Five simple strategies to sharpen your critical thinking | BBC Ideas
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- Is the sky really blue? That might seem obvious. But sometimes things are more nuanced and complicated than you think. Here are five strategies to boost your critical thinking skills.
Animated by Ana Stefaniak. Made in partnership with The Open University.
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Are you watching this video whilst doing other things? Here's what goes on in our brains when we're multitasking and why (mostly) multitasking doesn't work 👉th-cam.com/video/tMiyzuO1qMs/w-d-xo.html
1.Beware of confirmation bias
-much more likely to accept information that we already know
-actively prepared to change your mind
2.Embrace nuance and complexity
-something that seems self-evident can be more nuanced than you think
3.Practice intellectual humility
-try to understand other person perspectives
4.Check your sources
-lookout of ulterior motive/vested interest
5.Avoid fallacies
-straw man fallacy,ad hominem fallacy
Ty! This summary is pretty helpful. :D
Thanks
Bro you saved my life, I hope you get a free happy meal
@@M15TER_Turtlee 🤣
Tks for e effort
One thing I do that has served me well is when listening, reading, watching a video is when finding myself biased more than a bit is to reread as if I'd never heard of the subject before, as if I have no opinion about it. Most times I do find that if I have the desire to persue the topic to learn as much as I can or at least as many different opinions that I can find whatever opinion I did have prior to this changes.
This video seems to have been liked and appreciated by many people. Perhaps more BBC staff involved in news reporting should watch it.
Your journalists need this the most.
😁🤌👍
And Channel Four.
and your comment is a great example of ad hominem attack
Journalism is a tool employed by governments, there’s no fallacy there, it is a fact. It’s the ‘Big Lie’ or illusion of truth. So you need to look at nuances and confirmation bias :)
Nice, we need critical thinking, especially in today's world. Here are a few more steps:
1. Be tolerant.
2. Consider the feelings of others and yourself.
3. Ask questions.
4. Be skeptical, yet be open-minded.
5. Understand others' views, even if you don't agree.
6. Do research.
7. Don't jump to conclusions.
8. Always be curious.
Why should we be all tolerant and fuzzy? Many bad times in history needed a stronger approach- I think misinformed online perceptions are often dangerous, need confronting, big time.
Yes, that's great admonition and education for us to learn and remember. Sometimes, we need to be a little bit serious and decisive for getting better.@@mstarr4812
but sometimes we also need to be tolerant, esp. when the things have ambiguous and extremely complex characteristics or aspects.😃@@mstarr4812
What does „be tolerant“ mean?
It‘s far too unspecific.
Friend, you are a friend :)
This is indeed a valuable, brilliantly-articulated compilation on how to promote critical thinking. I truly appreciate this channel's range of content! :)
Thanks very much 😊 we're so glad you're enjoying our films!
@@bbcideas same here , keep posting
@CanUDraw Thank you and yes, I try to. :)
Yeah I agree with you 🙏👍
This video perfectly breaks down complex ideas into simple, digestible strategies. I especially loved the part about intellectual empathy and avoiding fallacies. So relevant in today’s world! 👏
amazing that this was made by BBC, it's like a magician telling the audiance about his tricks before making them
amazing stuff
00:34 Strategies to navigate through and avoid falling out with people
01:08 Confirmation bias affects our ability to process information.
01:42 Be prepared to change your mind
02:16 Critical thinking involves being open to new perspectives
02:50 Practicing intellectual empathy leads to more productive outcomes.
03:24 Knowing the source of information is crucial for critical thinking.
03:58 Avoid straw man and ad hominem fallacies in critical thinking.
04:30 Critical thinking leads to a more curious, educated, and harmonious society.
It's very important to know where your information comes from for sure and the way the data is presented
Once you get emotional in your debate, you argument is no longer merit. Learned that on debate team in highschool
@@amyj.4992 That's fallacious, the merit of your arguments are mutually exclusive with your emotional state lol
Oh boy, The BBC news could take .e lessons or two from this video when reporting to the nation!!!
I was just thinking this. The BBC's very 'selective' reporting... their interviewers could learn a lot from this too.
haha so true!
Best video ever. Such thoughtful animations and sound effects - that add to/ clarify/ deepen the message quite beautifully. The content is presented in a succinct and straightforward manner. Kudos.
Thank you Shruthi for such a great feedback! 😊
Her: What color is the sky?
My brain: ay mi amor ay mi amor
I learned most of this when I took philosophy in college...I wish more people took philosophy, it's way deeper than most of us believe it is.
Critical thinking is good - especially when applied to the modern narrative of sensitive topics.
We need this more on our society
Thanks, it is a great video. However, I would like to see a summary part in the final part of the video, it would be better to remember main points again shortly.
The most dangerous element of critical thinking is “ The Source of Information “
I really needed to watch this. Thank you!
BBC ideas have seriously made my grey cells actually think deep😌..Thank you❤️
A much needed skill esp. in these times. Thank you, as always, BBC Ideas. Your videos are very useful and brilliant.
and you got a heart because you agreed with their views! Haha!
@@TheSoulBlossom man of culture
Hearting comments which only say nice things about this video. Good job BBC ideas!
Wow! Such clear explanations. Thank you for everything. ❤️ [PS ~ I just made some notes from this video to share with my students.]
This is hysterical coming from the BBC who's entire raison d'etre was to fuzzy the thinking of the British people.
You guys are truly awesome. Have a good day!
💎🏆 Great insightful & fruitful video 🏆💎
The sealion and penguin part had me dying!! 🤣🤣😭😭💀💀
very explicit and true facts
I would advice to combine somehow this product with BBC English Learning and provide some vocabulary explanations. This can seriously boost your audience. I am getting a lot of good information from your videos, as well as brushing up my English.
We're glad to hear that you're brushing up on your English as well as learning something new from our videos. And who knows, perhaps in the future we'll be able to collaborate on a project with our colleagues from BBC Learning English 👍
This is a very helpful guide on been able to think critically. Thank you very much for sharing and I'll put these five tips to such as I live my day-to-day life.
Fantastic video, thanks!
One of the better videos about improving critical thinking. Your points were all correct, but there are whole lists of biases and fallacies that people should familiarize themselves with. Mentioning a single bias and a few popular fallacies is the bare minimum.
In all, I give this an A. It is useful and properly informative.
Although in general teachers do a fantastic job, let's think critically and ask the question: how can you be 100% sure that what the teacher teaches you is well meant? The ultimate proof would be if he/she teaches you to think critically and also invites you to think critically about what he/she is teaching you! It is arguably the most friendly and well meant thing that a teacher can do.
What!? Critical thinking is way more fun in my case at least. I enjoy learning how i was wrong this whole time so that I get to actually improve.
Thanks 😊 it was just grand!!!
Any books or research papers to know more in details??
This is a fine video on WHAT to do to sharpen your critical thinking skills. Now I need detailed videos on each point on HOW to apply these skills in everyday situations.
Thank you
Great Voice ☺️💞
Stop media
Clean yr subconscious mind
Eat healthy
Meditate
Motivate yr self
Humour
Exercice
Learn how to spell ‘YOUR’.
Intellectual empathy certainly a key nicely done
loveee the animationnnn😊
I think the hard easy effect is something to overcome.
Excellent video!
Hello my dear friend! thank you for the cool video! keep filming! I'll wait for new videos
What else could be better than the collab of BBC and OU? Do have s'more collab Videos??
Improving critical thinking is much more vital. I should take tong time to develop this skill. I should have the view from several angles may save me from troubles. Many times in my life, the situation is not look like my images, I often give some wrong solutions.
An amazing video production!!😍
And you got a heart because you said something nice to them!
@@TheSoulBlossom I appreciate what you said, thank you. I felt that something done so incredibly shouldn't go unappreciated. Take care Marcin, my best wishes.
It really helps in improving my thinking. Thanks for this video
Great video
And you got a heart for expressing a view that they like! :)
So educating.
Thank you for this.
This is brilliant content
I enjoyed history in elementary & junior high school and recall Yellow Journalism (Spanish / America war) being one topic of interest as newspapers were starting to evolve their description the conflict in Vietnam where my peers were being slaughtered.
Granddad told me - believe half what you see and none of what you read.
That is critical thinking at its base.
i love this channel so much
Yes. Good video. I think "confirmation bias" is the most important item that humans ought to overcome. well said. Thinking from several angles may save us from trouble.
These five simple strategies should be on the chyron on every news airing.
"The colour blue has a short wavelength, meaning it scatters more than other colours [TRUE] making it more visible to the human eye [NONSENSE]." Strategy five - AVOID FALLACIES.
Worthy one...
Came here because of toxic social media. You encourage people to be skeptical and ask questions, but they think that you want them to treat you nicely. No, its called facing the facts. No emotions or feelings. And they dont want to question. Aye
0:35 i'll do you one better, its a g
How can we know
BBC would do right remembering their own lessons here….
We took critical thinking or logic in grade 13 English. There’s so many more fallacies. Sunk cost fallacy is great for looking at whether to keep a car going. It’s a fallacy to think “I’ve got this much invested in this old car, what’s another repair?” Well, possibly not worth it.
4:10 The excessive use of pop art in this video turn it to an LSD trip 🤑
be actively prepared to change your mind, beware of confirmation bias
something that seems normal can be more nuanced than you think, think of things you know in a broader or more intricate aspect
have intellectual empathy, try to understand where another is coming from
check your sources ! basics of scientifically methodology
Some brilliant nlp material here
Use the art of thinking clearly. Be skeptical. Have it read aloud. Respect the source. Dialogue is more valuable than essays.
the important is i can answer the question without understanding the following
You want to improve your critical thinking skills? Do this simple thing. When you find some statement to think about---reverse it. Restate it in its opposite form. When you first heard that statement you immediately had an intuition about its truth and meaning. When you restate it in its opposite ( in one of its opposites ), you now have a second intuition about that statement.
Hard to control The Subconscious and Emotions.
Or is it?
(Vsauce music starts playing in the background)
It's great content even I still not know how to sharpen my critical thinking..
Just read more! Noam Chomsky, Erich Fromm, Orwell to begin with.
For a beginner, try to solve this equation, "If you go Black, you won't go back!"
🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
Practice what you teach BBC.
Discernment > critical thinking
The BBC teaching critical thinking! Oh the irony!
What do you mean?
😂😂
👌😂😂😂 That’s what my Caveman Brain 🧠 Said as SOON as I saw 👀 bBc …..🤪Beam me up Scotty 🏴😎
U r not critically thinking 😅
😂😂😂
I am an atheist. I do not believe in the existence of God. I find insufficient evidence or rational justification to support the belief in any gods or supernatural entities. I rely on science, reason, logic, and empirical evidence to form my worldview and have not found compelling evidence or arguments to support the existence of God. I believe the universe is governed by natural laws and forces, rather than moral, spiritual, or supernatural ones. As an atheist, I reject religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision-making. I emphasize the social and empirical nature of inquiry and prioritize scientific solutions to intellectual problems. I am engaged in a continually evolving search for truth, primarily through science and philosophy.
If a person already intelligent he is already know these things conciously or sub-conciously which you taught in this video and if a person doesn't have critical thinking this video is gonna support one's fool logic.
Graphics are hilarious!
Thanks, but critically thinking your very last statement re critical thinking skills lead to understanding. Or maybe they increase the vicious responses by your opponent to match your skills of telling them so.
i like the munkis
We are never taught critical thinking because if we all REALLY started thinking critically we would see that the world REALLY isn't what we have been led to believe. The "ruling" (freedom hijackers) class does NOT want people who are capable of thinking for themselves. These types of videos are fine and dandy but they don't change much.
Oprah Winfrey and Barack Hussein Obama need to work on #3.
not understood , it was fast
Same here
Slowed speed down from the settings
Yes, it is important to listen to the other side. However, if the other side keeps making arguments that get progressively more extreme to the point where their claims are self-contradictory or impossible then you have to accept the fact that the other side is making things up. You cannot use reason, logic, and reality to debate against someone who is making up arguments that have nothing to do with reality. You have no choice but to conclude that they are liars.
does that mean that different animals see the sky as different colours? Can we have one episode for that?
“Sealioning?” Don’t you mean trolling? Critical thinking requires knowledge of a subject that most people lack. Believing you know science because sometimes tells you they’re a scientist often leads to failure. Beware more of liars. They are far more prevalent than you think.
Brilliant by all means. However I wonder why such critical thinking is not applied in British War reporting. Unfortunate amount of information biased is evident. Sadly people will start to loose faith on such media outlets on the long run.
I read a book by a theologian who constantly employed straw-man fallacies. He began an argument with the most extreme caricature of his opponents' position, and then at the end of the argument walked back his extreme view of their position so as to attempt a modicum impartiality.
I find it significant that so few have watched or commented on this since its launch two years ago.
Perhaps critical thinking being boring or bad is an idea that sits within 'confirmation bias' of many of us?
What do you think?
Surely, they missed the most obvious and most important tip? Ask questions - lots of them, all in some way related to the thing on your mind. Try to find correct answers / honest opinions.
Any data to back up the conclusions here?
Nothing like the BBC teaching you how to think :D FO
Has anyone at the BBC seen this ?
This episode inspired me to think critically. Thanks for an immersive content. I'd be happy if you make videos about the differences in left-handed and right-handed people.
this maybe a hard way to me to do critical thinking at the beginning you can't solve when your not reading a book and not doing to evaluting the problem math first at all you need all process to your goals read some books and dont lost your hope like note talking reading articles and practicing at math sessions i also do this i got only few right answer but you know im not really good at math 😅😆
1:21
I find this ironic coming from the BBC.
You've identified your bias against the BBC. Now what?
Gimme number of your editor
Science itself dulls critical thinking. Have you ever considered that?? We are supposed to believe that they have all the answers? Think about what peer review means. Only a few selected people can prove or disprove any theories or scientific findings! Confirmation bias at its best right there 😂
Critical thinking skills