Critical Thinking Critical Thinking Underlies the basic elements
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking… • Underlies the basic elements of communication. • Promotes social change. • Uncovers bias and prejudice. • Reveals long-term consequences. • Reveals nonsense. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 2
Critical Thinking Means… • • • Sorting out conflicting claims Weighing the evidence for them Letting go of personal biases Arriving at reasonable views Being willing to change views Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 3
Becoming a critical thinker: Why am I considering this issue? By finding a personal connection with an issue, your interest in acquiring and retaining new information increases. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 4
Becoming a Critical Thinker: What are various points of view? • • Define your terms Look for assertions Look for at least three viewpoints Practice tolerance Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 5
Becoming a Critical Thinker: How well is each point of view supported? • • • Look for logic and evidence Consider the source Understand before criticizing Watch for hot spots Be willing to be uncertain Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 6
Becoming a Critical Thinker: What if I could combine points of view or create new ones? • Create a critical thinking spreadsheet • Write about it • Accept your changing perspectives Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7
Critical Thinking can be… • Convergent thinking – Narrowing-down from many possible viewpoints • Divergent (or creative) thinking – Asking questions – Generating as many possible options as you can – Divergent thinking provides a basis for convergent thinking. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 8
Cultivate “Aha!” • Burst of creative energy • Fuels critical thinking Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 9
Ways to Create Ideas • • • Conduct a brainstorm Focus and let go Cultivate creative serendipity Keep idea files Collect and play with data Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10
Ways to Create Ideas • • Create while you sleep Refine ideas and follow through Create success strategies Trust the process Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 11
Uncovering Assumptions • Testing the validity of a viewpoint Look for the assumptions (the assertions implied by that view) Viewpoint Write them out See if you can find exceptions to them Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 12
Ways to Fool Yourself: Common Mistakes in Logic 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Jumping to conclusions Attacking the person Appealing to authority Pointing to a false cause Thinking in all-or-nothing terms Basing arguments on emotion Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 13
Ways to Fool Yourself: Common Mistakes in Logic 7. Faulty analogy 8. Creating a straw man 9. Begging the question 10. Confusing fact and opinion 11. Creating a red herring 12. Appealing to tradition Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 14
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