March 2026 "What Is Critical Thinking To YOU?" By Emily Rawlings, Leslie Rivera, Julie Calvert, and Martiza Cardenas

Emily: To me, critical thinking is engaging in a pattern of thought that creates original inferences from preexisting material; if I have at least two variables (such as a scaleless dragon and a frog without vocal cords), then I should be able to find some sort of connection between the two by solely using my own mind instead of just looking up possible answers on the internet. Additionally, critical thinking makes each person unique because when a group of people is asked to explain the relationship between a scaleless dragon and a frog without vocal cords, each person may come up with a unique answer. For example, when I asked an unsuspecting bystander (my mother) this question, she explained that “Oh, it’s because of radiation, and it strips animals of their natural defense mechanisms.” However, when I asked another unsuspecting bystander (my sister) this question, she explained that “The dragon and the frog swam in the same pond, harboring the same wicked witch, who lived in the empty shell of a crawdad, and cursed them because neither one of them loved her.” Critical thinking is what makes us human because we can see any two variables and, of our own volition, create original, imaginative ideas or hypotheses about how they relate to one another.

Leslie: Critical thinking to me is asking question after question. It is using what I know to decide if something is trustworthy or if it is just trying to make me think about what someone else wants me to. Critical thinking makes me a better writer and researcher; it is my most crucial tool in finding good sources. Critical thinking lets me anticipate what my audience might ask and explain what I mean. It keeps me from trusting authority blindly and doing my own research on a topic about which they might lie. As a sociology major, I need to think critically to find connections between personal experiences and broader social issues. Critical thinking will be a part of my job wherever I end up.

Julie: Critical thinking is the art of making connections through knowledge. Knowledge is a broad term, but I choose to define it as truth, evidence, observations, and arguments. When these are assessed through their connecting traits, one can reach logical conclusions as to why something might be, what something might be, and what could be. Some find this concept to be unnerving; they say that to have original thought, one must isolate oneself–of course, as we know, there is nothing new under the sun. What inspired Goethe to write Faust? Nothingness? No, it was Christopher Marlow’s Doctor Faustus. Ideas, new ideas, come from the simple joy of knowing. For one to think critically, one must simply know things–various things. That is the greatest joy of life.

Maritza: To me, critical thinking is meaningful engagement with something. You get to feed your curiosity and experience the back-and-forth process of gaining new knowledge. Thinking critically can also allow you to see from different perspectives and be, as Peter Facione puts it, “honest in facing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, [and] willing to reconsider.” It is being intentional in one’s inquiry that will ultimately yield a fulfilling, deeper understanding of whatever topic you explore. This is a self-reinforcing process; the more you think critically, the better you are able to do so, because when you think critically, you end up learning more about critical thinking!