do so. All of this, along with the references to addressing different problems, coming up with interpretations, and remaining open to new information, methods, values, &etc. This, as an explanation of critical thinking in preparation for a hypertext, seems to make sense in that it talks about finding information, thinking about it thoroughly, coming up with a variety of different answers based on varying perspectives, ideas, using the available information. It discusses critical thinking with the aspect of not necessarily coming up with just one answer and one way to get there, but a wide range of possibilities and several ways to get there. It reminds me of the way a website is constructed, with many pages that have connections to different subjects in more detail, along with cross-referencing and links between pages. Trajectories, which seems to be present within this quote on critical thinking, are an important part of websites, and are an important part to critical thinking- considering many possibilities.

The second quote which made a lot of sense to me was from Diane Halpern, which talks about critical thinking as directed thinking. Though critical thinking, especially when creating a hypertext, should include a variety of pages and ideas, directed thinking is important for keeping to the topic and maintaining a sort of focus. She also talks about thinking about critical thinking, to evaluate it. This is important because realizing the methods used to draw a conclusion allows for comparison with other ways of critical thinking, and this ultimately expands one's perspective.

A third useful quote comes from Daniel Kurland. He says that critical thinking includes following evidence where it leads. This is significant in using what is available to draw reasonable conclusions. If one tries to make a statement based upon nothing, how valuable can that critical thinking be? He also mentions being more concerned with finding the truth rather than being right. This is the greater goal of critical thinking; not to prove that your opinion is better or more right, but to find out what is truly right.

All of these quotes have in common the value of critical thinking, and how valuable strong critical thinking is. By being open, looking for the truth and using the resources available to consider many avenues in seeking this truth, one may most effectively and best use critical thinking.