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Use these expert tips to reason like a pro
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If you've ever marveled at an insightful observation or a brilliant deduction and wished you had those reasoning skills, you've come to the right place. There are lots of little things you can do, starting today, that will noticeably improve your reasoning skills over time. We consulted with experts in thinking and well-being for tips on how you can improve your reasoning skills and boost your brain power.

Improving Your Reasoning Skills

Intelligence isn't fixed and you can improve your ability to reason with consistent effort. To improve your critical thinking, read fiction and nonfiction books and articles, solve logic puzzles, play strategy games, and engage in friendly debate and discussion about issues.

Section 1 of 6:

15 Ways to Sharpen Your Reasoning Skills

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  1. Fiction, in particular, helps you become more comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. This leads to more creativity because you aren't afraid to consider an option that might lead to an uncertain outcome. And because fiction tells the stories of humanity, it opens your eyes to other perspectives and enhances your empathy . [1]
    • To further boost your critical thinking, read fiction and nonfiction that's related in some way. For example, if you're reading Gone with the Wind , you might also read a nonfiction book about the American Civil War. Compare and contrast the depictions and look for patterns.
  2. 2
    Solve brain teasers or logic puzzles. Brain teasers and logic puzzles are designed to stretch your brain and get you thinking logically . And since many of these puzzles are meant to be solved in just a few minutes, you can easily fit them into your day. [2]
    • For example, you might get a Rubik's Cube and work on speed-solving .
    • There are plenty of brain teaser apps you can download for your phone as well. Some are completely free, although most charge a monthly subscription or require you to view ads between each puzzle or game.
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  3. "Journaling is a very effective tool to help us manage stress and emotion," explains licensed clinical psychologist Nicole Moshfegh. [3] "To help make it a habit, one of the best things to do is to try to create a time that you can engage in writing every day consistently," she continues. "If we have that set time, it can be easier for us to then create that habit." [4]
  4. "Chess… makes you a little smarter because it helps with your… decision-making skills, especially in life," explains Chess grandmaster Sahaj Grover. [7] "It teaches you to be more calm." [8]
    • Grover notes that while the possibilities in chess are infinite, "what is limited is the patterns in Chess." [9] Learning to spot those patterns will improve your Chess game as well as your reasoning skills.
    • There are other games besides Chess that can help you improve your reasoning skills. Look for complex, in-depth strategy games that require thought and analysis rather than relying solely on luck.
    EXPERT TIP

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    Board Game Experts
    Our Family Plays Games, LLC is a family-owned business based in Omaha, Nebraska. Launched in 2018, their mission is to promote growth and awareness of the modern board game hobby and bring more BIPOCs and families into the board game community. In June 2020 they were featured on Good Morning America and have since been featured on NBC News Online, Senet Magazine (UK), Ligadas.com (Brazil), a variety of YouTube programs, podcasts, and on local television. In January of 2022, they launched a second program on their channel, called OFPG Voices to highlight other underrepresented voices in the hobby. In addition, they make special appearances at board game conventions all around the country and work with board game publishers from around the world.
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    Board Game Experts

    Board games stimulate your brain. Engaging in strategic thinking and problem-solving while playing board games can trigger cognitive functions like memory and planning. Over time, these mental workouts can even enhance your cognitive agility. In sum, board games offer a fun and engaging way to keep your mind sharp!

  5. 5
    Participate in debates and discussions with thoughtful people. Having casual debates with people who know you personally is a great way to practice your critical thinking. You'll also test your ability to think on your feet and come up with logically consistent arguments off the cuff.
    • If talking about your thoughts is intimidating, executive life coach Erin Conlon recommends that you "start to relate to yourself as a powerful being who can make it through anything." [10]
    • When you do this, "what happens is the idea of pleasing other people falls away and instead you're practicing pleasing yourself," she explains. "You are more likely to be able to stand in your power and not be assuaged or taken aback by other people's powerful energy." [11]
  6. Learning something strengthens your mind, just like you strengthen your muscles by lifting progressively heavier weights. And just like your muscles, your mind will weaken if you aren't working it out regularly. So make a list of things you've always been interested and look for ways you can learn more about them. [12]
    • Try to start with something that's way outside your usual norm. For example, if you're really active and spend most of your free time playing sports, you might sign up for a pottery class at your local community center.
    • Take on simple projects that will ultimately improve your life. For example, you might decide you're going to upcycle an old beat-up dresser .
  7. 7
    Learn a new language (human or computer). Languages are very particular in their ability to boost your reasoning power by helping you understand basic concepts from different perspectives. To enhance this effect with human languages, learn actively , making comparisons between cultures and assessing the differences. [13]
    • Coding teaches you a lot of skills that are really important in critical thinking, including pattern recognition and logical thinking. [14]
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Section 2 of 6:

Practicing Reasoning Skills

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  1. 1
    Ask questions anytime you encounter new information. When it comes to critical thinking, there is no question too simple, silly, or obvious. A lot of revolutionary changes occur when people realize that something everyone always assumed isn't actually true—that's the power of critical thinking. [15]
    • One of the best questions you can ask is "Why?" Channel your inner four-year-old and ask why about everything you possibly can. You'll uncover vast hidden stores of information when you do.
  2. 2
    Make a decision and play it out in your mind. This is particularly helpful if you're the sort of person who is obsessed with "trying to find… the exact perfect thing that will cause them the least trouble," explains Conlon. She advises you to "practice making any decision. It doesn't matter if it's good, bad, right or wrong." [16]
  3. 3
    Look at a situation from different angles or perspectives. A diversity of perspectives can really help you think outside the box and see things in a way you never saw them before. Seek out thoughts and opinions from people who are very different from you—they might help you see something you wouldn't have noticed otherwise. [19]
    • For example, if you're in charge of setting up your team's new offices and you're able-bodied, you might consult with someone who is disabled to help ensure your design is accessible.
  4. 4
    Recognize common logical fallacies and errors in reasoning. When you can spot these errors quickly, it's really easy to take down unreasonable arguments. Watch a popular debate show and see how many of these common fallacies you can spot: [20]
    • Ad hominem attack: You just don't like blowing bubbles because you're boring!
    • Bandwagoning: If you loved your country, you would blow bubbles more often.
    • Post hoc: The child blew bubbles. Then it started raining. Therefore, the child caused it to rain by blowing bubbles.
    • Circular argument: Blowing bubbles is a fun activity because it's enjoyable to do.
    • Oversimplification: We can either blow bubbles or launch a nuclear weapon—we have no other options.
    • Straw man: People who don't like blowing bubbles hate life.
  5. 5
    Practice summarizing things that you read or hear. Creating a summary helps you synthesize the information so that you understand it better. The act of summarizing might also draw your attention to something that you thought you understood but actually don't. The entire process helps you get better at critical thinking because you're reconstructing the argument. [21]
    • Summarizing is also an important part of listening actively , which is the best way to have curious, open-minded conversations with others.
  6. 6
    Look for patterns and relationships in the world around you. For your ancient ancestors, pattern recognition was the key to survival—but it can help even if you're not in a life-or-death situation! To boost your pattern recognition skills, make an effort to be present in each moment . Observe as many details of everything around you as you can and see what different patterns and relationships you uncover. [22]
    • For example, you might go out to a park or café and people-watch, looking for patterns in the ways people are dressed or the ways they interact with each other.
    • Ask yourself questions about those patterns. For example, you might observe that 3 out of 4 people you see are wearing raincoats and wonder why. You can come to the logical conclusion that there is rain in the forecast.
  7. 7
    Assess the evidence for any claim. Look at where the claim came from, who said it, and what kind of authority they have. As far as any supporting evidence, look at where it came from, how you know it's true, how it was collected, and how it was interpreted. All of these questions give you clues into how reliable something is. [23]
    • The more reliable a piece of evidence is, the more support it offers. For example, closed-circuit footage of a robbery is more reliable than an eyewitness. [24]
  8. 8
    Research questions you have and dig into new information. When you have questions someone can't answer, look them up yourself! Finding out new information about something is how you start to build reasonable arguments and form rational, well-thought-out opinions. Even better, when you're able to learn or incorporate something that others haven't, you've put a new spin on an issue that can help persuade people to support your claim. [25]
    • As you restructure your argument to include the new information, don't forget to reflect on whether you now have any new questions to answer as a result of those changes.
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Section 3 of 6:

Making Brain-Boosting Lifestyle Changes

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  1. 1
    Develop a growth mindset. "It's actually one of the most helpful concepts that you can really understand," academic tutor Jai Flicker Flicker suggests. "Basically, what the research shows is that there are two theories of intelligence. One is that we're born with a certain amount of intelligence, and [the other] is that we can grow or develop or increase our intelligence with hard work." [26]
    • "If you are sort of subconsciously walking around thinking that your intelligence is a fixed IQ number, then rather than taking on challenges, you're going to be far more likely to avoid them because you don't want to look bad, basically," Flicker explains. [27]
    • "Whereas if you have a true growth mindset and you don't think it's fixed," Flicker continues, "you're going to be much more likely to see a challenge as unthreatening and rather as an opportunity to increase your abilities." [28]
  2. "Finding ways to make exercise more fun and enjoyable does wonders for increasing motivation," notes personal trainer Julian Arana. "Playing sports, riding your bike in a beautiful setting, and participating in fitness challenges/competitions with friends or coworkers are all ways to make exercise more exciting." [29]
  3. 3
    Do something creative or artistic to expand your mind. Creative and artistic pursuits encourage you to look at the world more closely. When you do, you notice more detail, more patterns, and more beauty. Considering the human condition more closely through artistic endeavors also helps you have greater empathy and higher levels of emotional intelligence, which is essential for strong critical thinking. [33]
    • For example, you might decide to take an art class at a nearby studio or join a local improv acting class. Anything that gets your creative juices flowing!
  4. 4
    Question your own assumptions about everything. "In order to think critically, you need to be able to think in the first place," explains Flicker, "and I don't mean that pejoratively. It's just that in school, so many [assignments] are not geared towards thinking—they're geared towards compliance or following directions. And so there's actually not a ton of thinking that's going on." [34]
    • "I think the most important thing is to just stop and really get clear on what you are thinking about yourself and why," Flicker concludes. [35]
    • Do this by asking yourself what you really think about things, and why you think the way they do. Do you really think that yourself, or is it just what someone told you?
    • "Once you start thinking about something, you can kind of agree or disagree with things and you can start to analyze the quality of thinking that other people are doing," Flicker adds, "which is sort of the critical thinking component." [36]
  5. 5
    Filter out biases that might influence your thinking. You can't always get rid of all of your biases, but you can be aware of them and acknowledge the effect they might have. Just think about them and ask yourself if they might be influencing your thinking. [37] Here are some common biases to look out for:
    • Confirmation bias: the tendency to favor ideas that confirm your existing beliefs [38]
    • Self-serving bias: the tendency to believe successes are due to your hard work and failures are due to external forces beyond your control
    • Negativity bias: the tendency to pay more attention to negative information than positive information and view it as more important
    • Decline bias: the tendency to favor the past over the future, to believe things are "going down hill"
    • In-group bias: the tendency to favor those in your own group over those outside the group
  6. 6
    Seek feedback on your thoughts and reasoning. Especially when you're just starting to stretch your critical thinking skills, strong feedback gives you the information you need to learn and grow. Run your arguments or ideas by people whose reasoning skills you respect and take notes from them on how to make them stronger. [39]
  7. 7
    Maintain an open mind about new information. Being open-minded just means that you approach ideas with curiosity rather than skepticism. Even if you ultimately don't agree, you're better able to construct a logical argument against something if you understand why people think that way. [42]
    • Don't be afraid to step outside of your own bubble—it gives you a chance to use your critical thinking skills. For example, you might compare reports of the same event from news outlets that you don't normally frequent.
    • Instead of jumping at the urge to judge or criticize someone who likes or believes something you don't, try to figure out what motivates their preferences or beliefs.
  8. 8
    Work with a teacher or mentor. Find someone with excellent reasoning skills who you look up to—they might be willing to work with you to improve your own. A good teacher can help you progress more quickly as well as keep you accountable. If you've got a friend who wants to improve their reasoning skills too, the two of you can work together for support and accountability. [43]
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Section 4 of 6:

Types of Reasoning

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  1. 1
    Deductive reasoning When you deduce something, you use a more general idea to reach a specific conclusion. Most people consider this the most basic form of logic: if all pizzas have pepperoni, you can deduce that any pizza you order will have pepperoni on it. [44]
    • Example: All dogs have ears. Golden retrievers are dogs. Therefore, golden retrievers have ears.
    • Useful for: law, medicine, engineering, science
    • Improve with: Chess, Sudoku puzzles, crime shows, mystery books
  2. 2
    Inductive reasoning Deductive reasoning went from the general to the specific, and inductive reasoning goes from the specific to the general—although you need a lot of specific instances for your conclusion to be reliable. Pattern recognition can really help narrow down your possible predictions when you're using inductive reasoning to reach a conclusion. [45]
    • Example: Every time you eat peanuts, your throat itches. Your throat never itches when you eat any other food. You conclude that it's likely you're allergic to peanuts.
    • Useful for: data science, marketing, investing, law enforcement
    • Improve with: meditation, pattern recognition games
  3. 3
    Abductive reasoning This might seem the least "reasonable" of all types of reasoning, but it's perfectly logical. When you abduce something, you make the best guess from all of the information you have available—even if that information is incomplete or imperfect. Abductive reasoning is great when you need to make a quick decision on the fly and don't have time to wait for all of the information you need. The more you know and the more you see, the stronger your abductive reasoning skills will be. [46]
    • Example: You wake up in the morning and see the table set with plates and glasses. You hear someone in the kitchen. You smell food. You conclude it's likely that someone got up before you and is making breakfast.
    • Useful for: medical diagnosis, detective work
    • Improve with: exposure to diverse situations and perspectives, curiosity
  4. 4
    Analogical reasoning Analogical reasoning refers to the ability to show how one thing is like another totally different or unrelated thing. The more well-versed you are in diverse topics, the richer your potential analogies will be! This is just one reason why learning new things boosts your reasoning skills—it expands your analogy bank. [47]
    • Example: Relate the activities in a cell to a factory to teach students about the biological functions of a cell.
    • Useful for: software design and development, creative fields, education
    • Improve with: crossword puzzles, analogy games, pattern-spotting games
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Section 5 of 6:

How can you assess your reasoning skills?

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  1. Take practice tests online specifically designed to test logic and reason. Basic aptitude tests almost always have a logic and reasoning test. There are also plenty of critical thinking tests you can take online for free. These will help you get a good idea of where you're starting—then you can go back and take a similar test after working on your reasoning skills for several weeks and see how far you've come. [48]
    • Your employer might also have reasoning skills tests that you can take. These are the types of tests that they would normally give to new hires, but they might not mind you trying one.
    • Go over each of the answers, rather than just checking your score. This will give you an idea of the specific skills you're not as good at so you can focus on improving those.
Section 6 of 6:

Why are critical thinking skills important?

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  1. Critical thinking skills help you make better decisions and stay better informed. When you get good at thinking critically, you can anticipate problems, spot problematic sources before you rely on them, and come up with creative solutions. You'll also be better able to spot patterns, which will lead to more accurate predictions that allow you to better plan ahead to weather any storm. [49]
    • People who are strong critical thinkers also tend to be better leaders. They're more confident because they understand what's going on around them better—and when they don't, they know what questions to ask.
    • Critical thinkers also tend to be open-minded and impartial, so you don't have to worry about them ignoring an important piece of information because they were only listening to select sources.
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How Do You Improve Critical Thinking Skills?


Expert Q&A

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  • Question
    How do I stop worrying about my decision?
    Erin Conlon, PCC, JD
    Executive Life Coach
    Erin Conlon is an Executive Life Coach, the Founder of Erin Conlon Coaching, and the host of the podcast "This is Not Advice." She specializes in aiding leaders and executives to thrive in their career and personal lives. In addition to her private coaching practice, she teaches and trains coaches and develops and revises training materials to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. She holds a BA in Communications and History and a JD from The University of Michigan. Erin is a Professional Certified Coach with The International Coaching Federation.
    Executive Life Coach
    Expert Answer
    Just practice making any decision. It doesn't matter if it's right or wrong. When you start practicing, that muscle gets a little bit stronger and you start to rely on your intuition a little bit more. Ultimately, you also learn that nothing is irreversible
  • Question
    How can I avoid judging people?
    Community Answer
    Look at what they do holistically and try to see their value.
  • Question
    What is the purpose of reasoning skills?
    Community Answer
    Reasoning is required to make a lot of decisions. For example, if you have to choose between eating cake or eating fruit, you might use reason to determine that the cake is not good for the diet you're on, so you should choose the fruit instead.
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      References

      1. https://hbr.org/2020/03/the-case-for-reading-fiction
      2. https://wertheim.scripps.ufl.edu/2024/01/12/how-to-improve-your-critical-thinking/
      3. Nicole Moshfegh, PsyD. Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Expert Interview. 5 August 2021.
      4. Nicole Moshfegh, PsyD. Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Expert Interview. 5 August 2021.
      5. Nicole Moshfegh, PsyD. Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Expert Interview. 5 August 2021.
      6. Nicole Moshfegh, PsyD. Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Expert Interview. 5 August 2021.
      7. Sahaj Grover. Chess Grandmaster. Expert Interview. 04 May 2021.
      8. Sahaj Grover. Chess Grandmaster. Expert Interview. 04 May 2021.
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      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      To improve your reasoning skills, play strategy games like chess and Scrabble. Journaling is another way to improve critical thinking skills since it involves reflection and exploration of your thoughts and feelings. Finally, try new things to increase encourage critical thinking! Pick activities that are different from each other, like biking and crochet, for fun, challenging ways to stimulate your mind. To learn how to improve your reasoning skills through exercise, keep reading!

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