Critical Thinking : Why it is needed?
When it comes to OSINT you will find loads of website out on the internet that will give you links to various tools which will help you find amazing stuffs, but only a very few talk about the importance of critical thinking.
Critical Thinking is the core essence of all intelligence analysis. You can have all the tools in your arsenal and yet be unable to reach required conclusions if you have not developed critical thinking skills.
Critical thinking is the ability to clearly and rationally approach to given situations, research, analysis, etc..
Easily said than done, it is really hard to develop logical and rational mindset, especially in today’s world where our minds are constantly influenced by one thing or the other through the internet and mass media.
In order to develop critical thinking skills one should first deal with their psychological biases because you are not going to perform a thorough analysis or reach a value conclusion to the situation by taking your psychological biases into consideration. They will always influence your thinking and in the end of the day you will only be bringing your version of the story to the table. So it’s necessary that you reduce them as much as possible.
So what are the qualities of a critical thinker ?
Critical thinkers rigorously question ideas and beliefs, rather than accepting them for face value. They will always try to determine whether ideas, arguments and conclusions represent the whole picture and are open to finding that they do not. Critical thinkers will systematically identify, analyze and solve problems rather than intuition or instinct.
They can :
- Grasp the link between ideas.
- Resolve the relevance of disputes and ideas.
- Identify, construct and evaluate arguments.
- Identify discrepancies and errors in logic.
- Access problems consistently and systematically.
- Question the appropriateness of one’s own beliefs, beliefs and values.
How to develop critical thinking :
- Become more self-aware.
- Understand your mental process.
- To develop foresight.
- Practice active listening.
- Start asking questions.
- Evaluate existing evidence/analysis/research.
SOME RESOURCES :
CRITICAL THINKING — Fundamentals
CRITICAL THINKING — Cognitive Biases
5 tips to improve your critical thinking — Samantha Agoos
Books:
Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills
Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking
Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era
Hope this post is helpful for you
I look forward to posting more OSINT related stuff, so stay tuned
