Critical Thinking. Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights Thinking- 2 Critical Thinking Means Sorting out conflicting claims

Critical ThinkingCritical Thinking

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Critical Thinking- 2

Critical Thinking Means…

• Sorting out conflicting claims• Weighing the evidence for them• Letting go of personal biases• Arriving at reasonable views• Being willing to change views


Becoming a Critical Thinker

• Be willing to say “I don’t know”• Define your terms• Practice tolerance• Understand before criticizing• Watch for hot spots



• Consider the source• Seek out alternative views• Ask questions• Look for at least three answers



• Lay your cards on the table• Write about it• Accept your changing perspectives• Combine perspectives


Critical Thinking can be…

• Convergent thinking– Narrowing-down from many possible viewpoints

• Divergent (or creative) thinking– Asking questions

– Generating as many possible options as you can

– Divergent thinking provides a basis for convergent thinking.


Finding “Aha!”

• Burst of creative energy• Fuels critical thinking


Techniques for Creative Thinking

• Conduct a brainstorm• Focus and let go• Cultivate creative serendipity• Keep idea files• Collect and play with data


Techniques for Creative Thinking

• Create while you sleep• Refine ideas and follow through• Create success strategies• Trust the process


Inventing Questions

• Put a question mark after a fact• Ask about what’s missing• Just let your pen move• Pretend to be someone else• Ask what else you want to know• Begin a general question and

brainstorm endings


Uncovering Assumptions

• Testing the validity of a viewpoint

Viewpoint Write them out

See if you can find exceptions to them

Look for the assumptions (the assertions implied by that view)


Ways to Fool Yourself: Six Common Mistakes in Logic

• Jump to conclusions• Attack the person• Appeal to an “authority”• Point to a false cause• Think in “all-or-nothing” terms• Base arguments on emotion

Documents

Critical Thinking. Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights Thinking- 2 Critical Thinking Means Sorting out conflicting claims