This document discusses ways to enhance critical thinking through "food for thought". It defines food for thought and critical thinking. Some activities that provide mental stimulus and enhance critical thinking are analyzing information by breaking it down and looking for patterns, questioning claims and statements, and discussing topics with others who have different perspectives. Exercises like logic puzzles, applying reason to values, and practicing critical thinking skills and principles are also recommended. The Socratic method of questioning to trigger critical thought is discussed as another way to enhance critical thinking abilities.

1. Assignment on:
Food for thought to enhance critical thinking
Submitted to:
Sir SayedWajahatHussain
Submitted by:
FahadSattar
Roll No:
06
Class:
BBA(HONS) 4th
R(1)
Date:
07-01-2013

2. Food for thought to enhance critical thinking
Food for thought:
“Anything that provides mental stimulus for thinking is called food for thought”. Or
something worth thinking about seriously is also called food for thought.
Food for thought increases our thinking ability and helps us to increase our knowledge
about any topic of interest and it make us broad minded so that we can think about any
topic rationally and positively.
Critical thinking:
“Good critical thinking is skillful and responsible thinking in which you study the
problem from all angles and then exercise your best judgment to draw conclusions.”
It is a way of deciding whether a claim is always true, sometimes true, partly true, or fall.
Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the
highest level of quality in a fair-minded way. People who think critically and consistently
attempt to live rationally, reasonably, empathically. They are keenly aware of the
inherently flawed nature of human thinking when left unchecked.
Food for thought to enhance critical thinking:
There are something’s which enhances our thinking power and these things
are called food for thought. The things which come under the head of food for thought
are given below.
Activities:
1) Analyze:
Practice analytical thinking as often as possible. This involves mentally breaking down a
structure and examining its parts. For example, consider a charismatic person and try to
determine how her personality traits compose her overall charm. In addition, always look
for patterns and use them to make predictions. You can find patterns while watching
television shows, reading a book or reflecting on specific behaviors of people in your life.

3. 2) Question:
Rather than being a passive listener, learn to question information given to you. You
should especially question statements that involve "never" or "always." For example, if
someone claims, "Humpback whales never feed in the winter," you should conduct your
own research before accepting the statement as a fact. Not only will this strategy develop
critical thinking skills, but it will also prevent you from blindly following your peers.
3) Discuss:
Work in a group setting and hold discussions with peers. By listening to the opinions of
others, you will learn to explore alternative perspectives and practice objective thinking.
If you follow a certain religion or belong to a political party, open your ears to people on
the other side of the fence.
Methods:
1. Use “Wasted” Time.
2. A Problem A Day.
3. Internalize Intellectual Standards.
4. Keep An Intellectual Journal.
5. Reshape Your Character.
6. Deal with Your Ego.
7. Redefine the Way You See Things.
8. Get in touch with your emotions.
9. Analyze group influences on your life.
Exercises:
1) Logic Puzzles:
Logic puzzles require deductive reasoning or the process of elimination. They also
increase critical-thinking skills, because you must concentrate on the details of the
puzzle. Sudoku and Sudoku variants, such as Pic-a-Pix are classic and popular logic
puzzles. Sudoku is a logic puzzle that deals with numbers. Pic-a-Pix are picture logic
puzzles.

4. 2) Values:
Practice critical thinking by applying reason to values. According to OpenCourseWare in
Critical Thinking, moral claims are statements about right and wrong, good and bad, or
what might or might not be valuable.
3) Practice:
However, merely knowing the principles that distinguish good and bad reasoning is not
enough. We might study in the classroom about how to swim, and learn about the basic
theory, such as the fact that one should not breathe under water. But unless we can apply
such theoretical knowledge through constant practice, we might not actually be able to
swim.
Similarly, to be good at critical thinking skills it is necessary to internalize the theoretical
principles so that we can actually apply them in daily life. There are at least two ways one
is to do lots of good-quality exercises. Exercises include not just exercises in classrooms
and tutorials. They also include exercises in the form of discussion and debates with other
people in our daily life. The other method is to think more deeply about the principles
that we have acquired. In the human mind, memory and understanding are acquired
through making connections between ideas.
4)Attitudes:
Good critical thinking skills require not just knowledge and practice. Persistent practice
can bring about improvements only if one has the right kind of motivation and attitude.
The following attitudes are not uncommon, but they will not help you improve your
thinking.
5) Socratic Thinking:
The Socratic Method considers disciplined questions or inquiries that trigger critical
thought to answer. Challenge yourself by pondering complex issues or hypothetical
problems. Many exercises in the Socratic Method can be based on current events, politics
and religion. When examining these topics, analyze the concepts, differentiate between
opinion and fact, and propose solutions. For additional mental exercise, reapply the
Socratic Method to your solutions and test their validity.