Develop your CRITICAL THINKING skills - easily!

We may not all be at the same level of Albert Einstein but we can learn from how other critical thinkers think.

A problem is something that requires a solution, decision or response

People only tend to act on problems when they feel a sense of ownership

Individuals might be aware of a problem but choose to ignore it 

An unspecified or anonymous source is used as part of an argument, usually with the intent of adding credibility to the argument by providing an imagined authority for a piece of evidence

Correlation, can be viewed as “co-relation”, or a relationship between two things that happen at the same time

Causation is when one thing causes another thing, or a cause-and-effect relationship

False precision gives the illusion of precision to make an argument appear stronger than it really is

Indicators are keywords used to identify the conclusion or premises in an argument

A complex argument is more difficult to analyse than a simple one

Critical thinkers are not put-off by complex arguments; a complex argument may take longer to analyse but the basic process is the same

Bias distorts our perspective and affects our judgment, often subconsciously without us realising it

What do these statements have in common?

Prejudice is a pre-concieved judgement towards an individual or group of individuals based on unfounded beliefs or attitudes

Prejudice often results in negative feelings, sterotyping, rejection or discrimination

The main purpose of evidence is either to

1)Support a claim that we are making

2)Evaluate whether a claim can be believed

The Kipling method advocates 6 critical kinds of question, namely, what, why, when, how, where and who.

The idea of the 5 whys is to dig deeper to understand the root cause of a problem and understand why a problem is happening in the first place

Socrates was a famous philosopher and educator who taught by asking questions; he defined six main types of question

A questioning strategy is about asking questions in a thoughtfuland purposeful manner to arrive at a point of decision-making in an efficient manner

Base-rate fallacy is where a judgment is made that disregards existing information on probability and instead takes into account irrelevant information

A tool for evaluating the quality of information sources - originally designed for academic use

A non-credible witness is someone we doubt

In legal terms, a credible witness is one whose testimony can be believed

If we meet someone for the first time, or are doing business with another company for the first time, how do we establish the credibility of the individual or the organisation?

Facts can be verified through observation or an established point of reference such as a book or acknowledged expert

Opinions can only be evaluated not verified

An observation is made by gathering data from sight, smell, touch or other senses

An inference is a conclusion one derives based on a set of assumptions

Anchoring is the tendency to rely on past reference, an “anchor” when making a decision 

A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning

The use of a person or institution of authority, stature or repute as a premise to support a conclusion

A claim that something is true because many other people also alledgedly believe its true

An appeal to motive calls into question the motive of a person or organisation regardless of however tenuous or unlikely the actual motive may be

In an appeal to ridicule, an argument is responded to as if it so absurd, ridiculous or comical to the extent that it not deserving of any serious merit or attention

There are many different kinds of irrelevant appeal

Ad hominem is an attack on the person making an argument rather than the argument itself 

False dilemna is a false choice – it involves portraying situations as a choice between black or white

The use of exaggerated and improbable consequences

Deliberately introducing or highlighting favourable or unfavourable information in order to make a certain impression

The qualities of one thing are automatically assumed in another thing through a tenuous or insignificant association

A red herring involves the introduction of an unrelated topic into a discussionin order to mislead or deflect attention

Attacking a “strawman”, or a distorted or exaggerated version of someone’s argument, rather than the actual argument itself 

You decide whether the conclusion actually follows from the stated premises and evidence

In deductive reasoning one applies applies a general theory to specific examples

In inductive reasoning one uses specific examples to make a general theory

A sound argument is one where the argument is valid, and the premises are believable

An unsound argument is there the argument is valid, but where the premises are unbelievable

3 machines (A, B and C) are able to produce 3,000 widgets per day 

How long will it take 4 machines (A, B, C and D) to produce 12,000 widgets?

When someone makes an argument they may not explicitly mention things they believe to be true but which are relevant to the argument

These beliefs are known as assumptions

There are 3 types of assumption: stated, hidden and obvious

We need to need check assumptions and decide whether they are acceptable or warranted.

A warranted assumption meets at least one of the following criteria:

• Known to be true
• Is deemed reasonable without the need for further evidence

Critical thinking involves challenging the assumptions made in an argument.

What assumptions are being made?

Why are those assumptions being made?

How reasonable are the assumptions? Are they warranted?

How can we verify the assumptions?

Are the assumptions too simplistic?

In what situations would the assumptions not hold true?

What if…

Ethical reasoning is reasoning about right or wrong human conduct, and what is fair, responsible and just