Adam Still

Critical Thinking
Since there are so many issues in todays world, it is important for us to think critically in
order to discover the right resolutions. Critical thinking is a way of thinking that involves
pushing all biases aside, and being considerate of all types of viewpoints whether or not you
agree with them. An example of this is Chris who was our first participant. Chris voiced his
opinion in a factual, straight forward manner, without letting emotions or experiences effect his
viewpoint. e also was very patient when listening to !ik "the interviewer#, and even rephrased
one of !iks ideas to indicate that he knew where he was coming from. This shows that he was
listening effectively which is a very important $uality among critical thinkers. Since the goal of
critical thinking is to discover a resolution, it is crucial to take into account all options%
arguments before constructing an educated viewpoint. An example of a non&critical thinker was
'randon. (hen he was asked why he chose his stance on gun control, he had little to no
reasoning. 'lindly choosing a side without reason isnt a $uality among critical thinkers. Also
since he was looking away from !ik, and he asked !ik to repeat himself, it showed that we did
not have 'randons full attention. 'randon was trying to get the interview over with, rather than
listening to what !ik was actually saying. Another non critical thinker was our participant
)unior. )unior seemed to let past experiences, such as school shootings, greatly impact his
viewpoint. e neglected !iks statistics and he said they were *ust numbers, which shows that
he wasnt listening to gain an understanding, and gather evidence. +astly, the most critical
thinking interviewee we had was a girl named Shannon. ,nlike our other participants, Shannon
offered a thought&provoking perspective. (hen she was asked why she supported gun control
among campuses she gave a well structured argument, and she did not let her emotions influence
her ability to reason. She mentioned that the problem wasnt the guns themselves but it was the
psychological% social issues in our country. er ability to thoroughly analy-ed the issue by
developing an explanation about the root cause, shows that she was thinking critically. She did
not limit herself by only discussing guns themselves, but she took into account all factors that
could have impacted the issue.