Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you're confusing the term "critical thinking" with criticism or negativity- it just means trying to be as objective as possible when reasoning about something. Critical thinking is more about rooting out your own biases than picking apart things said by other people (I would consider that to be just having an argumentative nature). Someone who has a hair trigger for jumping on other people when they say thing…
No I am well aware of what critical thinking is and I still stand by that I find it overrated. That does not mean it's not important it is but it's getting way more credit than it deserves. As I said another place this extends into corporate world where it's actually seen as providing value if you are able to point out problems with what others are suggesting. Critical thinking has it's place but it's unfortunately o…
Critical thinking is not given enough value in our society - a lot of people are not successful because they lack it. Spend a prolonged amount of time around many less fortunate people, and you will see this in abundance. Critical thinking is not the only important thing, but it is the fundamental baseline that is most lacking. There are more than enough creators - there are not enough people laying down foundation for creators to proliferate in.
The ability to analyze and assess, and craft a beautiful solution based on the detailed analysis, cannot be possible without the first step of top level understanding. People forget this, and want to jump to the crafting part. The lack of understanding of fundamentals will prevent such people from succeeding, unless it is in spite of themselves. One cannot hope to come up with a beautiful proof of one of the Millennial Prize problems without an understanding of the basics of mathematics. One cannot hope to craft a beautiful composition of music or improvisation without having an intuitive understanding of how certain sounds/patterns move people. One cannot create a fine work of art without a similar understanding of how colors, combinations of colors, and texture affect the total perception.
There cannot be enough stress on the importance of the foundation that is critical thinking. Each of those examples I cited above are examples of critical thinking in action, each in different forms. Critical thinking is not just the formal realm of abstract thought - it is about how we as humans think on a basic level, and how we derive at our conclusions. Certain applications of it involve tapping into previous experiences and quickly determining what should be the next path to take. Others involve carefully reasoned thought.