Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life - Hardcover

You are what you think...

Everything you do in life is determined by the quality of your thinking. If you aren't thinking clearly, you're at the mercy of everyone else-from dishonest politicians to aggressive, stop-at-nothing ad agencies. Unfortunately, many people never give any thought to how they think. No wonder they're susceptible to the frustration, pain, ineffectiveness, and financial loss that result directly from poorly considered thinking.

Critical Thinking is about becoming a better thinker in every aspect of your life—as a professional, as a consumer, citizen, friend, parent, and even as a lover. Drs. Richard W. Paul and Linda Elder, leaders of the Center for Critical Thinking, identify the core skills of effective thinking, then help you analyze your own thought processes so you can identify your weaknesses and overcome them.

As you learn how to think more effectively, you'll empower yourself as never before, discovering new opportunities, avoiding disastrous mistakes, and gaining new clarity throughout your entire life.

Get smarter—in every part of your life!

• Practical skills for thinking more clearly-and making more effective decisions
• Thinking strategically: using effective thinking to achieve your goals and enhance your life
• Evaluating thinking: yours and everyone else's
• Overcoming the obstacles to effective thinking
• Thinking more effectively in your personal and business relationships
• Includes exercises for honing your thinking skills every day

The world gets more complex every day. There's only one way to cope—get smarter. Thinking more effectively gives you greater control over your life, helps you overcome adversity, and makes it easier to transform your dreams into reality. Effective thinking is no mystery. It consists of practical skills anyone can learn, practice, and improve. Critical Thinking gives you those skills.

Richard W. Paul and Linda Elder show you how to "take thinking apart" and assess it for quality. You'll learn how to improve all three components of thinking—analysis, evaluation, and re-thinking. Then, through "brains-on" exercises, you'll discover and hone new thinking skills that'll soon become second nature.

Critical Thinking will help you in hundreds of ways. It will enable you to solve problems more effectively, make better decisions, recognize pathological thinking, and avoid being manipulated. Above all, it will give you the confidence and courage to recognize the path that's right for you—and take it.

DR. RICHARD W. PAUL is Director of Research and Professional Development at the Center for Critical Thinking and the Chair of the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking. He has authored six books and more than 200 articles on critical thinking. In over 35 years of teaching experience, he has won numerous awards and honors, including Distinguished Perry Lecturer for the year 2000.

DR. LINDA ELDER is an educational psychologist, President for the Foundation for Critical Thinking, and Executive Director of the Center for Critical Thinking. She is highly published and has done original research into the relation of thought and emotion. She is a regular keynoter at the International Conference on Critical Thinking and is a recognized leader in the field.