Louis Urquhart Oct 28, 2014 Week 11 Ch.

10 The Role of Criticism

Dr. Langley INT-322-90-141 Fall 2014

The role of criticism in critical thinking is an important one. Criticism is one method that
will provide you with a more fool proof process of creating and evaluating solutions and ideas to
problems or issues that require critical thinking. Criticism will enable you to refine and perfect
your ideas and solutions. Also, criticism can give birth to other ideas and solutions from the
current ones you are working on. By focusing on your ideas, overcoming obstacles to critical
thinking, applying curiosity and avoiding assumptions you will understand why criticism in
critical thinking is necessary. Your ideas and solutions will also be able withstand the scrutiny of
others. Using this method with improve critical thinking.
Criticism is necessary because nobody is flawless nor are the ideas that people generate
are perfect or beyond improvement (Ruggiero, 2012). Ideas maybe be excellent but they must
also be able to withstand scrutiny. Some ideas and solutions to problems may have unintended
effects that may be harmful. In this case criticism is perfecting your ideas, addressing the what
if questions about your solutions. It is much better that you scrutinize your ideas and solutions
first before you share them so as to save yourself from embarrassment. If do not do this, then
your creditability maybe questioned. Other people will surely scrutinize your own ideas and
solutions for you, in order to try and shoot them down. In other words come prepared to defend
your ideas and solutions.
Most individuals feel there is no need to criticize their own thinking simply because it is
their own (Ruggiero, 2012). Who wants to walk around criticizing oneself all day long? Human
beings are hard wired not to self-criticize. The ego or the id will let one do that. Also if one has
thought long and hard on an idea or solution the tendency is to trust that decision. Most
individuals are blind to their imperfections because they are very difficult to realize. Nobody

Louis Urquhart Oct 28, 2014 Week 11 Ch. 10 The Role of Criticism

Dr. Langley INT-322-90-141 Fall 2014

walks around on a daily basis trying to look for personal flaws. A person would never be able to
get anything done if they were constantly questioning themselves. Most of the time a person
only realizes their flaws after someone has pointed them out or something that person did made
them self-reflect.
There are ways to safeguard against being blind to ones imperfections. One method
before you ponder a critical idea is to disregard the natural tendency to be satisfied with your
idea or solution. Force yourself to examine it critically and scrutinize it as if it were someone
elses creation. Another way is to flip your ego or id on itself and use it to your advantage. It is
like using reverse psychology on yourself. Ask yourself how you would feel if you presented
your idea and for example your worst enemy was there and this enemy completely picked apart
and shot down your idea or solution in front of everybody. That would bring out emotions that
would last for a lifetime. You would be fuming mad, utterly outraged, completely livid and
totally embarrassed all at the same time. So it would behoove you to take the time to criticize
and scrutinize your ideas and solutions first before you present them.
It is important to apply curiosity when addressing problems and issues. When you apply
curiosity to your thinking you have introduced new and different paths to explore that are related
to your idea or solution. You will be able to look at them from different perspectives and might
find a flaw or an improvement that you were not able to see before. Curiosity keeps your mind
sharp and in discovery mode. According to Ruggiero (2012), some questions that you should ask
yourself when thinking critically and applying curiosity are: How will my idea perform when it

Louis Urquhart Oct 28, 2014 Week 11 Ch. 10 The Role of Criticism

Dr. Langley INT-322-90-141 Fall 2014

is applied? How will others react to it? (p. 185). I would add: What would be the typical
response from other individuals? Can I improve upon my idea?

There are several assumptions one should avoid when creating your ideas or solutions
that can inhibit the assessment of those ideas or solutions. One assumption is to assume that
everybody who is aware of the matter will share your passion for your particular idea or solution
(Ruggiero, 2012). People may have their own solutions and ideas for the exact same problem
and they want to receive the credit. They maybe just jealous of your findings because they
could not solve the problem. Another assumption is that slight imperfections in your idea or
solution will not matter and people will agree with you no matter what (Ruggiero, 2012). These
tiny flaws will provide the ammunition for people to shoot down your idea or solution.
Individuals will amplify these slight imperfections and your idea or solution maybe dead in the
water.
Another assumption is that if your idea or solution is crystal clear to you that it will be
also for your audience (Ruggiero, 2012). In other words you must dumb it down so everybody
can understand it. It must be created in a manner that is crystal clear to someone who is not in
the know. Another way of looking at it is some teachers and professors are very knowledgeable
in their subject but they cannot teach this subject to others clearly; math teachers are a good
example of this. Lastly the assumption that people who clearly stand to benefit from your idea or
solution will automatically embrace it and fall in love with it (Ruggiero, 2012). You must be
prepared to defend your idea or solution. You might have to prove it to people because they may

Louis Urquhart Oct 28, 2014 Week 11 Ch. 10 The Role of Criticism

Dr. Langley INT-322-90-141 Fall 2014

stuck in their ways of doing something in a certain fashion and do not want to change. People
can be fickle and you must take this into account when you unveil an idea or solution.
References
Ruggiero, V. R. (2012). The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought (10th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.