Question

Hello Rabbi, a few years ago I participated in a critical thinking course you gave over Zoom.
From a broader perspective, I feel a certain sense of missed opportunity. Even though I assume (and am even sure) that many of the things that were said were absorbed and became part of my way of thinking, I notice that not everything was woven into my thinking process.
This shows itself when I decide to linger over certain things I’ve read and analyze them patiently. Then I notice two things: A. In relation to ordinary reading — my ordinary reading, the way I usually read, is not critical enough, but rather quite flowing and it swallows all kinds of things. B. In relation to close, meticulous analysis — I feel that I don’t always manage to analyze the text well. Especially in journalistic or publicistic matters, where the underlying assumptions are more hidden.
I don’t think there are magic solutions or “easy” ways to improve one’s analytical ability (beyond learning certain principles, more or less as the Rabbi did). I assume the main thing is practice. In that context I wanted to ask you: how do you recommend practicing this skill?
As background, I’ll add that I study in a yeshiva and am relatively successful in in-depth learning, but I feel there is a big difference between the thinking skills used for Talmud study and those used in other areas, mainly in that in the Talmud the style is one of arguments, and therefore the underlying assumptions are more prominent or can be extracted more easily, and also that the subject is more bounded and defined. By contrast, when I read a book or philosophical or current-events articles, it’s less like that..