Enhance critical thinking by brain hacking.
“If there was one life skill everyone on the planet needed, it was the ability to think with critical objectivity.” – Josh Lanyon
Essential, yet lacking
It is hardly surprising that in our new AI-infiltrated (and filled with “fake news”, propaganda and disinformation) world having critical thinking is non-negotiable not only for leaders, but for everyone. Critical thinking is essential in various areas of life, from education to business, science and to everyday decision-making.
The WEF Future of Jobs 2020 report stated that top skills, which well over 60% of surveyed companies see as rising in prominence, are critical thinking and analysis, closely followed by problem solving and self management.
According to a 2018 survey of 650 employers and 1,500 students by Cengage/Morning Consult, 67% of employers are looking for critical thinking amongst the top five uniquely human skills when recruiting. At the same time, 73% of employers said it was very or somewhat difficult finding qualified candidates, while 34% say that educational establishments have not properly prepared students for jobs. Check out this critical thinking infographic for more thought-provoking findings of the survey.
A study which assessed critical thinking, written communication and associated skills in higher education institutions in six countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Mexico, Finland, and Chile) demonstrated that the learning gain is smaller than could be expected and concluded that, “if universities really want to foster 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, they need to upscale their efforts.”
Kevin Flores and his colleagues warned that students are graduating deficient in critical thinking skills and that this “limited development of cognitive processing skills leads to less effective leaders.”
What is critical thinking and why it is so importantnow?
Diane Halpern, a widely-recognised authority on critical thinking, defined it in her seminal book, Thought and Knowledge as follows: “Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It is used to describe thinking that is purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed – the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions…”
The key components of critical thinking include:
– analysing information (involves breaking down complex pieces of information into smaller parts and evaluating each part’s relevance and significance);
– evaluating evidence (examining the credibility and reliability of evidence itself and its sources in order to determine its usefulness in supporting a particular argument or position);
– identifying fallacies, biases and assumptions (this involves recognising common logical fallacies, personal biases and assumptions that may influence our thinking, and considering alternative perspectives);
– generating and evaluating alternatives (developing multiple solutions or options and evaluating them based on their feasibility, effectiveness, and potential consequences).
It can be argued that critical thinking is a powerful cognitive tool which enables us to navigate the complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity of the modern world. It is particularly valuable when we are dealing with the challenges of a “post-truth” era. You can find more about it from the video by an award-winning neuroscientist and best-selling author Daniel Levitan.
Some of the most common barriers to critical thinking
Our brains are well equipped for critical thinking. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) which is responsible for executive function gives us the ability to consider and voluntarily control our thinking, emotional responses, and behaviour – these are referred to as higher order thinking. The PFC accounts for approximately 20% of brain volume in humans,the highest percentage compared to all other animals.
Despite this, our brains don’t like thinking critically. As late Dr Daniel Kahneman pointed out in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, our brains strongly prefer System 1 thinking which is fast, automatic, intuitive and operates below our consciousness with little or no effort. This mode of thinking allows us to make quick decisions and judgments based on patterns and experiences. But it is also prone to biases, mental shortcuts and mistakes. System 2 thinking, which is used for complex problem-solving and analytical tasks, is slow, deliberate and conscious. It requires intentional effort and a lot of energy which our brains don’t like.
Therefore, it is not surprising that many of the barriers to critical thinking are influenced by our brain’s preference for System 1 thinking. For example:
– overreliance on intuitive judgement (which Robert Hamm described as “the absence of analysis”) and automatic / unconscious cognitive processing which is often experienced as “gut feeling”;
– closed-mindedness (which helps our brain to conserve energy by stopping us from considering new and different ideas, opinions or perspectives);
– dominance of emotional reasoning (while emotions are an integral part of human cognition, they can make it difficult for us to think clearly and make sound judgements);
– cognitive load and stress (when we are under a lot of stress, our brain’s capacity to process information and think critically is greatly reduced).
Also, it is useful to remember that, by its very nature, our thinking is self-serving (i.e. biased towards ourselves to protect our self-esteem). This means that it can hinder critical thinking by distorting our self-analysis and preventing objective analysis.
If you want to know more about the neuroscience of critical thinking, watch this highly informative and entertaining video by clinical neurologist Steven Novella, who gives us insights into how a critical mind is wired.
Hacks and strategies to enhance your critical thinking
– Use reflective judgement to counteract the impact of intuitive judgement (and errors, cognitive biases and logical fallacies associated with it).
– Play Devil’s Advocate (i.e consider alternatives) toopen your mind and overcome your brain’s preference for auto-pilot processing of System 1 thinking.
– Manage emotions to enhance your critical thinking. First, recognise, acknowledge and validate your emotions. Then consciously choose to focus on objective analysis and logical reasoning, rather than reacting emotionally. This article gives some useful strategies to overcome emotional reasoning and make better decisions.
– Reduce your cognitive load and stress. This article gives some useful tips for managing cognitive load to optimise thinking. My earlier article about some of the brain hacks for mental health can give you a few ideas for reducing stress to boost productivity and critical thinking.
– Challenge your thoughts and seek feedback to overcome self-serving bias. Acknowledge the contributions of others to your successes and learn lessons from your failures. This article gives 6 practical tips for avoiding or overcoming self-serving bias.
Like all skills, critical thinking can be learned and honed by practising. This Forbes article by Bernard Marr outlines 13 easy steps to improve your critical thinking (remember, our brains love easy).
Also, it is worth checking out this list of 10 books to improve your critical thinking as well as the list of 10 books on critical thinking tools. In addition to the books on these lists, I can recommend Brainhack: Tips and Tricks to Unleash Your Brain’s Full Potential by Neil Pavitt, Brain Hacks: Life-Changing Strategies to Improve Executive Functioning by Lara Honos-Webb and Critical Thinking Hacks by Christopher Hayes.
And last but not least, whether you are an experienced or aspiring leader, a good executive coach can be invaluable in helping you to enhance your critical skills even further.
Want to know more about brain hacking? My next article will follow soon!
