Some readers may think you have to be smart to think
critically. But a corollary is that learning how to think critically makes you
smart. The assumption is that one can learn to think critically (that is, be
smart). The assumption is correct. Here, I hope to show you how you can become smarter by learning critical thinking
skills.
Require Yourself to Think Critically
When you read or listening to others talk, force yourself to
become more attentive and engaged with the information. Asking questions
assures engagement.
Learn and Look for Common Thinking Errors
Unfortunately, most adults are not taught formal logic, even
in college. College logic courses are electives and are made confusing by
obtuse premises, propositions, and equations. But common-sense logic can suffice. I have posted a list of common thinking
errors elsewhere (1). Here are some of the more serious thinking errors:
APPEAL TO AUTHORITY OR CONSENSUS:
attempting to justify the conclusion by quoting an authority in its support or
on the basis of how many people hold the same view.
ARGUMENT SELECTIVITY: glossing over
alternative perspectives (often called “cherry picking.)” It is not only fair
but usually helpful to include opposing positions when making arguments to
support a position. Commonly, opposing arguments, even when wrong over-all,
usually have some grain of truth that needs to be accommodated.
CIRCULAR REASONING: reasoning where
the premise of an argument or a conclusion is used as support for the argument.
Usually this happens when evidence is missing or glossed over.
COGNITIVE SHORTCUT BIAS: doggedly
sticking with a favored view or argument for a position, when other more
fruitful possibilities exist. Even chess masters, for example, may use an
established gambit when a better tactic is available.
CONFUSING CORRELATION WITH
CAUSATION. asserting that when two things happen together, and especially when
one occurs just before the other, that one thing causes the other. Without
other more direct evidence of causation, this assumption is not justified. Both
events could be caused by something else. Example: rain and lightning go
together, but neither causes the other.
EXCLUSIVITY CONFUSION. failure to
recognize elements of compatibility in multiple apparently conflicting ideas or
facts. It is important to know whether they are independent, compatible, or
mutually exclusive. Example: concepts of evolution and creationism, as they are
typically used, are mutually exclusive. However, stated in other ways, they
have shared elements of agreement.
FALSE ANALOGY: explaining an idea
with an analogy that is not parallel, as in comparing apples and oranges. While
analogies and metaphors are powerful rhetorical tools, they are not equivalent
to what they reference.
JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS: using only
a few facts for a definitive conclusion. The most common situation is failure
to consider alternatives. An associated cause is failure to question and test
assumptions used to arrive at a conclusion.
OVER-GENERALIZATION:
assuming that what is true for one is true for something else. Example: some
scientists studying free will claim that the decision-making process for making
a button press is the same for more complex decisions.
Learn Specific Strategies
Be Aware of Your Thinking. Explain to students the need to think about
how they think. This is the art of introspection, focused on being aware of
such things as one's own degree of alertness, attentiveness, bias, emotional
state, exploration of interpretation options, self-assurance.
Train Yourself to to Focus. In today's multi-tasking world, students
commonly lack the ability to concentrate. They are easily distracted. They
don't listen well, and are not very effective at extracting meaning from what
they read.
Use evidence-based Reasoning. Don't confuse opinion with fact. When
others make a claim, don't accept it without supporting evidence. Even then,
look for contrary evidence that is omitted.
Identify what is Missing. In conversation or reading, the most
important points may be what is not stated. This is especially true when
sometime is trying to persuade you of their viewpoint.
Ask Questions and Providing Your Own Answer. I had a professor, C.
S. Bachofer at Notre Dame who built a whole course based on this principle. For
every reading assignment, he required the students to ask a provocative question
about the reading and then write how it might be answered. Fellow students
debated each other's questions and answers. Developing this as a thinking habit
will ensure you will become a more critical thinker, learn more, and provide
some degree of enlightenment to others with whom you interact.
Professor Klemm is author of a 2017
book, "The Learning Skills Cycle. A Way to Rethink Educational Reform. New
York: Rowman & Littlefield.
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475833225/The-Learning-Skills-Cycle-A-Way-to-Rethink-Education
(1) Klemm,
W. R. (2014). Analytical thinking—logic errors 101. http://thankyoubrain.blogspot.com/2014/10/analytical-thinking-logic-errors-101.html
