Me too, and I question myself and what I believe all the time. It's one of my secrets of success.
Many people practice critical theory and think they are practicing critical thinking. Critical theory is the practice of criticizing what one does not believe to arrive at what they do believe without every critically examining what they believe. Critical thinking is to challenge what one believes to test what they believe.
I think you almost got it right.
Critical theory is most often associated with Marxism but on the broader scale, it is a social theory of changing society as a whole by identifying what prevents people from changing society in a specific manner. MAGAs want the border closed because they are systematically racist is a critical theory promoted by the left. The left wants the border open because they hope to make leftist voters out of the people who migrate here is a critical theory promoted by the right.
Critical thinking on the other hand requires the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue or concept in order to form a judgment. It is not a guarantee that somebody will arrive at the correct answer or opinion but at least he/she will have a reasoned logical and defensible basis for that answer or opinion Far too many hold opinions they cannot defend because they were told/taught to have that opinion or it is the socially or politically correct opinion to have.
Do we believe the Roman Catholic Church is the only religious group that goes all the way back to Jesus because we know that for a fact or because we have been told to believe that? Because nobody can prove or disprove that brings in a component of faith for those who believe it and also for those who don't.
Do we believe CO2 in the atmosphere is an existential threat to life on Earth as we know it because we have done the research and confirmed that for ourselves? Or is it because we have been told that by people who claim to have proved it? To believe that requires an element of faith just as not believing it requires an element of faith.
Do we believe Haley's Comet will appear in our skies every 72 to 80 years because we have witnessed it ourselves? Or because we have been taught that this occurs every 72 to 80 years? To believe what we have been taught requires an element of faith.
Whether we put our total faith in the science we have been taught or whether we put our total faith in religious beliefs we have been taught or a combination of the two, it still is a matter of faith as we cannot prove any of it. We can accept it on blind faith. Or we can utilize critical thinking to have confidence in what we put faith in. But it's all faith.+
