Critical Thinking! A useful way to success.

Critical thinking is a type of clear, reasoned thinking. Critical thinking means making clear, reasoned judgement. While in the process of critical thinking, ideas should be reasoned and well thought out/judged. The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking defines critical thinking as the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

Major critical thinking skills includes observation, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and meta-cognition. It includes:

• Evidence through reality
• Context skills to isolate the problem from context
• Relevant criteria for making the judgment well
• Applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment
• Applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand

Having the ability to think critically is an important skill that many people lack. Critical Thinking is the best way to solve problems since it requires looking at an issue from several standpoints before reaching a final decision. In history, both Socrates and Buddha preached about the important role that critical thinking plays in an individual’s ability to reasonably reflect on an issue and subsequently decide what to do or believe.

Critical thinkers must take the contexts of every situation into account and think on a multi-level platform in order to come to just conclusions. Home-schoolers have an advantage for learning critical thinking skills because they can largely make their own curriculum and incorporate critical thinking lessons into it—as every educational system should do. Learning how to recite information from textbooks is not going to help a person achieve long-term success. Only when an individual is able to make educated choices on complex matters can they truly be considered intelligent and competent.

The Critical Thinking Community is dedicated to enhancing critical thinking. The Center for Critical Thinking and Moral Critique and the Foundation for Critical Thinking are two sister educational non-profit organizations associated with the critical thinking community. These organizations work closely together to promote educational reform and essential change in education and society through the cultivation of fair-minded critical thinking. Mostly, the organizations promote asking discussion-inducing questions in learning environments.

Hope Has Wings!

“I’m of no use. I can’t even support my family well enough. Oh Lord! Please have mercy!” Rudra heard his father weeping from the other room. He was the only child of his parents. His father was a farmer, his mother – a homemaker. It had been a tough time for the family as the monsoon hadn’t been fair enough and their whole ranch had been destroyed. 

“Don’t worry dear. Everything will be fine one day. Just have hope!” His mum was consoling his dad. Though the lingering poverty, his parents made sure that Rudra was able to get good education. Rudra felt terribly bad that he wasn’t able to pay off for his parent’s sacrifice.  He desperately wanted to help. He lay down on the floor, trying to get some sleep.

The next morning Rudra woke up at the crow of the rooster and saw his father engrossed in painting – something he loved to do and did regularly. It was a kind of get-away from his tensions. “It’s long for your school to start. Get some good sleep!” said an astonished father. Just then something struck Rudra. He went and sat besides his dad and held one of the several paintings that his dad had already made he said “Dad, do you know you’re the best artist we’ve got in the village! Couldn’t we use your talent to fetch us some money?”

“What are you talking about, son?”

“The town fair is up in the next week. I can frame up all the paintings and we could sell them!”

“But who would buy these rustic paintings? They aren’t modern enough!”

“Trust me dad. They’re more than marvellous!”

Seeing the sparkle of hope and excitement in his eyes his father eventually agreed.

Rudra worked day and night the entire week framing all the paintings. Finally the day arrived. Rudra and his dad bid bye to his mum and set off for the town.

It was a three day fair. Although the first day witnessed a low response; something special happened the next day. While Rudra was busy attracting buyers far away; his father was at the stall when his paintings caught the eye of a well established builder.

“How can I help you, Sir?”

“I have been searching for some great paintings for the past few months for my upcoming project and seeing your paintings I’m just awestruck! Every bit of your art screams perfection! I would like to sign a contract with you for all my future projects should you continue delivering these awesome pieces. ”

Not being able to believe what he just heard Rudra’s father simply said, “I’d be honoured, Sir!”

He was more than indebted to his son for having believed in his talent more than he did. Soon the days turned and the family lived a happy and satisfied life.

Moral: We all have got that spark within us. The only need is to recognize and believe it.

Benefits of Laughter, here are some of them!

One of the best feelings in the world is the deep-rooted belly laugh. It can bring people together and establish amazing connections. Everything from a slight giggle to a side-splitting guffaw can change the temperature of a room from chilly unfamiliarity to a warm family-like atmosphere.

There is so much to love about laughter that it seems greedy to look for more, but that’s exactly what researchers Dr. Lee Berk and Dr. Stanley Tan at the Loma Linda University in California have done. These two doctors have researched the benefits of laughter and found amazing results. Get ready to get your giggle on!

1. Laughing lowers blood pressure

People who lower their blood pressure, even those who start at normal levels, will reduce their risk of strokes and heart attacks. So grab the Sunday paper, flip to the funny pages and enjoy your laughter medicine.

2. Reduces stress hormone levels

You benefit from reducing the level of stress hormones your body produces because hormone-level reduction simultaneously cuts the anxiety and stress impacting your body. Additionally, the reduction of stress hormones in your body may result in higher immune system performance. Just think: Laughing along as a co-worker tells a funny joke can relieve some of the day's stress and help you reap the health benefits of laughter.

3. Fun ab workout

One of the benefits of laughter is that it can help you tone your abs When you are laughing, the muscles in your stomach expand and contract, similar to when you intentionally exercise your abs. Meanwhile, the muscles you are not using to laugh are getting an opportunity to relax. Add laughter to your ab routine and make getting a toned tummy more enjoyable.

4. Improves cardiac health

Laughter is a great cardio workout, especially for those who are incapable of doing other physical activity due to injury or illness. It gets your heart pumping and burns a similar amount of calories per hour as walking at a slow to moderate pace. So, laugh your heart into health.

5. Boosts T cells

T cells are specialized immune system cells just waiting in your body for activation. When you laugh, you activate T cells that immediately begin to help you fight off sickness. Next time you feel a cold coming on, add chuckling to your illness prevention plan.

6. Triggers the release of endorphins

Endorphins are the body’s natural pain killers. By laughing, you can release endorphins, which can help ease chronic pain and make you feel good all over.

7. Produces a general sense of well-being

Laughter can increase your overall sense of well-being. Doctors have found that people who have a positive outlook on life tend to fight diseases better than people who tend to be more negative.

So smile, laugh and live longer!

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