You're taking a political, or I dare even say religious point of view on the topic. You can't argument yourself. To think critically essentially means to use tools of logic, break down statements and analyze them one by one and their relationship. This is precisely what architectures like CoT and ToT do in models, and right before your eyes.

You can play word games and say "no, it doesn't think, because it's math", but that's just pathetic.

Note I'm not saying models always think critically. I said the exact opposite. And it applies to humans, as well. You had a knee jerk reaction here, you've had it many times in many replies to many social media. I can bet about it. You didn't use critical thinking. QED.