Debbie Aliya's blog series on critical thinking continues.

Some people think they can tell if a part broke due to hydrogen embrittlement by looking at it. This is not correct. The timing of the crack is only one of the key factors that needs to be documented if hydrogen embrittlement is suspected.

Debbie Aliya's blog series on critical thinking continues. 

Most of us have heard someone complaining, “There’s a lack of critical thinking here.” But what do they usually really mean?          

The great scientist Niels Bohr, to whom we pay homage when we talk about “The Bohr Atom,” famously pointed out that great truths, such as “Democracy is the best form of government,” are often refuted by “opposite” great truths. Plato, centuries earlier, pointed out that “Democracy is the worst form of government.” Whether great truths are perceived by the one hearing them as true depends on their frame of reference.

Most of us have heard someone complaining, “There’s a lack of critical thinking here.” But what do they usually really mean? If we stop for a moment, perhaps we will realize that it often means, “I disagree with your conclusion.” But does that mean that the thought processes used were inadequate?

On the way into work recently, I was listening to the BBC News Hour. The topic was the collapse (failure) of the crypto-currency exchange company FTX. One of the guests brought up the term “consequentialism.” The host did not follow up on that thought, but I made a point to remember it until I could get to a safe spot to look it up.

Last time we introduced a way to look at the factors that cause damage in engineered components and structures.

Twenty-some years ago, when the ASM International Failure Analysis Committee was asked to lead the charge to create a new version of Volume 11 on Failure Analysis and Prevention for the ASM Metals Handbook, I had the chance to work with several colleagues to create the section on the failure-analysis process. 

Before we move on, let’s be clear: Doubt being the essence of critical thinking does not mean paralysis. At some point the thinker makes a choice to move forward.