Critical Thinking not just for research anymore Most

“Most people would sooner die than think, in fact they do. ” - Bertrand

• What is “Critical Thinking” – Definitions and examples – Practice • •

What is Critical Thinking? • It is not, but includes: – Inference: essentially unconscious

What is Critical Thinking? • It is – Reasoning: thinking with the addition of

What is Critical Thinking? • Reasoning process: – Logic, or deductive reasoning • From

Logic, or deductive reasoning • Drawing conclusions, when the conclusion contains no more information

The Venn diagram • If - then statements can be put into syllogistic or

Generalizing, or inductive reasoning • Forming a conclusion, in which the conclusion contains more

Visualization tools • • • Generic diagrams Flow charts Gantt charts Organizational charts Rough

Visualization tools • Domain-specific tools – Chemistry: equations, molecular models, bonding diagrams – Physics:

Verbal tools (more left brain) • • • Consensus Key word/statement format Open-ended questions

Procedural, or policy, tools • • Independent confirmation Resisting the word of “experts” Multiple

Procedural, or policy, tools • Quantify when possibe • All links in the logical

Procedural, or policy, tools • Develop the habit of making a decision, identifying the

Critical Thinking • Common fallacies (from the Latin, fallere, to deceive, trick, lead into

Critical Thinking • Misunderstanding statistics (half our school is below average; the law of

Critical Thinking • Self-deception (my sleep is more restful if I have dessert) •

Critical Thinking • Observation selection (only counting what is think is correct) • Suppressed

Critical Thinking • Inconsistency: You take the cod liver oil, but I won’t •

Critical Thinking • Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (“after this, therefore because of this”)

Critical Thinking • Law of representativeness (librarians are like libraries) • Self-handicapping (sick, interruptions,

Critical Thinking • Brokaw Effect (need base line - shallow breathing not necessarily stress/deceit)

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Critical Thinking not just for research anymore

“Most people would sooner die than think, in fact they do. ” - Bertrand Russell

• What is “Critical Thinking” – Definitions and examples – Practice • • Common fallacies Qualities that foster critical thinking Obstacles to critical thinking Relationship to problem solving and decision making • Stages of development

What is Critical Thinking? • It is not, but includes: – Inference: essentially unconscious (recognition of analogous situations) – Thinking: conscious manipulation of information in the mind to some end result – Creativity: generating ideas

What is Critical Thinking? • It is – Reasoning: thinking with the addition of using a method. • The goal: to describe the world as accurately as possible. • Why? So w have confidence in our decisions. • From the Indo-European krei, meaning “to sift, cut, or separate”

What is Critical Thinking? • Reasoning process: – Logic, or deductive reasoning • From axiom to data • I. e. , from more to less (principle to example) – Generalizing, or inductive reasoning • From data to axiom • I. e. , from less to more (instances to principle) • Visualization tools (more right brain) • Verbal Tools (more left brain) • Procedural, or policy, tools

Logic, or deductive reasoning • Drawing conclusions, when the conclusion contains no more information than the premise from which it is drawn. – All jokes are funny; Jim is a joke; therefore Jim is a joke • Aristotle called the syllogisms (from the Greek, syn + logos = to reckon together)

The Venn diagram • If - then statements can be put into syllogistic or Venn format

Generalizing, or inductive reasoning • Forming a conclusion, in which the conclusion contains more information than the premise from which it is drawn – My Windows OS is flawed – Her Windows OS is flawed – Therefore all Windows OS are flawed • Strong inference: from abundant data • Weak inferences: from sparse data

Visualization tools • • • Generic diagrams Flow charts Gantt charts Organizational charts Rough sketches Scaled diagrams Network diagrams Surface maps System flow

Visualization tools • Domain-specific tools – Chemistry: equations, molecular models, bonding diagrams – Physics: Bohr’s particle state notation (dots), Feynman diagrams, force fields – English: sentence diagrams (yuke!) – Philosophy: truth tables, Venn diagrams – Math: graphs, histograms, matrices

Verbal tools (more left brain) • • • Consensus Key word/statement format Open-ended questions Avoid “why” questions Debate Heuristics “Quaker” sermons Alternative explanations Simulations reframing

Procedural, or policy, tools • • Independent confirmation Resisting the word of “experts” Multiple working hypotheses Regard your current situation as a chapter in your development, not your tombstone • Don’t diffuse the message

Procedural, or policy, tools • Quantify when possibe • All links in the logical chain must be strong • Occam’s razor • Insist that any hypothesis, in order to be accepted, also be capable of being falsified • Visualize where possible

Procedural, or policy, tools • Develop the habit of making a decision, identifying the reason for making it, as well as reasons for alternative decisions • Formulate all problems or goals in at least two ways • Prioritize information for relevance • When persuaded, identify the persuader and validate them (it) • Unearth or recognize any assumptions

Critical Thinking • Common fallacies (from the Latin, fallere, to deceive, trick, lead into error, trip) – Reason by analogy (A is true, B is like A, therefore B is true) – Ad moninen (attack the person, not the argument) – Hasty generalizations (statistics of small numbers; A 1 is B, A 2 is B, therefore all A are B) – Confirmatory bias (intentionally or conviently small sample is chosen) – Provincialism (We do it, therefore everbody does it; King Lear: “Our graces are righ honored”)

Critical Thinking • Misunderstanding statistics (half our school is below average; the law of averages) • Straw man - caricaturing to facilitate attack (tree huggers) • Non-sequitor - “finish your vegetables, kids in China are starving” • Arguing from what is to what ought to be (“If God had wanted us to _____, she would have made us ____”) • Begging the question (assuming the answer: We should teach children Latin so as adults they will be good analytical thinkers.

Critical Thinking • Self-deception (my sleep is more restful if I have dessert) • Equivocation (emphasizing one meaning over others) • False premise (based on assumptions many reject) • Quasi-science (the appearance of being scientific) • Argument from adverse consequence (“Do it, or you’ll be sorry”)

Critical Thinking • Observation selection (only counting what is think is correct) • Suppressed evidence • Wishful thinking (a conclusion with no foundation - if everybody would love each other, we’d have whirled peas) • Special pleading (How could an all-powerful God…? • Appeal to ignorance (can’t prove there are no flying saucers, so …)

Critical Thinking • Inconsistency: You take the cod liver oil, but I won’t • Slippery slope (Give them an inch, they’ll take a mile; if you allow 1 st term abortion, 3 rd term will soon follow) • Short term vs. long term (why spend money on jails when money on day care will prevent it)

Critical Thinking • Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (“after this, therefore because of this”) - I got fired after going on vacation, therefore I’ll never go on vacation again • Circularity (God did it because he is God) • Correlation-causation confusion (# of drunks and # of teachers (yes, correlated, but only because population is increasing)

Critical Thinking • Law of representativeness (librarians are like libraries) • Self-handicapping (sick, interruptions, namedropping, instructions not clear) • Weasel words (euphemisms: “police action” for war) • Excluded middle (black or white, no grey) • Mistaking chance for a pattern

Critical Thinking • Brokaw Effect (need base line - shallow breathing not necessarily stress/deceit) • Othello Hazard (Desdemona’s unease stress not necessaril a sign of deceit; could be a sign of fear of not being believed)