Critical thinking in content feeding and editing

In order to understand the concept of critical thinking, it must be defined. "Critical thinking is reasonable and reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do. This definition of critical thinking includes creative action such as idea formulation, offering alternative perspectives of problems, asking questions and suggesting possible solutions and research programs" (Ennis, 1984).

The content feeding and editing process is usually a fixed, repetitive process based on clear and predefined guidelines. The content feeding world nevertheless makes use of critical thinking since it is the ability and willingness to assess arguments and objectively evaluate them based on well-established reasoning. It is the ability to search for cracks and flaws in arguments and oppose arguments not supported by any evidence (Tavris & Wade, 1993). During the process's initial stages, the content editor receives the information and the required text and is posed with a seemingly simple task: to feed it into the system. in fact, content feeders must consider the matter heavily and view the project critically in order to perform the most precise and appropriate adjustments for the customer/project. Critical thinking is quite useful in this situation and will enable content editors and project managers to make the most of their projects and improve both display and text so that they are perceived correctly by the users. Critical thinking, I must point out, is not strictly negative thinking. Critical thinking also fosters and develops creative and constructive abilities. In fact, you cannot possibly separate critical thinking from creative thinking, since imagining depends on our ability to doubt out current reality (Tavris and Wade, 1993).

Since critical thinking makes use of rational elements to attain a more sophisticated and in-depth understanding of reality, one may deduce that its objective is not to think more but to think better. Critical thinking has many advantages and may assist us to analyze situations, making decisions and generally managing ourselves. Yet more than anything, critical thinking turns our surroundings more interesting when what is concealed from us is suddenly revealed.

Critical thinking is a process, and as such does not manifest overnight. It takes hard word, such as the following steps:

1. Doubt your initial assumptions: we regard many things as obvious, yet it is the seemingly obvious that we must understand. What we accept blindly is the usual suspect for causing us to view reality narrow-mindedly.

2. Don't accept information as real just because it was relayed to you by an authority: the ability to verify information independently or at least regard it with a healthy dose of suspicion is key for developing critical thinking.

3. Ask questions: asking questions in great, since it allows you to find answers. Ask about anything. An answer will come once a question is asked.

4. Understand who you are: our position in life is affected by our identity, which is comprised of our gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, etc. and in turn affects our perception of reality.

5. Think a few steps forward: our ability to expand our thinking and pre-consider our actions' results increases our chances to reach further.

6. Consider all options: this can be done by charting all possible routes to get the full picture.

7. Don't fear the paradox: paradoxical thinking is the ability to simultaneously consider two contrasting concepts and is one of the most important components of critical thinking. We can improve our ability to perceive paradoxes.

As a content editor, I often must apply critical thinking to consider whether the tasks are indeed making the most of the current settings. Critical thinking actually enables us to reflect on the current reality and view it from several different angles to perform the best professional work they can offer. We are sometimes affected by some factor and do not perceive reality correctly. Critical thinking allows us to overcome these factors.

References:

Tavris, C., and C. Wade. 1993. Psychology. 3rd ed. London: HarperCollins.

Ennis, R. H. (1987). A taxonomy of critical thinking dispositions and abilities. In J. B. Baron & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Series of books in psychology. Teaching thinking skills: Theory and practice (p. 9–26). W H Freeman/Times Books/ Henry Holt & Co., 55-76