Critical thinking does seem a superior sort of thinking because it seems as though the critic is actually going beyond the scope of what is being criticized in order to criticize it. That is only rarely a true assumption because, most often, the critic will seize on some little aspect that he or she understands and tackle only that.
Edward de Bono, I Am Right You Are Wrong: From This to the New Renaissance: From Rock Logic to Water Logic
literature, real-life