Critical thinking does not come easily to everyone. Barriers vary from person to person, but can usually be overcome. This post looks at some key barriers to critical thinking and encourages you to consider whether these might be having an impact on you.
This post covers several barriers to critical thinking including:
- Misunderstanding Criticism – Some see criticism as purely negative, leading them to either focus only on flaws or avoid critique altogether.
- Overestimating Reasoning Abilities – People may assume their reasoning is sound simply because they haven’t been challenged or have won arguments.
- Lack of Methods, Strategies, or Practice – Many are willing to think critically but don’t know how to improve their skills effectively.
- Reluctance to Critique Experts – Some feel uncomfortable questioning authority figures or established knowledge, viewing it as disrespectful.
- Emotional Barriers (Affective Reasons) – Strong personal beliefs or emotions can cloud judgment and make it difficult to accept alternative perspectives.
- Mistaking Information for Understanding – Some students prefer direct answers rather than engaging in deeper critical thinking and analysis.
- Insufficient Focus and Attention to Detail – Poor critical thinking can result from generalizations or distractions instead of precise evaluation
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Misunderstanding what is meant by criticism
Some people assume that ‘criticism’ means making negative comments. As a result, they refer only to negative aspects when making an analysis. This is a misunderstanding of the term. As we saw above, critical evaluation means identifying positive as well as negative aspects, what works as well as what does not.
Your art lacks any real sense of line, tone, colour, emotion, conceptual development, originality – it’s lop-sided and hasn’t got a frame.
Others feel that it is not good to engage in criticism because it is an intrinsically negative activity. Some worry that they will be regarded as an unpleasant sort of person if they are good at criticism. As a result, they avoid making any comments they feel are negative and make only positive comments. They may not provide feedback on what can be improved. This is often an unhelpful approach, as constructive criticism can clarify a situation and help people to excel.
Over-estimating our own reasoning abilities
Most of us like to think of ourselves as rational beings. We tend to believe that our own belief systems are the best (otherwise we wouldn’t hold those beliefs) and that we have good reasons for what we do and think.
Although this is true of most of us for some of the time, it isn’t an accurate picture of how our minds behave. Most of the time our thinking runs on automatic. This makes us more efficient in our everyday lives: we don’t have to doubt the safety of a toothbrush every time we brush our teeth.
However, it is easy to fall into poor thinking habits. People who get their own way, or simply get by, with poor reasoning, may believe their reasoning must be good as nobody has said it isn’t. Those who are good at winning arguments can mistake this for good reasoning ability. Winning an argument does not necessarily mean that your argument is the best case. It may simply mean that your opponents didn’t recognise a poor argument, or chose to yield the point for their own reasons, such as to avoid conflict. Imprecise, inaccurate and illogical thinking does not help to develop the mental abilities required for higher-level academic and professional work.
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Lack of Methods, Strategies, or Practice
Although willing to be more critical, some people don’t know which steps to take next in order to improve their critical thinking skills. Others are unaware that strategies used for study at school and in everyday situations are not sufficiently rigorous for higher-level academic thinking and professional work.
With practice, most people can develop their skills in critical thinking.
Reluctance to Critique Experts
There can be a natural anxiety about critically analysing texts or other works by people that you respect. It can seem strange for students who know little about their subject to be asked to critique works by those who are clearly more experienced. Some students can find it alien, rude, or nonsensical to offer criticism of practitioners they know to be more expert than themselves.
If this is true of you, it may help to bear in mind that this is part of the way teaching works in most universities. Critical analysis is a typical and expected activity. Researchers and lecturers expect students to question and challenge even published material. It can take time to adapt to this way of thinking.
If you are confident about critical thinking, bear in mind that there are others who find this difficult. In many parts of the world, students are expected to demonstrate respect for known experts by behaviours such as:
- Learning text off by heart,
- Repeating the exact words used by an expert,
- Copying images precisely, or
- Imitating movements as closely as possible.
Students of martial arts such as tai chi or karate may be familiar with this approach to teaching and learning.
Affective Reasons
We saw above that emotional self-management can play an important part in critical thinking. To be able to critique means being able to acknowledge that there is more than one way of looking at an issue.
In academic contexts, the implications of a theory can challenge deeply held beliefs and long-held assumptions. This can be difficult to accept, irrespective of how intelligent a student might be.
This is especially so if ‘common sense’ or ‘normality’ appears to be challenged by other intelligent people or by academic research. It can be hard to hear deeply held religious, political, and ideological beliefs challenged in any way at all. Other sensitive issues include views on:
- Bringing up children,
- Criminal justice,
- Genetic modification, and
- Sexuality.
When we are distressed by what we are learning, the emotional response may help to focus our thinking, but very often it can inhibit our capacity to think clearly.
Emotional content can add power to an argument, but it can also undermine an argument—especially if emotions seem to take the place of reasoning and evidence that could convince others.
Critical Thinking Does Not Mean:
- That you must abandon beliefs that are important to you.
- It may mean giving more consideration to the evidence that supports the arguments based on those beliefs so that you do justice to your point of view.
Mistaking information for understanding
Learning is a process that develops understanding and insight. Many lecturers set activities to develop expertise in methods used within the discipline. However, students can misunderstand the purpose of such teaching methods, preferring facts and answers rather than learning the skills that help them to make well-founded judgments for themselves.
Cowell, Sembereg and Zinnbauer (1995) write about ‘students’ natural resistance to learning to think critically’, which can mean acquiring new learning behaviours. Cowell et al. outline the problem through the following dialogue:
Student: I want you (the expert) to give me answers to the questions; I want to know the right answer.
Teachers: I want you to become critical thinkers, which means I want you to challenge experts’ answers and pursue your own answers through active questioning. This means thinking is hard work.
If you feel that critical thinking is hard work at times, then you are right. There are lecturers who would agree with you. However, if it wasn’t difficult, you would not be developing your thinking skills into new areas. In effect, you improve your critical thinking skills.
Insufficient focus and attention to detail
Critical thinking involves precision and accuracy, and this, in turn, requires good attention to detail. Poor criticism can result from making judgments based on too general an overview of the subject matter. Critical thinking activities require focus on the exact task in hand, rather than becoming distracted by other interesting tangents.
When critically evaluating arguments, it is important to remember that you can find an argument to be good or effective even if you don’t agree with it.
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