Critical thinking may sound clever at dinner parties or help win arguments on social media. But it’s way more important than flexing your ego. It’s about survival. In an age of information overload, conspiracy theories, and sophisticated misinformation, critical thinking can be the difference between making sound decisions and being dangerously misled.
As a hypnotherapist and CBT practitioner, I’m a big fan of this kind of broader thinking, being aware of the peripheral, the side other people (or yourself!) are ignoring. It often means de-hypnotising yourself out of group think, too much negativity and the distortions and catastrophising we are all subject to. To seek the golden mean, the equilibrium – for sound mental health and that of our society and planet.
So the ability and effort it takes to think critically—to evaluate evidence, question assumptions, and resist blind conformity—may well be the most important skill you’ll ever develop. And surprisingly, we can learn valuable lessons about it from an unlikely teacher: the urban rat.
Critical Thinking: The Rat’s Secret to Survival
Ever wonder why rats are so spectacularly successful in our cities? They live in our walls, our underground systems, our basements. They flourish in places we find impossible. The answer reveals something profound about survival in a world full of potential hazards.
City rats face a magnificent daily buffet—pizza crusts, half a bagel, spilt chips. But mixed into this feast could be poisons. One careless bite and that’s the end of the story. So how do rats survive? Interestingly, they hesitate. When a rat encounters unfamiliar food, it often lets another rat eat first. If that rat falls ill or dies, the observing rat avoids the food entirely. If the first rat thrives, only then does the cautious rat partake. Sounds a little like the old food tasters that our old Kings and Queens used to employ!
This seems like intelligence – but actually it’s critical thinking as a survival mechanism. Rats don’t blindly trust what appears before them. They observe, gather evidence, and make informed decisions based on outcomes. It’s a humbling lesson that us humans would do well to remember.
Critical Thinking in a World Drowning in Information
Medical knowledge now doubles approximately every 73 days, compared to nearly 50 years in the 1950s. The World Health Organisation has coined a term for the spread of vast amounts of both accurate and misleading information during various health crises: the “infodemic.” You could witness this during the COVID-19 pandemic when we were surrounded by a dizzying arrays of claims—some grounded in science, others based on speculation or outright falsehoods. Then there were the overclaims.
Without critical thinking skills, individuals become passive consumers of information rather than active evaluators. This makes them more susceptible to misinformation and less equipped to navigate complex real-world issues.
Research demonstrates this clearly. Multiple studies showed that people who refused vaccination during the COVID pandemic died at far higher rates than those who accepted it, particularly amongst older adults. That’s not to say that all types of COVID vaccination were perfect for all age groups. Critical thinking, in other words, can be a matter of life and death. Learn about the dangerous psychology of stupidity we can’t ignore.
Your Brain Works Against Critical Thinking
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: our brains aren’t naturally wired for critical thinking. It seems evolution optimised us for speed, not accuracy. Human brains rely on mental shortcuts (called ‘heuristics’) to process information quickly, but these can create systematic errors in judgment. So – for every upside, there’s a downside to consider. In my experience as a therapist, this holds true for nearly all eventualities.
Confirmation bias ensures we seek information confirming existing beliefs whilst dismissing contradictory evidence. Social media algorithms amplify this, creating echo chambers that reinforce our views regardless of their accuracy.
The illusory truth effect means repeated exposure to the same claim makes it feel true, even when it isn’t. It makes you wonder why we are often slaves to our own unreliable feelings – and those of others. (Something I discuss when I’m using CBT.)
Familiarity quietly replaces evidence. This is why propaganda works and why the phrase, “everybody knows that” often precedes demonstrably false claims.
Herd mentality causes us to follow the crowd without evaluation. Solomon Asch’s famous conformity experiments demonstrated that 75% of participants conformed to an obviously wrong answer at least once when surrounded by others giving that answer. One participant admitted, “I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t want to look stupid.” Milgram’s Experiment in 1961 is sinister and also worth exploring this idea if it interests you.
Psychologist Daniel Kahneman, in his groundbreaking work Thinking, Fast and Slow, describes our cognitive system as having two modes: System 1 (fast, automatic, emotional) and System 2 (slow, deliberate, logical). Critical thinking requires engaging System 2, but our brains default to System 1 because it requires less effort. This makes critical thinking not just a skill but a discipline—something that requires conscious activation and practice. AWARENESS. (Again, something I hold in high regard, and teach in my Hypno-CBT sessions).
Critical Thinking: The Foundation of Progress
Science itself runs on critical thinking. Galileo questioned the heavens. Darwin questioned creation. Einstein questioned time itself. Marie Curie questioned what matter was really made of. None of them accepted the obvious answer. Each insisted on testing ideas against evidence, even when that evidence was inconvenient or unpopular.
Business thrives on it too. Warren Buffett built his fortune not by following the crowd, but by distrusting it. His most famous advice sounds almost insultingly simple: “Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.” Behind the slogan is a disciplined habit of independent thinking that behavioural economists recognise as rare and valuable.
Throughout history, science has evolved by challenging orthodox views—the widely accepted, but sometimes flawed, mainstream narratives. In the 19th century, Ignaz Semmelweis discovered that simple hand washing could drastically reduce infections in hospitals. It seems obvious now, but back then his colleagues ridiculed and rejected him. Why? Because his findings challenged the medical consensus of the time. Semmelweis died in an asylum, vindicated only after his death when germ theory proved him correct.
Consensus matters, but it isn’t infallible. Some of the greatest breakthroughs came from individuals who dared to question accepted wisdom at great personal cost.
How CBT and Hypnotherapy Develop Critical Thinking
Both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and hypnotherapy offer powerful tools for developing the metacognitive awareness essential to critical thinking. The ability and practice of STANDING BACK.
CBT strengthens critical thinking by teaching you to examine your own thought processes. Founded by Aaron Beck, CBT helps clients identify cognitive distortions—systematic errors in thinking such as catastrophising, black-and-white thinking, over-generalising and emotional reasoning (believing something is true simply because it feels true). These can destroy individual mental health and erode the way we try and live together in harmony.
Through structured techniques, CBT trains you to:
– Notice automatic thoughts as they occur
– Examine evidence for and against beliefs
– Generate alternative explanations
– Test hypotheses through behavioural experiments
– Distinguish between facts and interpretations
This process mirrors the scientific method and applies it to personal experience. You become both observer and experimenter of your own mind—the essence of critical thinking. This helps release negative, anxious thoughts and access peace and calm. It’s interesting to note that good critical thinking helps overcome catastrophic thinking patters in social anxiety too.
Hypnotherapy addresses the unconscious patterns that bypass critical thinking. Many of our beliefs operate below conscious awareness, installed during childhood or formed through repeated emotional experiences. These unconscious convictions feel like unquestionable truths precisely because we’ve never consciously examined them properly. Many unconscious beliefs bypass critical thinking – discover Jung’s shadow work for more on this amazing idea.
In the focused, relaxed state of hypnosis, you can access and examine these deeper patterns that are often ruining your life unnecessarily. Hypnotherapy helps you:
– Recognise when emotions are driving reasoning rather than evidence
– Identify unhelpful beliefs absorbed from family, culture, or peer groups without evaluation
– Reframe limiting narratives that operate as unchallenged assumptions
– Strengthen the capacity to pause before reacting—creating space for deliberate thought
Research shows that combining CBT’s conscious cognitive work with hypnotherapy’s ability to access and reshape the unconscious creates comprehensive change. You develop not just the skills of critical thinking but the habit of it—making deliberate evaluation your default rather than an effortful exception.
Cultivating Critical Thinking in Daily Life
Real critical thinking requires knowledge – and the appetite for it. You cannot evaluate medical claims without some biological knowledge. You cannot judge economic arguments without understanding incentives and trade-offs.
I’ve observed many people arguing a political viewpoint without really reading around it at all. Thinking well isn’t free—it costs time, effort, and homework. Doing ‘the heavy lifting’ as they say.
Here are some practices and tips that strengthen critical thinking regardless of subject matter:
Check original sources. Whenever possible, examine the actual study, the original data, the primary document—not the headline or tweet about it. Even a brief look at the original often reveals caveats and limitations that vanished somewhere along the sharing chain
Practise intellectual humility. Follow Socrates’ wisdom: “I know that I know nothing.” By acknowledging the limits of your knowledge, you remain open to learning and questioning, avoiding the trap of false certainty.
Seek different perspectives. Deliberately expose yourself to views that challenge your assumptions. The goal isn’t always to change your mind automatically, but just to ensure your beliefs withstand scrutiny.
Get comfortable being wrong. Critical thinkers don’t protect their egos; they protect truth. Being wrong is information, not failure. As physicist Richard Feynman rather brilliantly stated, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.”
Question your emotional reasoning. When you find yourself feeling overly strongly about something, pause … and detach. Ask: “What evidence supports this belief? What evidence contradicts it? Am I reasoning emotionally or logically?”
Like a muscle, critical thinking weakens when unused. It requires practice, patience, and the courage to question not just others’ ideas but your own.
The Stakes Have Never Been Higher
In today’s world, misinformation spreads faster than truth. Deepfakes, AI-generated content, and sophisticated propaganda make distinguishing fact from fiction increasingly challenging. Those who develop strong critical thinking skills won’t just navigate this landscape—they’ll shape it.
Critical thinking won’t make you omniscient or God-like. It won’t guarantee success. But it will dramatically reduce the odds of you wrecking your life, or your society, by swallowing something lethal simply because everyone else around you already did.
The urban rat survives by refusing to trust blindly. Perhaps it’s time we learnt the same lesson. Your mental health, your survival—and society’s—may well depend on it.
Help from DOCwellness
If you’d like to work more on Critical Thinking and related anxiety issues using Hypnotherapy and CBT, Contact us today or call/text 07778 613268 to discuss things more.
Further Reading (click links to visit the references)
– Critical Thinking – Psychology Today
– Asch Conformity Experiments – Wikipedia
– Emotional Reasoning and Cognitive Distortions