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Logical sense or common sense -  good sense and sound judgment in practical matters. 

In all practical sense, common sense is used in a logical way of thinking. People do things because they are supposed to.  There are many shorter ways to get to the end result, but they are so used to their own way of thinking that they do not think logically. The sad thing is, that common sense are indeed NOT so COMMON.

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To think logically means to think practical!  

When you have to complete a given task, you have to ask yourself the following questions: 

• What exactly am I supposed to do?
• Why am I doing this?
• Is there an easier way to do this?

To know the specifics of a given task, can save you time and often money as well.  

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If common sense was as common as the name implied then people would not be in situations that they are today.  People would not be spending money on things that they do not really need.  Young people would not spend their money on buying alcohol and drugs and exposing themselves to things that they should not be involved with.  Unfortunately people do explore everything in life, but somewhere a long the line you should actually learn your lesson, so that you do not do the same thing again.  

                      

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How can you improve your common sense?

Logical reasoning

Games are not always as bad as people think.  Play logic games on your phone and answer as many questions as possible.  It is vitally important that you practice your reasoning skills.  

The best way to do this is to compile a list of questions that has more than one possible answer.  

If you ask a question like what is 1 + 1?

You would instinctively know that the answer is 2. 

If you ask a question like why do Giraffes have long necks?  

You would possibly answer that they need long necks to eat the leaves from high up in the trees.  Not everyone would come up with the same answer though, although that might be the most logical answer.  

For critical thinking we have to go and have a look at Bloom's taxonomy.

What is Bloom's taxonomy?

Bloom's Taxonomy was created in 1956 under the leadership of educational psychologist Dr Benjamin Bloom  in order to promote higher forms of thinking in education, such as analyzing and evaluating concepts, processes, procedures, and  principles, rather than just remembering facts. 

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I think the above picture says it all.  It is not just about learning but the way we learn.  It is also not about thinking, because we all think, but the question is....do we think critically?

For today I would like to add a two critical thinking questions that might help you on your way to start thinking more critically.  These type of questions are very enjoyable! You can actually have a long discussion about these questions.  I will post the answers to these questions at the bottom of my post.  

Do you think logically? 

The first question comes from an old book that I found and I constantly use in class.  

GREAT CRITICAL THINKING PUZZLES by  Michael A. DiSpezio 

If you would like to purchase this book please follow the link above.  

Question 1  

Two cultures of aliens live on the planet Trekia, the Carpals and the Tarsals. The Carpals always lie. The Tarsals always tell the truth.

A space traveler arrives on Trekia and meets a party of three aliens. She asks the aliens to which culture they belong. The first one murmurs something that is too soft to hear. The second replies, "It said it was a Carpal." The third says to the second, "You are a liar!" 

From this information, figure out what culture the third alien belongs to.

Question 2

You have only an 8-liter jug and a 3-liter jug. Both containers are unmarked. You need exactly 4 liters of water.  

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See answers for the two questions below:

Question 1 (Answer)

True or False?

The Alien was a Tarsal. To figure this one out, we need to look at each alien's response. If the first alien was a tarsal, it would identify itself as a tarsal. If it was a carpal, it would still identify itself as a tarsal. Either way, the mumbling alien would identify itself as a "tarsal." Therefore, the second alien had to be lying. The third alien truthfully identified the carpal, making him a truth-telling tarsal. 

Question 2 (Answer)

Fill the 3-liter jug three times, each time dumping the water from it  into the 8-liter jug. The third time, this will leave one liter of water  in the 3-liter jug, and the 8-liter jug will be filled. Dump the water  from the 8-liter jug down the drain, and then empty the one liter of  water from the 3-liter jug into the 8-liter jug. Now fill the 3-liter jug again and dump the water into the 8-liter jug. The 8-liter jug now contains 4 liters of water. Various answers are possible.