Critical Thinking

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Critical Thinking

• An educations central mission

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The Big Question

• Everywhere we look, someone is making some claim
  or other about our behavior and experience,
  trying to make money and influence us.
• How can we tell the difference between what is
  legitimate and beneficial and what is merely
  puffed-up advertising or just plain wrong?

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Critical Thinking

• Making crucial decisions on carefully accumulated
  evidence and well supported reasons
• Not based on emotion or misplaced belief on
  isolated occurances

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Shouldnt we be open-minded?

• Sure, everyone should carefully evaluate new
  claims, ideas, and perspectives.
• But they must be assessed by the long-standing,
  tried and true, standards and methods of science
  that have separated the helpful from the bogus
  for centuries.

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Hallmarks of Critical Thinking

• Ask questions
• Much is undiscovered, uncertain, unsolved
• We must first ask the questions before we can
  find the answers
• A child-like sense of wonder will open our eyes
  and spark our creativity

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Define terms precisely

• Before we can productively anything we must first
  establish exactly what we are talking about
• Imprecision leads to confusion and unnecessary
  arguments

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Examine evidence

• Look carefully to assess a claims foundation
• Based upon mere opinion?
• A few intriguing but isolated occurrences or
  anecdotes?
• Careful observation?
• Sweeping analyses of relationships?
• Experimentation subjected to peer review?

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Look behind assumptions

• Do we start our inquiry already leaning to a
  particular outcome?
• Bias an assumption or belief that unfairly
  influences our appraisal of the evidence
• We attack a position before considering it
  objectively because we just know that it is
  wrong
• Many biases are hidden or subtle.

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The peril of oversimplification

• Human behavior is complicated and influenced by
  dozens of factors
• Anecdotes are compelling but often are controlled
  by hidden factors
• Worse yet, they might not reflect the views or
  behaviors of large groups as a whole.

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Tolerating uncertainty

• Easy to say hard to do.
• We want clear, definite answers.
• We rarely get them.
• Sometimes we lack enough evidence, sometimes what
  we have is confusing or frustratingly complex
• We must be patient, open-minded and hopeful.

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An unending quest

• To make the best decisions possible, we must use
  these methods and skills
• We never stop needing them.
• It isnt easy.
• But, if we keep these basic principles in mind,
  we will make fewer mistakes and spend our time,
  money, and energy more effectively.