Why is critical thinking so important among students?

“Thinking is an action. For all aspiring intellectuals, thoughts are the laboratory where one goes to pose questions and find answers...The heartbeat of critical thinking is the longing to know—to understand how life works." - Bell Hooks

I've recently read an article by the well-known author Bell Hooks about critical thinking. Thoughts are the laboratory where critical thinkers pose questions and discover answers. It is interesting how children are natural wonderers; they always demand to find answers about everything in life and that is why they often ask questions. I remember myself being just that: a curious child that was persistent enough to explore. However, I have noticed that at a later stage most children tend to suppress the desire to learn. This is because at school teachers usually try to persuade them that thinking is not appropriate and at home parents often impose a model of discipline and punishment. When children grow up, as students are not encouraged to think critically and experiment, and they are more used to swallow information without even attempting to understand it and critically evaluate it. When I was at high school, teachers used to wonder why I was so critical about everything and they were always trying to persuade me that I don't need to dig in information. However, this didn't change my attitude towards learning. In order for students to become critical thinkers they need to embrace the joy and excitement of thinking itself, but joy comes when they are encouraged by the older. So what is critical thinking at the first place? Critical thinking is the Art of seeing both sides of an issue, being open to new ideas even if they disconfirm older ones, and reasoning using evidence. In other words, critical thinking is about finding answers to questions and basing them on real evidence. But critical thinkers do not just accept information at a face value, they question everything and they try to look beyond the obvious. I have always reacted to information like this, going under the surface and look at something from more than one perspective. However, in order to do so, one must be open-minded, imaginative and acceptable to new ideas by thinking out of the box. Therefore, it is important teachers to show to their students that knowledge is constantly evolving when all share different experiences and that critical thinking is powerful and can help them rise spiritually. I believe that nobody has ever achieved anything exceptional if they didn't think critically and imaginatively, and using ideas from the past to elaborate on new ones . As Steve Jobs said, inspired by Pablo Picasso, (Silicon Valley Historical Association, 1994) "good artists copy, great artists steal". If you just copy ideas or information, you are considered an imitator, but if you use early ideas to improve on something, you are considered a great artist.

Hooks, B. (2009) Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. U.K.: Routledge

Silicon Valley Historical Association (1994) Steve Jobs: Secrets of Life Movie. YouTube [video]. Jun 12, 2008. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU [Accessed 2 October 2016].