1.4.2 The Competent Communicator Thinks Critically and Mindfully

     An essential communication skill is the ability to think critically about the communication situations you face and the options for communicating that you have available; this is crucial to your success and effectiveness.
     Without critical thinking there can be no competent exchange of ideas. Critical thinking is logical thinking; it’s thinking that is well reasoned, unbiased, and clear. It involves thinking intelligently, carefully, and with as much clarity as possible. It’s the opposite of what you’d call sloppy, illogical, or careless thinking.
     A special kind of critical thinking is mindfulness. Mindfulness is a state of awareness in which you’re conscious of your reasons for thinking or behaving. In its opposite, mindlessness, you lack conscious awareness of what or how you’re thinking (Langer, 1989). To apply interpersonal skills effectively in conversation, you need to be mindful of the unique communication situation you’re in, of your available communication options, and of the reasons why one option is likely to be better than the others (Burgoon, Berger, & Waldron, 2000; Elmes & Gemmill, 1990).
     As you progress through your study of human communication, actively increase your own mindfulness (Langer, 1989):

• Create and re-create categories. Group things in different ways; remember that people are constantly changing, so the categories into which you may group them also should change. Learn to see objects, events, and people as belonging to a wide variety of categories. Try to see, for example, your prospective romantic partner in a variety of roles—child, parent, employee, neighbor, friend, financial contributor, and so on.
• Be open to new information and points of view. This is perhaps especially important when these contradict your most firmly held beliefs. New information forces you to reconsider what might be outmoded ways of thinking and can help you challenge long-held but now inappropriate beliefs and attitudes.
• Beware of relying too heavily on first impressions. Treat first impressions as tentative, as hypotheses that need further investigation. Be prepared to revise, reject, or accept these initial impressions.
• Think before you act. Especially in delicate situations such as anger or commitment messages, it’s wise to pause and think over the situation mindfully. In this way you’ll stand a better chance of acting and reacting appropriately.

     You’ll find frequent opportunities to apply mindful, critical thinking throughout your reading of the text but perhaps especially in the “Working With” experiences at the end of the chapters, in the Communication Choice Points that accompany the photos, and in the integrated self-tests.