Critical Thinking Critical thinking is the ability to think about one's thinking in such a way as to recognize its strengths and weaknesses and, as a result, recast the thinking in improved form.
Clarity is the gateway standard.
If a statement is unclear, we cannot determine whether it is accurate or relevant. In fact, we cannot tell anything about it because we don't yet know what it is saying. A statement can be clear, accurate, and precise, but not relevant to the question at issue. For example, students often think that the amount of effort they put into a course should be used in raising their grade in a course. Nevertheless, it lacks depth because it treats an extremely complex issue, the pervasive problem of drug use among young people, superficially.