Critical Thinking Collected Knowledge
by Apolinario "Sam" Ortega, founder IN-V-BAT-AI

A person trained to think critically has the ability to remember an insightful checklist of questions that need to be answered for Governance, Risk, Audit, and Compliance (GRAC) applications.

Inferences can be accurate or inaccurate, logical or illogical, justified or unjustified.

What is the key problem?
What information do you have about it?
Are the cited facts wrong or outdated? 
What facts are you ignoring—and why? What don't you know?

Critical thinkers begin by identifying assumptions and interpretations.  
They assess arguments by analyzing and questioning bias or emotion. They draw conclusions by evaluating whether the evidence is clear, credible, valid, and actionable.   

It reflects core principles supported by academic and professional sources, including the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Strategic Leaders Consulting.

1. Identifying assumptions and interpretations:

This is a foundational step in critical thinking. Assumptions shape how problems are framed and how information is interpreted. Recognizing and challenging these assumptions helps avoid bias and fosters deeper analysis.

2. Analyzing bias and emotion:

Critical thinkers actively question emotional reasoning and cognitive biases such as confirmation bias. These biases can distort judgment and hinder objective evaluation. Avoiding emotional reasoning and examining bias are key traits of disciplined thinking.

3. Evaluating evidence:

Drawing conclusions based on clear, credible, and valid evidence is central to critical thinking. Experts emphasize the importance of assessing the quality of information, considering alternative viewpoints, and tolerating ambiguity when necessary.

4. Actionable conclusions:

While not always explicitly stated in academic definitions, the idea of drawing conclusions that are not only valid but also actionable aligns with decision-making frameworks that apply critical thinking to real-world problems.

Conclusion:

The statement accurately captures the essence of critical thinking as defined by educational institutions and thought leaders. It integrates cognitive rigor with practical application, making it both valid and useful.

Sources:

Believe in Mind, University of Tennessee at ChattanoogaUniversity of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Strategic Leaders Consulting   

 We're Asking the Wrong Question About Operational Technology (OT) Security Investment 

 What is something you really wish you had that current solution provider don't provide? 

An effective training program should answer three simple questions:

1. Was the training engaging and useful?
   Did the student or employee feel the material matched their needs?

2. Did they remember what was taught?
   The knowledge and skills should stay with them after the session.

3. Can they use it in real life?
   Are they able to apply what they learned to their assignments or job tasks?

Is this trend really happening today?  
What evidence shows that it is already taking place?

Is this trend something we can predict by looking at past patterns?  
If yes, can the pattern help us guess what might happen next?  
Can we identify which events in the pattern matter the most?  
Can we connect the pattern to real events and understand what those events mean?  
Can the pattern help us decide which actions should be taken first?

Or is this trend hard to predict because many different factors are influencing it?

What do you mean by _ ? 
Could you give me an example?
Could you explain that further?
How does this relate to our discussion? 

 How to sell AI products or service ?

Can I design a $30-per-year subscription business model for 504 websites that uses AI voice-to-text search to solve the forgetting problem?

 Why real scientific breakthroughs will come not from answering known questions ? 

What are the start up questions for AI Edtech and AI Workforce ? 

 How do you know if the objective is unrealistic or unachievable ?  

 What is the method and standard of success measurement ? 

What will be the criteria for measuring success ? Is it time saving? Is it quantity improvement? Is it quality improvement, Is it money saving ?

 What does the outcome look like if the effort is successful ?

 If this objective is achieved, what will success look like ?

  What are the known issues and challenges about this problem ?

  What measures will we use to evaluate our success ?

 Are there alternatives to explore? Why aren't we looking at them ?

  What are the implications of drawing those conclusion ? 

 What conclusion do we draw ?

  What is stopping us from achieving our objectives ?

 What is influencing you at this moment ?

  What sources of information are we using? Are there other sources of input to help us explore and evaluate the problem ? 

 How do we know we collected enough data ? 

 What would we like to see as a successful outcome? What do we want to avoid as an outcome?

 Why this problem is not yet solve? What is wrong with the previous solution? How is my propose solution different?

  Why it is important to solve this problem? Who will benefit if we solve this problem?

  What is the problem? 

  When, where, and why do we experience the problem?

  What would happen if we changed our assumptions?

 What are the assumption others are making? Why do you think they are making these assumptions?

  What are the assumption we're making? How can we test them?

 Is my interpretation fair and generally accepted industry practice?

 Is my interpretation reasonable enough to based my decision?

 Is my interpretation of the problem to solve logical can be validated using computer simulation?
    

 Is my knowledge or information accurate and can be verified?

 Is my recommendation clear to the decision maker?

  Is my knowledge or information updated and relevant to the decision? 

Is my information updated, still valid, relevant, and reliable to base my decision? 

 How to help everybody see the same problem and make it easy for all stakeholders to agree to implement the best solution at that time.

 How to do it. Find the answer to question starting with who, what, where, when, why, and how.