What is Critical Thinking?

To me, critical thinking is the ability to take a deeper look at thoughts, ideas and surroundings by having an open mind to explore all aspects of the subject. This does not mean that one has to be an expert or even have previous knowledge of the matter, but rather be open to all ideas of it. According to Dictionary.com, critical thinking is the disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence. I feel that my definition and that of Dictionary.com are very similar. Both are commonly united by the idea of exploring the subject with an open mind to achieve a deeper thought. Although critical thinking may seem like a complicated idea, according to the definition given by Dictionary.com, there is no particular process that one must engage in to think critically other than clearing the mind and be accepting to new and inovated ideas. I think there is a connection between critical thinking and IM 204 Research Strategies. Both subject matters involving thinking outside of the box to get what you want. With critical thinking, one is forced to think in a different way that may be difficult and uncomfortable from what they are used to. With IM 204, one uses other resources to find information that they normally may not use. Personally, I stick to the basic when it comes to research. My motto has been, "if you can't find it on the internet, you can't find it anywhere." I am excited to learn of other ways to research and to think outside of the box when it comes to applying new information.

Critical thinking link from Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/critical+thinking