Pay2Win Wikia

## Welcome to the Pay2Win Wikia

A project for DAE Howest by the Pay2Win team concerning Professional Self-Understanding through critical thinking.

## Critical Thinking

The first step to understanding anything is
questioning; what is it? What is critical thinking? In order to understand this
a mere definition is not enough, so we’ll break this up into multiple parts.

### Etymology

The word ’’critical’’ derives
etymologically from two Greek roots: "kriticos" (meaning discerning
judgment) and "kriterion" (meaning standards). Etymologically the word implies the development of "discerning judgment based on
standards."

### Understanding what is and isn't critical thinking

Being critical is not just trying
to prove something wrong because you don’t agree with it. An open mindset is
required and an individual or group must realise opinions are subject to
change.

Sometimes an argument based in critical
thinking might not be the most persuasive. Arguments that appeal to human needs
rather than sense of objectivity are sometimes more accepted. Having that in
mind, it’s also not something to replace emotions or feelings. However in some
cases of emotional decisions it’s better to think about it in a critical
mindset, rather than following your emotions, or instincts as some like to call
it.

Critical thinking might change the way you
think about certain things, but that doesn’t mean your personality changes. The
way a person feels about something generally is slow to change and that may
even conflict with knowledge, even though that person knows the latter is
right.

### Problems and side effects

Since it is in our nature to do so, every
person thinks about subjects. If the thinking is left to only a single individual
however, it can easily get biased. Everybody has their own opinions on things
and that causes thought to be prejudiced, distorted and uninformed. Without
discussion and with a closed mindset, a person will dwell on his own knowledge
and experience, even if it’s incorrect. This can also affect others, by the
spread of false information and ideals. Thus it also affects the quality of our
lives

### What is critical thinking exactly?

Critical thinking consists of numerous
different ways and differ per individual. However there are some general rules
that apply to everyone. Describing it in a single definition is a bad idea, and
if nothing else, will not be enough to encompass it fully.

First of all, critical thinking is rational
and objective. Personal opinions should not interfere with this, as hard as
that might be. Secondly, it is important to have an open mindset. Whenever your
argument is proven wrong a person should accept the reality. Trying to deny it
works backwards. Having your argument backed up by scientific evidence is
important, though in some cases you’ll have to take human needs into
consideration.

Most importantly, critical thinking is
clear and understandable. If this is not the case, it may lead to
misinterpretation and false ideas.

Human thinking by itself is often biased
towards generalization, deception and prejudice. In order to think critically
an individual or group needs to analyse a subject properly, evaluate all
information gathered from observing, communicating and reasoning.

Critical thinking can be done in many ways.
One of them is the OODA loop, a decision cycle developed by military
strategist, Colonel John Boyd. OODA stands for observe, orient, decide and act.
Today it has also become an important concept in business, but can also be used
 in more common situations when you have trouble making up your mind. The cycle goes as follows

* **Observe**: In this step all information is gathered. Your eventual conclusions will be based on everything you know in this stage. Both conscious and subconscious.

* **Orient**: Orienting is the most important stage since here it’s where the decision is formed. What does all the information mean? How does it relate to each other?

* **Decide**: After a person has carefully thought about the subject a conclusion will be formed

* **Act**: The acting may vary depending on the situation. Essentially you transfer your opinion or argument to another individual.

This cycle is not a single event. During the thinking, you will come to multiple conclusions that may lead to one
another. The process takes place subconsciously most of the time,
especially when in a discussion.
To be better at critical thinking it is
important to have a few core skills. Those being curiosity, scepticism and
humility. Curiosity drives us to gather more information and opens us up to new
ideas. Scepticism acts as a filter for false information. Questioning if the
source of information if right or wrong makes for a good opinion. Humility
makes us able to admit it when we’re wrong. Not being able to correct yourself
with new information will eventually make you lag behind the rest of your
environment, or creates cliques.

### Hindrances to critical thinking.

Since everyone is human, and humans are not
perfect, there are often limitations that hinder our ability to think clearly
and accurately. Some of these hindrances are obvious, while others are more
subtle. As an individual capable of critical thought, you should be able to
recognise and avoid them. Some of the most common are; human limitation, faulty
ideologies and deceiving use of language.

Human limitations is something everyone
has. Some people more than others. We, as humans, are not perfect. Unless you
are for some reason devoid of emotion, a human being will always be influenced, to a certain degree, by their personal experiences and emotions, often resulting
in stubbornness.

Faulty ideologies on the other hand, do not
apply to everyone. These ideologies are often heavily influenced by the
government and corporations. A person growing up in Europe is free to form
their own opinions. While in countries such as North Korea, or even China, anything
the government says is the truth. Everything that the ministry of truth passes
on to the public becomes their way of thinking.

Deceiving use of language applies to everyday life. A careful choice of words can conceal a truth, or trick people into agreeing with something. In order to be a critical thinker, we should recognise when language is misleading.

### How trustworthy are sources?

Sources are where we get our information
from, and thus form our ideas and beliefs. A faulty source leads to false
visions and confusion. Unbiased information is often hard to find. Information
that is available often will be in favour of a certain person or group.

There is no certain way of telling if a
source is credible or not. However, a critical thinker can take a few elements
into consideration. Most important element is reputation. When a source has a
reputation of giving scientifically backed and correct information, it will
usually be correct.

News (sites) and sites like Wikipedia in
general are valid, but are not free of human errors. It is best to analyse
their sources for yourself. Compare the sources of sources and compare multiple
with each other. If source A gives different information than source B, at least one of them is incorrect.

### The importance of critical thinking in DAE

As in any field, we have to be able to look
objectively at certain subjects. In order to be successful, one has to be very
critical. During the process of learning, it is
important to know what is right and what is not. Without thinking critically,
the games and/or products you make will cause misconceptions and drag down your
company’s reputation.

Even between students, we shouldn’t always
just believe what other tell us. Like ourselves, they are human and don’t know
everything. Everyone is subject to human errors. Similarly we should always remain critical of ourselves and the work we produce. It's important that we ask ourselves questions like "Is this the best I can do?" and "Is this project really good enough?". Similarly it requires critical thought to determine when we need to "kill our darlings".

Sometimes it’s easy to get false
information on a subject you don’t know much about. Especially if it’s for a
project, clear and accurate information leads to success.

Critical thinking is important to be
successful now, but also later. When you’re active in the field you’ve studied,
having a reputation of being reliable and credible will vastly help you.

## Sources

OODA Loop (http://powerseductionandwar.com/ooda-and-you/)
Critical thinking  (http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/our-concept-of-critical-thinking/411)

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