Chitchat S'poreans lack critical thinking

[ginfreely]

Company rules lah. Break rules does not always mean break country law. So not criminal. Dun need to argue lah.

Break rules or break laws also nevermind to sinkie GM in charged. Sinkies only know how to step on own kind lah. Australians only anything can.

 

[hugs]

Why you so unhappy with everything? Remember. You can choose to be happy.

In way does he seem unhappy?

 

[tanwahtiu]

Bro, I can provide some thoughts to why Singaporeans do not wish to be known 'kay kiang' to outsmart LKY PAP.

All fingers points to this yellow skin hakka dead old fart LKY. Nobody is supposed to be smarter than his begotten son that is going to beholden to him to be PM of Singapore.

Those are against him are arrowed down like CSJ.

Fucking LKY was the source of Singaporeans refrained from thinking critically to avoid step on fucking LKY toes.

2015GE was a chance to changed but it didn't happen. Maybe time is not right for change. Let pray Old fart Loong arse cancer come soon.

that does not explain the following facts:

Tens of thousands of singaporeans have studied and worked in western countries. Those that have studied in the US and such countries have been train to critically think in their unis. The same with those that have worked overseas for MNCs. These unis and MNCs do exactly what you say. they throw a bunch of people in a room and ask them to look at the problem from different angles. Why is it then that when they return to singapore, this critical thinking is missing? To begin with, we can safely say that 30% of the population can critically think or else they would have voted for the PAP too. But that does not explain the thousands who have gone through PSC and SAF scholarships and who appear to have left their brains back in those countries.

People from singapore also travel extensively, and have been exposed to many cultures and many types of people. Something must have rubbed off on them. Like I said. They know and have been trained to critically think. Maybe not in the singapore school system. Nor in the singapore culture. But it has been somewhere along the line exposed to them. Whether they do it or not is a function of their willingness to look at alternate news media source. if they don't want to do it, perhaps its not lack of critical thinking that they posess, but rather laziness and stupidity.

 

[scroobal]

By the time they enter Uni, they are already ingrained in the way they approach a problem. They might either adapt temporarily to get thru the course or thru sheer hard work - cover all angles by rote.

The system in Singapore probably does not reward critical thinking but rather rewards those who comply and follow.

that does not explain the following facts:

Tens of thousands of singaporeans have studied and worked in western countries. Those that have studied in the US and such countries have been train to critically think in their unis. The same with those that have worked overseas for MNCs. These unis and MNCs do exactly what you say. they throw a bunch of people in a room and ask them to look at the problem from different angles. Why is it then that when they return to singapore, this critical thinking is missing? To begin with, we can safely say that 30% of the population can critically think or else they would have voted for the PAP too. But that does not explain the thousands who have gone through PSC and SAF scholarships and who appear to have left their brains back in those countries.

People from singapore also travel extensively, and have been exposed to many cultures and many types of people. Something must have rubbed off on them. Like I said. They know and have been trained to critically think. Maybe not in the singapore school system. Nor in the singapore culture. But it has been somewhere along the line exposed to them. Whether they do it or not is a function of their willingness to look at alternate news media source. if they don't want to do it, perhaps its not lack of critical thinking that they posess, but rather laziness and stupidity.

 

[scroobal]

I do feel sorry for the poor fellow. By the way, in the intervening years after 9/11 they have built an excellent cadre of IOs from Middle East and South Asia background.

I know of an extremely bright British-born Pakistani lad who was identified as a recruit - he'd gone to public school (in the English sense), then to Oxbridge and Harvard.

This was around the time of 9/11 there are an even greater urgent need to have good intel officers on the ground and in the East Asian community so he was an obvious choice. The whole recruitment process took much longer than he had expected. In-between the wait he decided to apply for a British scholarship (as a back-up of what to do next) for professional qualifications in law - soon after he sent off the application he got asked to attend the next meeting in a cafe in Soho.

He turned up and was bollocked for not telling them about the scholarship application he had made. He was genuinely shocked as he was rather studious yet streetsmart but as he was still just interviewing he did not think anything of it. He had done all sorts of tests over a period of months and had progressed on smoothly.

Suffice to say that was the end of that.

 

[gatehousethetinkertailor]

He's nevertheless done extremely well for himself as he went on to complete his legal training (he got the scholarship) and then joined a major international oil and gas conglomerate, ending up in the Middle East. As you are aware there is no special credence given to getting such scholarships in the UK - just additional financial help along the way. His background was science-based in fact and he decided that he would take on the legal conversion and professional exams just for the heck of it if he got the scholarship. One of the genuinely wonderful aspects of the educational system i.e. always an opportunity to learn if you want to and have the desire to.

As for the recruitment drives, they did diversify and try and tackle this problem head-on especially after the London attacks - the South Asians of particular concern are not really in London but further up in the Midlands and the North of England where swathes of towns are literally singular communities plucked from the Continent and practice a culture that is often caught in a stitch of nostalgia that no longer exists. Coupled with the racism these communities suffered in post-world war era and then subsequently with the BNP, NF etc there has always been a sense of resentment at the way they were treated for being Asians rather than being of any particular faith (there are the usual stories of inter-faith communal tensions in the '80s) but by the '90s these ebbed away as the second generation started embracing their dual-identity. The subsequent wars on terror only fed into the sense of disenchantment and victimisation and made it quire ripe for infiltration of jihadists insular ideology.

The Arab wave has been a mixed bag of radicals and anti-government figures who ended up in various corners of London. Again, the wars on terror emboldened them and with the current anti-muslim sentiments in particular, adds to their recruitment of the vulnerable.

So the recruitment of such diverse pools of agents is a masterstroke play that is time-honoured and tested by them. They started doing the same amongst the HK Chinese immigrants when the Chinatown wars erupted with the influx of illegal PRCs in the 90s. Same with the waves of Somalis and Kosovans (especially when they tried to drive the Turks out of the heroin trade in North London). All these ethnicities displayed the necessary type of intellectual and analytical abilities plus the tested adherence to GStQ.

And as you know, its the same in Australia.

 

[ginfreely]

Bro, I can provide some thoughts to why Singaporeans do not wish to be known 'kay kiang' to outsmart LKY PAP.

All fingers points to this yellow skin hakka dead old fart LKY. Nobody is supposed to be smarter than his begotten son that is going to beholden to him to be PM of Singapore.

Those are against him are arrowed down like CSJ.

Fucking LKY was the source of Singaporeans refrained from thinking critically to avoid step on fucking LKY toes.

2015GE was a chance to changed but it didn't happen. Maybe time is not right for change. Let pray Old fart Loong arse cancer come soon.

No. Sinkies are the first ones to call you Kay kiang themselves. Nothing to do with LKY.

 

[zeebjii]

Sometimes I wonder why Mr LKY insisted the importance of Chinese language yet didn't help those ACS boys. ACS boys are famous for being rich, and politics need a lot of money; they are also famous for being really smart not just academically, but really smart with supportive parents; they are usually ACS from pri to JC, very tight alumni. They could have formed another group of "PAP" if they want. But they were told that their Chinese sucks and that they lose out to RI/RJC. Their image tarnished as being rich brats, and politician needs a clean name. A lot of them are successful but they never enter politics.

Here comes another sinkie obsessed with primary and secondary schools. Another reason why sinkies don't make it on the world stage. Self-delusion is absurd. Famous? They are not even famous in sinkapore!

 

[ginfreely]

Here comes another sinkie obsessed with primary and secondary schools. Another reason why sinkies don't make it on the world stage. Self-delusion is absurd. Famous? They are not even famous in sinkapore!

Yeah I never even heard about ACS or anything great about it until I come into this forum. The only time I read about it is in the lower secondary history book.

 

[gsfosnis]

I recall that Goh Keng Swee was appalled by the lack of critical thinking amongst civil servants when he read their reports. He introduced critical thinking and new textbooks called Contact series for the English subject in schools. Subsequently General Paper for A levels. You can see it being played out in regard to the train debacle.

Imagine all the Govt did was explain that the bolster had hairline crack and the contractors will pay for it. Any person with a normal IQ will ask why send the whole train back and why must take 4 months just to fix a small modular piece. There are also reports of new car bodies that will be installed.

So far no breakdown of defects. Why the need for new car bodies? Why the whole train must be sent back? Why 4 months? When did the first train go back? What is exactly the contractors paying for? Are they covering the opportunity cost when the trains are taken away from operational use? No explanation why 22 ordered in 2009 are more expensive than 22 ordered much later. Why our trains are more expensive than those sold to HK?

There are most questions and all these need coherent answers. Not some graphics that fooled couple of morons.

Critical thinking is a concept that is intimidating to a lot of people. As soon as they hear the word “critical”, their mind goes to somewhere intense and above their level. When you combine that with “thinking”, you cause a lot of people to shy away from the concept altogether.

There are a lot of ideas and premonitions that surround the concept of critical thinking, but while the prejudices range from a bunch of science geeks surrounding a table in white lab coats to politicians debating the laws of the country, the phrase itself has a simple meaning.

“Critical thinking” is defined as: The objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement.

Confused? Don’t be. This is merely a lot of large words to describe what is really a very simple concept. Simple in practice, that is, because you could be thinking about anything, whether that be a faster way to get to work in the morning, or something as difficult as curing cancer.

As intimidating as this concept sounds, it is really quite simple when it comes to the practice of it.

Critical thinking is a combination of two separate acts:

1.Absorbing Information

2.Putting that information to good use

This is so much more than just reading facts, or watching a documentary, or even wishing that you could do this better or that better. There is a difference between seeing something and absorbing it.

Naturally, we are inclined to see something, then forget about it. Sure, we might hang on to a bit of interesting information here and there, but it is unusual for anyone to take in the world and process it in their minds in a useful sort of way.

We would all rather ‘wow’ our friends with something we heard or read as opposed to actually learning something useful and putting that knowledge to good work in our day to day lives.

Then again, there are many out there that do want to learn. They want to be able to read and retain, then apply that to their life in a way that is actually useful to them in a variety of ways.

Critical thinking goes hand in hand with independent thinking. If you are a critical thinker, you are able to think for yourself, and form your own opinions. You are able to take in a subject or a situation, evaluate the facts, and draw your own conclusions.

These conclusions may or may not match with what other people have decided, but that isn’t anything that you concern yourself with. You know what you saw, and you know how you feel about it. As a result, you are independent and believe what you believe regardless of what others are saying.

This isn’t saying that the other people are wrong, it is merely saying that you are able to make your own opinions, and stand by them. There is nothing at all wrong with agreeing with other people, and there isn’t anything wrong with disagreeing.

You may be surprised to find out how many critical thinkers there are in the world, they are just good at what they do.

There are a lot of independent thinkers out there, but not many people realize that they are. If you stop and think about it for a second. There is someone behind every ad campaign, and someone behind all of the elections. When you are talking to a salesman that is trying to sell you his own product, or when you see the rise of a new social empire.

These may not feel like they are independent, especially when you see all of the people that are getting on board, but what you have to remember is that there is a free thinker behind it all, and that person is telling everyone else what to think. The problem for the rest of the world is that these people are good at telling others what to think, and it isn’t long before you have an entire group that is only doing what they are told, because they are told to think it.

What our goal is here is to teach you how to take in a situation and form your own opinion from that situation, regardless of what that opinion may be.

Now, you may find this scary, or you could find it exciting. We want you to be able to think for yourself on any topic. In fact, we want the entire world to be able to think for itself.

There are tons of people out there that don’t care what happens on this planet. They go through their lives day in and day out being spoon fed whatever it is society wants to tell them, with little thought of ever doing anything better, or anything at all, for that matter.

Then there are those that aren’t happy just going with the flow. They know that there is something better in life, and that they have the ability to get it, they just don’t know how.

It is to these people that this article is directed. We are going to explore what it takes to absorb information, and show you ways that you can then apply what you learn to your life. It doesn’t matter what you are learning, or what you wish to do with this information.

It is a method that you need to learn, and in the chapters to come we are going to go through the steps that it is going to take for you to learn that information.

to be cont'd ...

 

[gsfosnis]

The Three Steps To Independent Thinking

As soon as you wake up in the morning, you are hit with opinions. All kinds of news and thoughts and opinions come pouring into your mind whether it be from family, television, the radio, or work.

You are hit with advertisements and other social media… all of which are competing for your attention. For those that are just going through the motions, this is a lot of noise. They are told to think this or to prefer that.

They end up going for what is the shiniest, just because it is the shiniest. They don’t know a thing about any of their choices, they are just doing what they are told. That is where critical and independent thinking come in.

You need to train your mind to think for itself, it isn’t something that is just going to happen. Unfortunately, by default we are going to go with what is easiest in life, and that tends to be whatever everyone else is doing, regardless of what it is they are doing.

You need to learn how to break that cycle. In order to do that, you need to learn to sift through the information you are receiving, and pick out what is important.

There are going to be so many opinions and different suggestions that are thrown in your face in a day, you won’t have time to process it all. This means that you need to learn the art of sifting through the information that is given you, and pick out the important stuff.

Pay attention to the details that matter in your day, and forget about the rest. If it doesn’t affect you or what you are doing, that is your first clue that it needs to be placed low on your priority list.

But how can you know what information you should pay attention to, and what you should discard?

It is a tricky thing to get the hang of, but with practice, you are going to get it. Here is a list of the top 3 ways you can get through all of the information that is tossed your way in a day, and find what is actually relevant to you and your life.

Keep in mind, however, that if a person is making a point of saying something, they are probably benefiting from it in some way. Some information can become very convincing simply because of the passion of the person that is presenting the information.

These steps are going to help you pick through all kinds of information you are met with in a day, and find what is relevant to your situation, regardless of how convincing the voice is of the speaker.

Step 1. Consider the motive of the speaker.

As we have already pointed out, when an individual is making a point to say something, odds are they are going to be benefiting from it in some way. They may be trying to sell you an item, or they may want something from you.

With this in mind, take everything you read and hear with a grain of salt. There is probably some truth to what the person is saying, but that truth has likely been tampered with. There may be aspects about it that are left out, there may be things that are embellished.

It is unusual for people in this situation to make an outright lie, but it certainly isn’t unheard of. You don’t want to be distrustful of everyone that you meet, but you do want to be aware the world isn’t all just there to give you information and opinions, odds are there is a secondary motive of some kind that is asking for something from you in return.

Step 2. Consider the source of the information.

A lot of people just pull ideas out of their minds and spout them off as truth. This is something that people have done for hundreds of years… it is human nature. Information such as this has become more readily available to the world thanks to inventions such as the internet.

You have to remember that just because someone says something, that doesn’t make it true. The same rule goes for whether or not you see something that is online. Just because you read it, that doesn’t make it true.

If you hear or read something, and it just seems ‘off’ in some way, go with your gut feeling on that. Unless you see that there are credible sources or proof behind the information, then question it.

Never just blindly believe anything. If something is legitimate, then there is going to be genuine and credible resources to back it up.

Step 3. Watch out for the things that are obvious.

A common trick that speakers use to gain your confidence in them is to say something that is obvious. You can hear this done in conversation, debates, or read it in persuasive articles online.

What happens is this: a person wants you to agree with their point of view, and they are trying to make their point of view, your point of view. To do this subtly, they are going to say things that you obviously do agree with, then slip in the thing that they are trying to convince you of.

By doing this, you are going to agree with what they are saying because you know what they used to lead up to it is true, and therefore, their final opinion must be true as well.

Let me show you what I mean. You will hear a speaker say something like, “We know that you work hard, that you are trying to get ahead, and you value your money. That is why our product is the best thing for you to invest in.”

You know that you do work hard, and you do try to get ahead, and you do value your money. By now, your brain has softened to the speaker, and it is agreeing with what the speaker has to say. So, when the speaker wraps up their speech or article with a pitch for their item, your brain automatically thinks that the product is what you need.

You need to watch out for this. When you see that there are obvious statements being made, put up your guard, and watch for the real reason they are speaking. It isn’t going to be hard to find, and you are going to see right through their trick.

Now, you will need to make a conscious effort to make these things a habit of life, but with practice, you are going to see them become a habit for you. You don’t want to be a person that is suspicious of everyone that is on the street, which is a temptation for some, but you do want to be smart.

If you follow these 3 steps whenever you are in conversation with someone, or whenever you are browsing the internet, you are going to find that you will make a lot more of your own decisions, and you will feel less like being told what to think and feel.

As we have said before, there is nothing at all wrong with sharing an opinion with another person, or even a group of people, but we don’t want you to just go with the flow, or just believe something because that is what everyone else is doing.

You deserve to be a free thinker, and with the help of these steps, it isn’t long before you are going to be one.

to be cont'd ...

 

[Papsmearer]

Bro, I can provide some thoughts to why Singaporeans do not wish to be known 'kay kiang' to outsmart LKY PAP.

All fingers points to this yellow skin hakka dead old fart LKY. Nobody is supposed to be smarter than his begotten son that is going to beholden to him to be PM of Singapore.

Those are against him are arrowed down like CSJ.

Fucking LKY was the source of Singaporeans refrained from thinking critically to avoid step on fucking LKY toes.

2015GE was a chance to changed but it didn't happen. Maybe time is not right for change. Let pray Old fart Loong arse cancer come soon.

unfortunately with Whore Jinx assfucking him every night, it has been killing the cancer cells in his arse. sigh.

 

[Papsmearer]

I think that people forget the critical thinking and independent thinking is very person centric. It relies completely on the intelligence of the person to process and assimilate the information and to apply the solution in a creatuve manner. I am sorry, but you need IQ points for this. And it does not mean academic IQ, but actual real world IQ. The education system and whole socirty in places like US and Australia are geared towards independent and cricitcal thinking. yet, there are people there who are as stupid and lemming-like as sinkies. There are people there that blindly follow this and that, so and so, without applying critical thinking to ask if this is right or wrong or if it makes sense. under their system, it should not be happening. It happens because there level of intelligence in many of these people is just not there. In the absence of their individual brain power, they have to rely on the media and other things to do the thinking for them.

 

[scroobal]

Good to hear he is doing well. Agree on the scholarship bit. In fact they do not event mention it in their CV.

Aware of the history in regard to Midlands and the likes of Yorkshire and the textile mills. Interesting background and the Bangladeshi lot in Tower Hamlet makes it even more interesting. UK because of its diversity essentially as a result of conflict elsewhere has been tapped well.

By the way, under Howard, the man at the top of Intelligence Apex is of South Indian descent. Talk about globalisation.

He's nevertheless done extremely well for himself as he went on to complete his legal training (he got the scholarship) and then joined a major international oil and gas conglomerate, ending up in the Middle East. As you are aware there is no special credence given to getting such scholarships in the UK - just additional financial help along the way. His background was science-based in fact and he decided that he would take on the legal conversion and professional exams just for the heck of it if he got the scholarship. One of the genuinely wonderful aspects of the educational system i.e. always an opportunity to learn if you want to and have the desire to.

As for the recruitment drives, they did diversify and try and tackle this problem head-on especially after the London attacks - the South Asians of particular concern are not really in London but further up in the Midlands and the North of England where swathes of towns are literally singular communities plucked from the Continent and practice a culture that is often caught in a stitch of nostalgia that no longer exists. Coupled with the racism these communities suffered in post-world war era and then subsequently with the BNP, NF etc there has always been a sense of resentment at the way they were treated for being Asians rather than being of any particular faith (there are the usual stories of inter-faith communal tensions in the '80s) but by the '90s these ebbed away as the second generation started embracing their dual-identity. The subsequent wars on terror only fed into the sense of disenchantment and victimisation and made it quire ripe for infiltration of jihadists insular ideology.

The Arab wave has been a mixed bag of radicals and anti-government figures who ended up in various corners of London. Again, the wars on terror emboldened them and with the current anti-muslim sentiments in particular, adds to their recruitment of the vulnerable.

So the recruitment of such diverse pools of agents is a masterstroke play that is time-honoured and tested by them. They started doing the same amongst the HK Chinese immigrants when the Chinatown wars erupted with the influx of illegal PRCs in the 90s. Same with the waves of Somalis and Kosovans (especially when they tried to drive the Turks out of the heroin trade in North London). All these ethnicities displayed the necessary type of intellectual and analytical abilities plus the tested adherence to GStQ.

And as you know, its the same in Australia.

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

I think that people forget the critical thinking and independent thinking is very person centric. It relies completely on the intelligence of the person to process and assimilate the information and to apply the solution in a creatuve manner. I am sorry, but you need IQ points for this. And it does not mean academic IQ, but actual real world IQ. The education system and whole socirty in places like US and Australia are geared towards independent and cricitcal thinking. yet, there are people there who are as stupid and lemming-like as sinkies. There are people there that blindly follow this and that, so and so, without applying critical thinking to ask if this is right or wrong or if it makes sense. under their system, it should not be happening. It happens because there level of intelligence in many of these people is just not there. In the absence of their individual brain power, they have to rely on the media and other things to do the thinking for them.

Singaporeans are trained to be exam smart but not smart in almost all other aspects

 

[scroobal]

Great stuff bro.

Here is something that is quite interesting and is related and it came from the Medical fraternity and SGH Medical Emergency Casualty Dept of the past era. In particular the doctors, nurses and the hospital attendants that handle the emergencies and trauma cases that come in at all hours. Intern and new doctors quickly realise that even the hospital attendants (who have no formal qualification of any sort) had become an integral part of the team. They know what to do for the various types of trauma cases. These are the better ones and even new nurses and doctors do seek their advise. These chaps have developed critical thinking and a razor sharp.

Even the likes of Prof Chao and Dr Wee Keng Poh, the forensic pathologist have among them a chap with no formal qualification but punched well above his weight. This chap was involved in the extrication of bodies during the Hotel World disaster. Chao wanted him and no one else.

Critical thinking is a concept that is intimidating to a lot of people. As soon as they hear the word “critical”, their mind goes to somewhere intense and above their level. When you combine that with “thinking”, you cause a lot of people to shy away from the concept altogether.

There are a lot of ideas and premonitions that surround the concept of critical thinking, but while the prejudices range from a bunch of science geeks surrounding a table in white lab coats to politicians debating the laws of the country, the phrase itself has a simple meaning.

to be cont'd ...

 

[Leongsam]

Even the likes of Prof Chao and Dr Wee Keng Poh, the forensic pathologist have among them a chap with no formal qualification but punched well above his weight. This chap was involved in the extrication of bodies during the Hotel World disaster. Chao wanted him and no one else.

Every time I met Prof Chao he was stone drunk. However he told me not to worry as by the time he examined me I'd already be dead.

The same could not be said of Dr Bala Traction who was equally drunk but was scheduled to operate the next morning at 8 am.

 

[scroobal]

Prof Ratnam was the same. Till today no one can explain how his Jag can jump the central divider along Whitley Road and he himself does not know why.

Anyway people started to wonder if they should look for inebriated surgeon for complicated surgery as the good ones had a love for the bottle.

 

[Seee3]

http://www.challenge.gov.sg/print/long-service/tales-from-beyond-the-morgue


http://www.sgh.com.sg/about-us/newsroom/News-Articles-Reports/Pages/SGHcutswaitingtimeforabed.aspx

 

[gsfosnis]

If you enjoyed what you are reading so far, then would you be kind enough to
consider purchasing and leave a review on Amazon?
Harvey Segler is a small self published author and need all the help he can get.
Thank you very much!


The Benefits of Problem Solving Skills

Critical thinking is the one aspect you are going to use most in your life if you want to
take your life from something that is just plain and simple, to the next level. Every
person on this planet has problems.

These problems come to us in a variety of ways, and they are different for each one of
us, but the point is, every single one of us has problems. Now, many of us sit back, close
our eyes, and hope that our problems will go away on their own.

But they don’t.

In order to solve your problems, you are going to have to think about them in a critical
manner. Pick those problems apart. Look for solutions. Look for ways you can use
aspects of the problem to your own advantage.

Think about the problem personally, and independently. Advice from others is great, but
at the end of the day, it is still your problem, and you are the one that is left to deal with
it while it is there and ultimately solve it.

The danger of the ‘fix it and forget it’ method to problem solving

As we mentioned before, society today is both blessed and tarnished with the
information that is available on the internet. We all go through our days, and when we
need something that we don’t know, we consult the internet, fix the problem, and move
on.

There is almost a robotic movement that is going on here, and it is one that doesn’t aid
in the realm of critical thinking. We glance through the solution on the internet, then we
close our computer and go on with our day... there is no lesson learned, and nothing that
can be applied to another situation.

Of course, a lot of people argue that there is nothing wrong with this. That we will
always have the internet with us, and there is no need to worry about actually learning
the method because we will always be able to just look it up.

To an extent, they are right about the access to the internet being something that is
relatively constant for many of us, but they are wrong in the aspect that we need to
develop the skills needed to solve problems.

You are faced with decisions all day long, and without the necessary skills to solve
them, how are you going to progress in life?

For example: You can look up on the internet how to make a cake. How to drive a car.
Even how to build a car. When it comes to things like that, you are set.

But you can’t ask the internet if you should apply for that job that is in the next town. Or
if you should invest in your friend’s business idea. Or how you are going to apologize to
your wife when you feel that you are the one in the right.

These are real life problems, and they are things that Google will never know the
answer to, even if you were to ask a thousand times. This is why you need to develop
your own problem solving skills, which is largely sourced in critical thinking.

Don’t just look at a problem or decision you have to fix. Analyze it.

When you are faced with a decision, whether it be a problem that you need to fix or a
decision that will better your life, you need to ask yourself what you would do. All too
often, when things like these arise, we run to our friends and family to ask them what
they would do in that situation.

The problem with this is that what is best for someone else may not be what is best for
you. You may opt out of a great job opportunity because your cousin said they wouldn’t
do it. Or maybe you let your marriage fall apart because your buddy wouldn’t try to fix
it if he was in your shoes.

Don’t get me wrong, advice is always a great thing to have, but you can’t base your
actions or your life on what other people would do, you have to ask yourself what you
would do, and what you should do.

Weigh the pros and cons to any situation. Ask yourself if it would work out better one
way or the other. Ask yourself what the risks are, and if you are ok with losing whatever
the risk may be if you lose the gamble.

Life is a series of questions and decisions that you need to learn to make, and one that
you need to learn to live with the consequences. Critical thinking is a great skill to have,
it is going to help you learn how to develop these other areas in your life, and ensure
that you are happy with the results.

That is the entire point of analytical thinking when it comes to problem solving and
decision making. When you ask everyone else what they would do, you are avoiding
taking responsibility for the outcome. If it works out great, you are happy, if it doesn’t,
then you can blame the other person for not making a decision that worked out great for
you.

If you develop your independent thinking skills, then you can make your decisions in full
confidence that they are going to turn out great. Of course there is always the risk that
something could go wrong, but at the end of the day, you know that you were able to
make the decision knowing what you were going in to on the outset.

It is a very different way of dealing with your problems than if you are always asking
someone else what they would do. You will learn to stand on your own two feet on any
issue, and you will find that you are able to make decisions with confidence.

to be cont'd