Critical Thinking Redefined
Victoria Elbert
Grantham University

Critical Thinking Redefined
Before actually redefining critical thinking in my own words and giving an example where I have used such thinking in my life, I will discuss the definitions of three of the aspects; conceptualizing, analyzing, and synthesizing, found in the definition according to the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking (Critical Thinking.org). First let’s look at the definition of conceptualizing, as defined by the Collins English Dictionary “to form (a concept or concepts) out of observations, experience, data, etc.”(Collins, 2015) To me this is saying that based on our life experiences, outside information, or simple observations in a given situation, we begin to form concepts or ideas.
Secondly, we will look at how Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary defines analyzing “to separate (a material or abstract entity) into constituent parts or elements; determine the elements or essential features” (K Dictionaries, 2014). When you think about this definition, it is easy to say that we use this aspect of critical thinking probably far more than we do any other aspect.
Next we will look at how they also define synthesizing “to form (a material or abstract entity) by combining parts or elements (opposed to analyze)” (K Dictionaries, 2014). This is self-explanatory as being the opposite of how we analyze, in that it combines elements vs. separating them.
Therefore, after having researched the definition of critical thinking, including the three aspects previously discussed, here is what I believe it means to me. Critical thinking is the process of looking at a problem or situation from different angles or perspective to arrive at a solution or conclusion. This is probably a somewhat simplistic way to define a concept that is anything but simple, however when you think about this in relation to the individual aspects involved in critical thinking it makes sense. Finally, I will give an example of when I have used the process of critical thinking in my own life. As a leader in the military, I could give several different examples but I will limit myself to one that I believe impacted me the most. A few years ago I was chosen as the Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge (NCOIC) of a Female Engagement Team (FET), that would support an entire Infantry Battalion in combat operations. Essentially we would engage the female population, while conducting combat operations with our infantry line units. At the time I was chosen for this mission, and having never been in the infantry, I had to think outside the box on how to prepare myself and the members of my team. There was very little actual written guidance on FETs, and even less published lessons learned from previous teams. I found information in some of the unlikeliest of resources, militarily speaking, so I went to Google and YouTube to learn the basics of the FET concept. After which I enlisted the help of some infantry NCOs, for tactical training, and finally I demanded full participation from all members of my team in daily physical training. We completed over 35 combat patrols, 12 combat logistic patrols, and conducted 6 missions with a Special Operations task force co-located on our forward operating base (FOB), all without serious incident. I do not believe that my team would have been as successful, had I not been willing to look at our mission from various different angles and come up with a strategy for success.

References
CriticalThinking.org (2013). Critical Thinking as Defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, 1987. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766.
Collins English Dictionary (2015). Definition of Conceptualize. Retrieved from http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/conceptualizing.
RANDOM HOUSE KERNERMAN WEBSTER’S COLLEGE DICTIONARY (2014). Definition of Analyze and Sythesize. Retrived from http://www.kdictionaries- online.com/DictionaryPage.aspx.