Critical thinking identifies both the bias in what it looks at (its object), and the biases you yourself bring to it. If you can address these honestly, and adjust your thinking accordingly, you will be able to see the object in light of the way it is slanted, and to understand your own biases in your reaction to it.

Critical thinking focuses on analysing and understanding its object. It eliminates, to the extent possible, emotional reactions, except where they become part of an approach or solution.

Critical thinking never considers anything in a vacuum. It's object has a history, a source, a context. Thinking critically allows you to bring these into play. In this way you are getting more than just the outline of what you are examining, and making a realistic and effective solution to a problem more likely.

Some of the things that affect critical thought are:

> Previous situations,

> Personal histories

> General assumptions about an issue 

Critical thinking identifies them and questions them as well.

A situation or issue may have a seemingly simple explanation or resolution, but it may rest on a complex combination of factors.

Thinking critically unravels the relationships among these, and determines what level of complexity needs to be dealt with in order to reach a desired conclusion.

The whole point of critical thinking is to construct the most objective view available. One hundred per cent objectivity may not be possible, but the closer you can get, the better.

The closer you are to dealing with things as they really are, the more likely you are to be able to address a problem or issue with some hope of success.

We make a lot of assumptions about almost everything. It is how our brain processes certain pieces of information, and how we get along in everyday life. You could say they are the foundation of our critical framework. But what if those assumptions turned out to be wrong, or at least not entirely truthful? 

Don't take information on authority until you have investigated it yourself.

However, like assumptions, taking information on authority can be useful. Instead of double-checking everything anyone says, we tend to label information as either coming from a trustworthy or untrustworthy source. Just because it was published in a magazine or broadcast over television does not mean it is necessarily true.

Asking questions is perhaps the most important aspect of critical thinking.

Find information on the topic you are critiquing. An uninformed critique is sometimes worse than one merely executed badly. 

Only use absolutes like "never" when you are completely sure. However, at the same time, be assertive in your criticism.

Know and differentiate between when a discussion is conducted from inductive reasoning or deductive reasoning.

Inductive reasoning > the particular to the general

Deductive reasoning > the general to the particular

It is likely that other people will offer a new perspective which could change your approach. Consider people both from different age groups and different occupations. 

Learn from their mistakes and strengths to improve your own style of critique.

Practise so you will get better at it. Take notice if others critique your critique. 

Your aim is not to critique the person, but the proposal they put forward. 

You can critique something better if it is within your field of expertise. For example, who better than a painter to critique a painting? Or who better than a writer to properly analyse another writer's works?