If you look for a definition of “critical thinking” on the web, you’ll find a variety of answers. My definition below expands a bit on the others but with a difference that a critical thinker knows they can be wrong.
“The process of using a variety of different disciplines, education, perspectives and creative thinking to acknowledge the possibility of other conclusions. This process has no limits to the tools, intelligence or methods to achieve this. What separates critical thinking from other types of analysis is with critical thinking the understanding is that conclusions can be dynamic, complicated and can be wrong. Quick assumptions or unchangeable opinions are not critical thinking.”
I bring this up because of the many news stories about people who believe in so-called conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories happen when we try to use logic on a subject that seems to defy logic. If for some reason it rained just over your house every day at 3pm to 4pm for an entire week, there would seem to be some significance for this to happen. Nature is regarded as “random” and the raining would seem to be intentional. Although it could be merely a coincidence, and in fact in Florida this kind of weather event does happen, you would try to apply logic to it. It would seem to only make more sense if there was an intention to raining over your house the same time every day. Conspiracy theories are actually the first step in critical thinking because they get you to analyze a problem using a different logic. The problem is with many people their thinking stops there. It’s good to add logic to a problem but it’s bad not to be open to other possibilities and answers. Critical thinking is about exploring and being open to the possibility of other answers, maybe in even two conflicting answers where both could correct.
A good exercise in critical thinking is to think about a specific conspiracy theory, and how the two popular opposing opinions could both be true at the same time.