Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking

Traits of                                                                                                            Traits of

Critical Thinkers                                                                                         Reflexive Thinkers

Intellectual                                                                                                   Intellectual

                  Autonomy                                                                                               Conformity

                  Integrity                                                                                                  Hypocrisy

                  Humility                                                                                                 Arrogance

                  Sense of Justice                                                                                      Unfairness

                  Perseverance                                                                                          Laziness

                  Fair Mindedness                                                                                     Disregard for Justice

                  Confidence of Reason                                                                            Distrust of Reason

                  Courage                                                                                                  Cowardice

                  Empathy                                                                                                 Self-Centeredness

Fair Mindedness entails the predisposition to consider all relevant viewpoints equally, without reference to one’s own feelings or selfish interests, or the feelings or selfish interests of one’s friends, community, or nation.  It implies adherence to intellectual standards (accuracy, sound logic, breadth of vision) and uninfluenced by one’s own advantage or the advantage of one’s group.

Intellectual Humility:  The development of the extent of one’s ignorance.  Intellectual Arrogance:  The natural tendency to think one knows more than one does know.

Intellectual Empathy:  The ability to put yourself in another’s position to better understand their viewpoint.

Egocentric State of Mind:  The natural tendency for the mind to seek the easiest answer with the least emotional cost.

We tend to think in a variety of Domains:

Ø  Sociological or Social Groups.

Ø  Philosophical or Personal Philosophy.

Ø  Ethical:  The extent we behave in accordance with our obligations.

Ø  Intellectual:  The ideas we hold.

Ø  Anthropological:  Cultural practices.

Ø  Political or Ideological:  Influence by structures of power and interest group.

Ø  Economic.

Ø  Biological

Ø  Historical.

Ø  Theological

Ø  Psychological:  Personality traits.

Two Traps:

                  Dogmatic Absolutism:  Truth is predetermined by non-intellectual faith, as opposed to reason.

Subjective Relativism:  Believing there are no standards by which to judge something true or false.

Minds contain three distinctive functions:

1.  Thinking:  To make sense of the world.  Finding patterns, integrating and differentiating.  What is happening and figuring things out.

2.  Feeling:  To monitor and evaluate the meaning giving to our thinking.  Continually tells us how we should feel about what is happening in your life.

3.  Allocates energy to action in keeping with our definitions of what is desirable and what is possible.

Elements of Thought:

Ø  Purpose

Ø  Problem

Ø  Conclusions

Ø  Facts

Ø  Assumptions

Ø  Concepts

Ø  Implications

Ø  Points of View

Inert Information:  Information we may have memorized, but do not understand.  Memorization v. Conceptual development.

Activated Ignorance:  Taking into mind, and actively using, information that is false, though we think it to be true.

Activated Knowledge:  Taking into the mind and actively using information that is true and also when understood insightfully, leads us to implication to more and more knowledge.

Memorization of isolated facts, if not understood or can be explained, become inert knowledge.  If misunderstood or explained wrongly, they become activated ignorance.  When learned in the form of activated knowledge, they become tools that enable us to learn more.

Activated knowledge is born of dynamic ideas that when applied to common experience, enable us to infer, by implication, further and further knowledge.  Can be fostered in every legitimate human discipline.  We begin with basic information about the most basic ideas of a field.  Grounded in first principles, we are able to see the power of thought, knowledge and experience working in unison.

Inference:  A step of the mind.  An intellectual act by which one concludes that something is true in light of something else being true, or seeming to be true.  An inference can be accurate, inaccurate, justified or unjustified, logical or illogical.

Assumption:  Is something we take for granted or presuppose.  They are part of our system of beliefs.  As we assume our beliefs to be true, we believe our assumptions are also true.  Mostly takes place at the unconscious level.

Information (or event)                      à             Assumption       à             Inference

Conscious                                                        Unconscious                        Conscious

Critical thinkers try to monitor their thinking so they only infer only that which is implied in a situation.

Think across points of view:  Challenging to master.  It is intuitive that when we think, we think with a point of view.  However, when we ask people to explain their point of view, they frequently tell us everything they are thinking and have hard time identifying a point of view, much less their own.

Example of Points of View:

Ø  Point in time:  B.C.   A.D.  16^th Century, etc…

Ø  Cultural:  Eastern, Western, etc…

Ø  Religious.

Ø  Gender

Ø  Professional.

Ø  A Discipline:  Biology, Chemistry, artistic, Sociological, etc….

Ø  Peer or Social Group.

Ø  Economic Interest

Ø  Emotional State

Ø  Age Group.

Standards for Thinking:

Clarity:  Considered a gateway standard.  If something is unclear then we cannot determine if it is accurate.

Accuracy:  To be accurate is to represent something in accordance with the way it actually is.  People frequently are inaccurate in their statements, especially when they have a vested interest.

Precision:  Much like accuracy but making sure enough details are present to ensure understanding.

Relevance:  Does the statement pertain to the issue.  Students may feel that effort should count in a grade, but their feelings aren’t necessarily relevant.

Depth:  Includes thinking beneath the surface of an issue.  Identifying and understanding the complexities inherent with the issue and then dealing with them in an intellectual way.

Breadth:  Allowing thinking beyond the point of view that is presented.

Logic

Significance:

Fairness:  Are our assumptions justified.

Elements of Reasoning:

Ø  Purpose of Thinking:  Goal Objective.

Ø  Question at Issue:  The Problem

Ø  Information:  Data, Facts, Observations, Experiences.

Ø  Implications and Consequences.

Ø  Points of View:  Frame of reference, perspective, orientation.

Ø  Assumptions:  Presuppositions.

Ø  Inferences:  Interpretations, conclusions and solutions.

Question the Questions:  Questions engage the thinking process.

Three Types of Questions:

                  1.  Questions of fact:  Objective.

                  2.  Questions of Preference:  Subjective.

                  3.  Questions of Judgment:  Reason

All Thought Requires:

Ø  Agenda or Purpose:  Assume you don’t fully understand someone’s thought (including your own) until you understand the agenda behind it.

Ø  Information Base:  Assume you don’t fully understand someone’s thought until you understand the background information that supports it.

Ø  Inferences:  Assume you don’t fully understand someone’s thought until you understand  the inferences that have shaped it.

Ø  Concepts:  Assume you don’t fully understand someone’s thought until you understand the concepts that define and shape it.

Ø  Assumptions:  Assume you don’t fully understand someone’s thought until you understand what it takes for granted.

Ø  Direction:  Assume you don’t fully understand someone’s through until you understand its implications and consequences.

Ø  Point of View:  Assume you don’t fully understand someone’s thought until you understand the point of view behind it.

Master the Content:  All content represents a distinctive mode of thinking.  All content is nothing more or less than a special way of thinking.  To learn any body of content, it is necessary to learn to think accurately and reasonably with the concepts that define the content.  The development of concepts through the interpretation and analysis of content forms intellectual growth.  As opposed to information that is routinely covered and committed to memory.

All Thinking:

Ø  Has a purpose:  What is the purpose?

Ø  Raises at least one question:  What are the key questions.

Ø  Information:  What information do I need to reason through the problem.

Ø  Requires concepts:  Do I understand the concepts.

Ø  Involves Inferences:  Are my inferences logical and reasonable.

Ø  Assumptions:  What are my assumptions and are they well founded.

Ø  Involves Implications:  What are the implications of the problem

Ø  Involves a point of view:  Am I understanding the problem from a correct point of view.  Are there other Points of View which can enlighten me further.

How to Learn:  Ideas for improving your study.

Ø  Become an active learner.

Ø  Think of each subject as a form of thinking

Ø  Become a questioner.

Ø  Look for interconnected ideas.

Ø  Understand text as thinking of the author.

Ø  Relate content to issues and problem in your everyday life.

Ø  Determine what study and learning skills you need to develop.

Ø  Ask yourself:  Can I accurately explain this to someone else.

Ø  Test your thinking using intellectual standards.

Ø  Evaluate your listening.

Ø  Evaluate the depth of your reading.

Ø  Speaking and writing are powerful means to force explicit thought.

Reading:  Assessing the author.

Ø  Is the author’s purpose well stated?

Ø  Key questions:  Is it well stated? Unbiased?  Adequately express the complexity of the issue.  Are questions and purpose relevant to each other.

Ø  Is the information accurate and relevant.

Ø  What are the fundamental concepts the author proposes.

Ø  What are the author’s assumptions and inferences.

Ø  What are the author’s implications and point of view.

Human Egocentricity consists of two parts:

1.  The tendency to see the world in self serving terms to constantly seek that which makes one feel good.

                  2.  The desire to maintain its beliefs.

                  Is a form or rigidity of thought.  Also summarized as getting what one wants without having to change in any real fundamental way.  Also, strives to get what it wants and strives to validate its current way of thinking.

                  Sees itself as successful when it get what it wants, unsuccessful when it doesn’t get what it wants.

                  Two egocentric strategies to get what it wants.

                  1.  Art of dominating others:  Direct.

                  2.  Art of submitting to others:  Indirect.

Pathological Tendencies of the Human Mind:

Ø  Egocentric Memory:  The natural tendency to ‘forget’ evidence and information that do not support our thinking and the ‘remember’ evidence and information that do.

Ø  Egocentric Myopia:  The natural tendency to think in an absolutist way within an overly narrow point of view.

Ø  Egocentric Righteousness:  The natural tendency to feel superior in the light our confidence that we possess the truth when we do not.

Ø  Egocentric Hypocrisy:  The natural tendency to ignore flagrant inconsistencies.  For example, between what we profess to believe and the actual beliefs our behavior implies, or between the standards to which we hold ourselves and those to which we expect others to adhere.

Ø  Egocentric Oversimplification:  The natural tendency to ignore real and important complexities in the world in favor of simplistic notions when consideration of those complexities would require us to modify our beliefs or values.

Ø  Egocentric Blindness:  The natural tendency not to notice facts and evidence that contradict our favored beliefs or values.

Ø  Egocentric immediacy:  The natural tendency to over generalize immediate feelings and experiences, so that when one event in our life is highly favorable or unfavorable, all of life seems favorable or unfavorable to us.

Ø  Egocentric Absurdity:  The natural tendency to fail to notice thinking that has ‘absurd’ consequences.

Sociocentric Tendencies:

Egocentric tendencies raised to a group level.  Thoughts and beliefs can be more powerful then egocentric as some level of conformity is usually required for group acceptance or association.  Validation of beliefs is frequently occurs within a group of like minds and reinforces one’s beliefs.  Constructive or negative thoughts become reinforced.

Sociocentric Tendencies are subject to the pathological tendencies listed above, just at the group level.

Media Influence

Media Myths:

Ø  That most news stories are produced through independent investigative journalism.

Ø  That news reports simply report facts with no conclusions.

Ø  That fact and opinion are clearly separated.

Ø  That there is an objective reality that is reported and conflicting points of views are considered slants.

Relatively little news is reported considering the vast number of events that happen within the world on any given day.  Much of the news is nothing more than unusual events or oddities that occur within the world.  Unfortunately many of these oddities are sensationalize due to media sensitivities.

Media Sensitivity:            

Ø  Generating sales and making profit.

Ø  Sensitivity to Advertisers.

Ø  Sensitivity to Government.

Ø  Sensitivity to Powerful Interest Groups.

Ø  Sensitivity to Competitors.

Ø  Sensitivity to Novelty and Sensationalism.