What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is the ability to systematically question, verify what you hear or read, and filter out false information—never taking anything at face value by default. It also involves the ability to identify what’s most important, to generalize, and to compare different phenomena or events. Additionally, critical thinking includes the right to make mistakes, since our own point of view can also be far from reality—meaning we should be willing to question ourselves as well. If you possess all these skills, you are capable of thinking critically.

Where Did Critical Thinking Come From?

The roots of the concept of critical thinking go back to the time of the ancient Greek philosophers. Their assumptions, conclusions, and methods gradually formed a unified understanding of the subject.

In the 17th century, French philosopher René Descartes described the method of radical doubt in his “Discourse on the Method,” the foundation of which is skepticism—doubting everything. Descartes is also known for the famous statement: “I think, therefore I am.” In his view, this is the one position that requires no proof and is the primary truth from which we can begin the search for new truths.

One of the founders of the principle of “critical thinking” is considered to be American philosopher and educator John Dewey, who worked in the early 20th century. In his research, Dewey described methods and tools that allowed people to solve a wide range of problems. He used the concept of inquiry to describe a set of purposeful actions that transform a confusing problem into a well-structured and therefore solvable one. This process involves several sequential steps: formulating the problem (the essence of the difficulty), proposing hypotheses, and testing them through action.

In Russian academic tradition, psychologist Lev Vygotsky was a well-known proponent of the “instrumental” approach. He emphasized the crucial role of cultural tools and means in our thinking and behavior. Just as we chop wood with an axe, dig the earth with a shovel, or protect ourselves from the cold with warm clothes, symbolic tools (such as words and expressions in our native language) allow us to manage our own attention, memory, thinking, and so on. These tools are directed not outward, but at our own psyche.

Limitations and Obstacles

There are still unresolved issues in the study of critical thinking. For example, how do we activate it when needed? What psychological mechanisms ensure that critical thinking works reliably?

There is little research on this topic, but Lev Vygotsky emphasized that the psyche is inherently biased and shaped by a person’s way of life. Its purpose is to filter and alter reality so that the individual can act more effectively in the world.

The variety of such mental traps was best described by Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel Prize for his research in 2002, and his late colleague Amos Tversky. In Kahneman’s theory of bounded rationality, he identified so-called thinking heuristics—cognitive biases that are supposed to help us adapt efficiently, but in reality can lead to incorrect conclusions.