Limitations to Writing Critical Thinking Papers

The fact that critical thinking papers require you to demonstrate a systematic process in arriving at a conclusion possesses limitations to effectively writing critical thinking papers. In this article are limitations to writing critical thinking papers and how to overcome them.

Lack of knowledge– denotes a lack of necessary information required to make a concrete judgment. You must read widely from reliable and authoritative sources, in order to derive a conclusion supported by facts from a specific premise. A wide readership also denotes your awareness in the field thereby impacting positively on your grades.

Bias or selective thinking– the researcher or writer focuses on getting information that will support or confirm his/her views as opposed to getting relevant information to the question supporting or disputing his/her argument, which is a requirement in writing critical thinking papers.

Limitation of perceptions – Our experiences cause us to form certain thought patterns. These thought patterns could lead to misconceptions about the current status of events. To overcome this, cultivate a habit of verifying what your system could perceive as true or false, right or wrong, etc before you put it in critical thinking papers.

Relying on testimonial evidence – Persons suffering from this rely on other people’s testimonials to substantiate their beliefs. This is not acceptable in critical thinking writing because testimonials are highly subjective, biased, and unreliable. To overcome this, avoid deriving conclusions based on testimonials only; instead, look for evidence to support the claim made in the testimonial.

Using false memories– to fill in the gaps in our recollection, there is a tendency to manufacture memories such that instead of the researcher working with facts, the facts are replaced by fantasy. To overcome this, know yourself (your memory limitation), and work towards basing your critical thinking papers on proven facts as opposed to memories and testimonials.