Critical Thinking Lesson One

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Critical Thinking

• HUM 115
• Ray Sheppard

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Critical Thinking

• Lesson One

The Benefit and Manner of Asking The Right
Questions Chapter One Pages 1-17
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What is Critical Thinking?

1. The awareness of a set of interrelated critical
   questions.
2. The ability to ask and answer critical questions
   at the appropriate times.
3. The desire to actively use the critical
   questions.
4. Thinking about thinking.

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How Does Critical Thinking Benefit Us?

1. We are able to react critically to what we
   hear/read.
2. We are no longer spectators depended upon
   others.
3. We become involved in our own thinking and
   learning.

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What is the goal of Critical Thinking?

• The goal is NOT to tear down.
• The goal of Critical Thinking is to move the
  conversation forward.

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Types of Thinking

• Sponge Thinking
• Panning for Gold Thinking

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Types of Thinking

• Sponge Thinking
• Absorbing information without critical
  examination.
• Advantages
• The more you absorb the more you know.
• It is easy (passive) and requires little effort.
• Disadvantages
• No method of determining which information should
  be accepted.
• At the mercy of others.
• Not critical thinking.

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Types of Thinking

• Panning for Gold Thinking
• Developing a question-asking attitude.
• Takes time and can be challenging.
• Rewards are priceless.
• How does it work?
• Questions the claims of others.
• Interact with the material they are learning.
• Critically evaluates material they are learning.
• Evaluates what is being said.
• After careful consideration coming to an educated
  decision.

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Types of Thinking

• Panning for Gold
• Pages 4 and 5.
• Use panning for gold method.
• Reading Assignment
• Moodle course page
• The Critical Mind is a Questioning Mind
• Becoming a Critic of Your Thinking

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The Myth of the Right Answer

• Panning for gold methodology works for almost any
  subject.
• Even topics you know little/nothing about.
• Why?
• Cant learn all possible information.
• Simply cant know all the possible facts.
• Example
• The Social Sciences (Psychology, Sociology).
• Should not prevent us from asking questions.
• Critical Thinking gives you the tools to develop
  the best and most reasonable answer based on the
  information you have.

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The Myth of the Right Answer

• Avoid
• Intellectual Arrogance
• Thinking we know more than we actually can/do.
• Practice
• Intellectual Humility
• Acknowledge what we do not know.
• Reading Assignment (See Moodle)
• Valuable Intellectual Traits
• Universal Intellectual Standards

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Weak Sense Strong Sense Thinking

• Critical Thinking can be used for one of two
  purposes
• Self-Centeredness (sophistry).
• Fair-Mindedness.

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Weak Sense Strong Sense Thinking

• Weak Sense Thinking
• Fails to recognize mistakes in their own
  reasoning and does not consider viewpoints that
  contradict their own.
• Uncritically defends current beliefs (positions).
• Also called Sophistry
• The art of winning an argument regardless of
  the problems that may exist in the reasoning
  being used or what information is being ignored.
• Sophists simply want to WIN the argument.
• Lower level reasoning skills used to make
  unreasonable thinking appear reasonable.

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Weak Sense Strong Sense Thinking
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Weak Sense Strong Sense Thinking

• Strong Sense Thinking
• Consistent in their pursuit of the fair and just.
• Strive to be ethical.
• Strives to behave in ways that do not exploit or
  harm others.
• Strive to think in a reasonable manner.
• Applies the critical questions to all truth
  claims.
• Critically examines their own beliefs.

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The Most Important Question

• Who Cares?
• Is this particular issue or problem worth our
  time? Our energy? If not, move on
• Under what circumstances do you think that youll
  care enough to devote energy to critical
  thinking?
• Under what circumstances do you think you will
  not care enough to devote energy to critical
  thinking?

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Critical Thinking and Values

• Thinking is done in community.
• Goal of critical thinking is for us to be able to
  handle our interaction with out people in ways
  that stimulates out continued growth as thinkers.
• We need to increase our awareness of the dangers
  of social interaction in critical thinking.

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Critical Thinking and Values

• What is the basis for the opinions and
  conclusions you hold?
• The people around you.

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Critical Thinking and Values
Our Worldviews
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Critical Thinking and Values
Religion
Family
Friends
Nation
Traditions
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Critical Thinking and Values
Security Peace of mind Comfort
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Critical Thinking and Values
We Must Learn To Think Outside The Box
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Critical Thinking and Values
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Critical Thinking and Values

• How you interact with others is determined by
• Your values.
• The values you perceive in them.
• What are values?
• Values are the unstated ideas that people see as
  worthwhile. Values provide standards of conduct
  by which we measure the quality of human behavior.

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Critical Thinking and Values

• We tend to be attracted towards people who share
  our values/worldviews.
• We tend to be uncomfortable around those people
  who do not share our values/worldviews.
• The challenge
• Require ourselves to work hard at understanding
  those who hold different values/worldviews.
• Does not mean we will agree with them.
• Intellectual Curiosity and Intellectual Fairness.

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Primary values of a critical thinker

• Autonomy
• Think for ourselves.
• Curiosity
• Curiosity causes us to ask questions.
• Humility
• Understanding of how much we dont know.
• Respect for Good Reasoning
• Rely upon strong reasoning.

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Primary Values of a Critical Thinker

• These values will
• Keep us searching for new evidence.
• Strengthen our beliefs with well researched
  information.
• Provides us reasons we may need to change.
• We should be confident in our beliefs/views.
• We should not hold to our beliefs/views so
  tightly that we are unable to ask, might I be
  wrong?

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Group activity

• Why do these values make you a better Critical
  Thinker?
• Do you believe that you possess these value
  priorities? Why? Why not?

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Thinking and emotions

• We always think/reason with a purpose or goal in
  mind.
• We are never un-bias. We all have our biases.
• It can be difficult to let go of our biases.
• Emotional attachments to bias not always a bad
  thing.
• Our biases need to follow careful reasoning.

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Thinking and emotions

• We must avoid the temptation to be motivated by
  our desire to keep thinking the same way or
  holding the same views.
• We should avoid the temptation to allow our
  reasoning to be dictated by our emotions.
• We should search for better ways to think with
  more depth and more accurately.

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Thinking and emotions

• Learn to listen to the views of those that we
  disagree with.
• Even if we continue to disagree with them, by
  listening to them we could learn new information.
• After listening to them, we might discover that
  their reasoning is better than ours and therefore
  we must change our view(s).

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Keeping the conversation going

• How will people react when we ask them questions
  about their beliefs and conclusions?

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Keeping the conversation going

• Usually positive if the person agrees with our
  value priorities.
• Could be negative if the person disagrees with
  our value priorities.
• People are not accustomed to having their values
  or opinions questioned.

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Keeping the conversation going

• How would you like others to ask you questions
  about your beliefs so that you would want to
  continue to discuss a topic about which you have
  very strong feelings?

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Arguments

• A combination of two forms of statements.
• Conclusion.
• Reasons.
• Conclusion Reasons Argument.

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Arguments

• How do you relate to people in a way that will
  encourage a productive exchange of ideas?
• Respect and listen to them (even if you
  disagree).
• Avoid personal attacks.

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End of Lesson One