The Continuous Process: Developing Good Habits for Critical Thinking

Speaker: 00:00:00

Hello, and welcome to the traveling Introvert. Today I want to talk about

Speaker: 00:00:04

reactiveness today I was in a Facebook

Speaker: 00:00:08

group and the head of the Facebook

Speaker: 00:00:11

group was responding to someone who said

Speaker: 00:00:15

they were an introvert and they were, you know, had

Speaker: 00:00:19

questions about public speaking and about doing videos and TikTok and

Speaker: 00:00:23

Facebook and all of that wonderful stuff. But they also wanted to teach.

Speaker: 00:00:26

And the head of the Facebook group was

Speaker: 00:00:30

like, I can bet you $5 you are not an introvert. You are just a

Speaker: 00:00:33

repressed introvert. And my immediate reaction

Speaker: 00:00:37

was that I wanted to respond to this person

Speaker: 00:00:41

because they said no introverts want to teach. And

Speaker: 00:00:44

so that set me off. And

Speaker: 00:00:48

instead of writing a harshly worded

Speaker: 00:00:52

response, I stopped because I didn't just

Speaker: 00:00:56

want to react. I wanted to do some critical thinking to think about the

Speaker: 00:01:00

best way to respond. That could be a teaching moment or learning moment or growth

Speaker: 00:01:04

moment for everyone. So I want to talk about how

Speaker: 00:01:08

developing sort of critical thinking is really, really

Speaker: 00:01:11

important because reactions and

Speaker: 00:01:14

instant opinions of a thing right now in the world. But how do you

Speaker: 00:01:18

learn to make good choices quickly? It's all in the work

Speaker: 00:01:22

that you do. Good habits for critical thinking is really,

Speaker: 00:01:26

really important. Embrace curiosity. Picture

Speaker: 00:01:30

yourself as a curious child almost endlessly asking why.

Speaker: 00:01:34

Curiosity is the key that unlocks the doors for critical thinking.

Speaker: 00:01:38

Embrace your inner curiosity and allow it to guide your

Speaker: 00:01:41

thoughts. Never fear about questioning the status

Speaker: 00:01:44

quo, challenging assumptions. Seek deeper

Speaker: 00:01:47

understanding. That's super important. Remember, it's the

Speaker: 00:01:51

questions that you ask that lead to discoveries not just for yourself,

Speaker: 00:01:55

but for other people. Seek diverse perspectives.

Speaker: 00:01:59

Imagine a vivid tapestry woven from threads of different colors and

Speaker: 00:02:02

textures. That is what a diverse range of perspectives can

Speaker: 00:02:06

bring to your critical thinking. Seeking opinions and

Speaker: 00:02:09

insights from people with different backgrounds, experiences and beliefs

Speaker: 00:02:13

are super important and engaging in respectful conversations

Speaker: 00:02:17

that broaden your horizons. And maybe theirs can help you see the

Speaker: 00:02:21

world through multiple lenses. Embracing

Speaker: 00:02:24

diversity kind of enriches your thinking and fosters empathy.

Speaker: 00:02:28

And empathy is really, really important.

Speaker: 00:02:32

Also, take the time easier said than done to reflect and

Speaker: 00:02:36

analyze pause. Take a

Speaker: 00:02:39

deep breath and the consider the bigger

Speaker: 00:02:43

picture. Analyze situations from various

Speaker: 00:02:47

angle. Examine the evidence, the implications,

Speaker: 00:02:51

the potential biases. By stepping back,

Speaker: 00:02:54

you can gain clarity and make better informed

Speaker: 00:02:58

decisions.

Speaker: 00:03:02

And think about and emphasize evidence based

Speaker: 00:03:06

reasoning. For example, this person that was like, no introvert

Speaker: 00:03:10

wants to teach someone anything. It's like, okay, well, imagine

Speaker: 00:03:14

building a sturdy bridge. Each component is supported by solid

Speaker: 00:03:17

foundations. Similarly, critical thinking relies on evidence

Speaker: 00:03:21

based reasoning. Seek reliable evidence,

Speaker: 00:03:24

scientific research and logical arguments to support

Speaker: 00:03:28

what you're talking about, your claims and beliefs. Be open to changing

Speaker: 00:03:32

your perspective. That's fine when confronted with compelling

Speaker: 00:03:35

evidence. But by valuing evidence based reasoning,

Speaker: 00:03:39

you can cultivate a solid foundation in your critical thinking. So when I

Speaker: 00:03:43

was responding, I instead didn't respond to the person who said

Speaker: 00:03:46

no one could be an introvert. I responded to the person who was asking for

Speaker: 00:03:50

support. And we ended up having a conversation about

Speaker: 00:03:54

what it is that their beliefs are about going live or being

Speaker: 00:03:57

on camera, what their beliefs are about introversion. And I was

Speaker: 00:04:01

there with supportive information rather than just jumping down

Speaker: 00:04:05

somebody's throat

Speaker: 00:04:08

and then sort of asked the question to the person who said, you can't be

Speaker: 00:04:11

an introvert, I was like, So, have you never learned anything from an

Speaker: 00:04:15

introvert? Are you telling me that every single person that you have learned

Speaker: 00:04:19

something from has been an extrovert?

Speaker: 00:04:22

Couldn't really answer the question that way. So

Speaker: 00:04:25

remembering remember that developing good habits for critical

Speaker: 00:04:29

thinking is an ongoing journey,

Speaker: 00:04:33

and sound judgment is really helpful.

Speaker: 00:04:37

And having a greater understanding of yourself and the choices that

Speaker: 00:04:41

you need to make day in and day out can all come

Speaker: 00:04:45

back to just not just reacting,

Speaker: 00:04:48

but developing habits for critical thinking.

Speaker: 00:04:52

Thank you for listening. This is Janice@thecareintrovert.com helping you build your