EVALUATE THE CLAIMS AND CREDIBILITY OF SOURCES

CHAPTER SIX

POSITIVE CRITICAL THINKING HABITS

• CREDIBILITY OF SOURCE

• PLAUSIBILITY OF CLAIM

CLAISM WITHOUT REASONS

• SALESCLERK: "THAT LOOKS GREAT ON YOU."

• POLITICAL COMMENTATOR ON OPPOSITION: "THEIR PROPOSAL WILL CRIPPLE THE ECONOMY."

• DEFENDENT WHO WILL RECEIVE LIGHTER SENTENCE: "NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, IT WAS THE OTHER GUY'S IDEA."

• JOB INTERVIEWEE: "I AM AN EXCELLENT CANDIDATE."

MORE CLAIMS

• BEST FRIEND: "YOU OUGHT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU DRINK AT PARTIES."

• PARENT TO HIS 8TH GRADER: "NO, IT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA TO GO OUT WITH A HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR."

• ROOMMATE: "THE APARTMENT MANAGER WAS LOOKING FOR YOU."

• DOCTOR: "THE LAB TEST CAME BACK POSITIVE."

LEVELS OF THINKING AND KNOWING

• 1. TOUCHERS

• 2. TRUSTERS

• 3. FEELERS

• 4. COLLECTORS

• 5. RELATIVISTS

• 6. TRUTH-SEEKERS

• 7. SAGES

ARE EXPERTS ALWAYS RELIABLE?

• CURRENCY

• ARTICULATION

• BIAS

• INTENTIONAL MISLEADING

• CONFLICT OF INTEREST

• NOT CONSIDERING BEST INTERESTS OF CLIENT

• COERCION OR DURESS

• UNINFORMED/MISINFORMED ABOUT SITUATION

• MENTALLY UNSTABLE

EXPERTS CAN LACK CRITICAL THINKING ABILITIES

• RELECTION

• FORESIGHT

• INQUISITIVENESS

• SELF-MONITORING AND SELF-CORRECTING

• INSTINCT/GUT

TWELVE CHARACTERISTICS OF A CRITICAL THINKING

• LEARNED IN TOPIC

• EXPERIENCED IN TOPIC

• SPEAKING ABOUT TOPIC

• UP-TO-DATE IN TOPIC

• ARTICULATE IN TOPIC

• UNBIASED

TRUSTWORTHY SOURCES (CON'D)

• TRUTHFUL

• NO CONFLICT OF INTEREST

• OUR INTEREST IN MIND

• UNCONSTRAINED

• INFORMED ABOUT SPECIFICS

• MENTALLY STABLE

CRITICAL THINKERS

• WRITE DOWN TWO OR THREE CRITICAL THINKERS YOU TRUST AND WHY (12 CRITERIA?) P. 119

PLAUSIBILITY OF A CLAIM

• SELF-CONTRADICTION (ALWAYS FALSE) (P. 120)

• TAUTOLOGIES (ALWAYS TRUE) P. 121

• EXERCISE ON P. 122: WRITE FOUR QUESTIONS THAT WILL YIELD INFORMATION TO HELP EVALUATION THE PLAUSIBLITY OF A CLAIM.

MARKETING, SPIN, DISINFORMATION AND PROPAGANDA

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2013/11/60-minutes-and-the-benghazi-scandal-trap.html

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/11/12/when-did-fox-news-cite-dylan-davies/196860 http://americablog.com/2013/11/colbert-stewart-60-minutes-faux-benghazi-gate-whistleblower-video.html  http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-benghazi-a-real-scandal http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/11/13/244985789/analysis-why-is-60-minutes-so-tight-lipped-in-its-benghazi-apology http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/13/208446/questions-about-60-minutes-benghazi.html http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/13/details-emerge-about-americans-badly-injured-in-benghazi-attack/ http://foxnewsinsider.com/tag/benghazi-attack http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/09/20/these-pictures-prove-fox-is-lying-democrats-did/196000 http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/09/20/darrell_issa_almost_successfully_trolls_democrats_for_not_caring_about_benghazi.htmlhttp://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/03/gops-benghazi-hoax-exposed.htmlhttp://www.herald-dispatch.com/opinions/x1430510450/Benghazi-gate-may-have-altered-history 

SLANTED LANGUAGE AND LOADED EXPRESSIONS

• P. 123 - WHICH OF THESE HAVE LOADED EXPRESSIONS OR SLANTED LANGUAGE?

SCIENTIFIC THINKING P. 124-25

• CAN THE CLAIM BE CONFIRMED?

• CAN THE CLAIM BE DISCONFIRMED?

CH. 7 EVALUATING ARGUMENTS

• TRUTHFULNESS

• LOGICAL STRENGTH

• RELEVANCE

• NON-CIRCULARITY

• P. 142 - EVALUATE THE ARGUMENTS

Circular Reasoning

• The Bible is true because it says so.

• Boxing is dangerous because it is an unsafe sport.

FALLACIES, P. 142

• WE'VE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY. I DON'T WANT TO CHANGE OUR POLICY.

• TRY SUDSY DETERGENT. IT'S NEW!

• IT WOULD BE A GRAVE MISTAKE TO THINK THERE IS NO HELL. IN FACT, IT WOULD BE AN ETERNAL ERROR.

• HEY TRUST ME. WOULD I LIE TO YOU BABY?

BANDWAGON:APPEALS TO THE MOB

• ALL THE KIDS AT SCHOOL ARE GETTING TATTOS, SO I SHOULD PROBABLY GET ONE.

• ALL MY FRIENDS DRIVE SUVS, SO YOU SHOULD TOO.

• EVERYONE WANTS TO KEEP THEIR OLD HEALTH INSURANCE, SO THE LAW SHOULD LET THEM.

APPEALS TO EMOTION

• Professor Perkins, if I don’t make an “A” in your class I won’t get my HOPE scholarship next semester.

• A plaintiff’s attorney brings his injured client, who is seeking compensatory damages, into the courtroom and plays up the injury in front of the jury (“A Civil Action”)

• When Lyndon Johnson was running for president, his team ran a commercial of a little girl in a field holding a daisy, then an atomic bomb went off in the background. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExjDzDsgbww

• The Bush campaign ran a 2004 commercial showing images from 9/11. (It was immediately withdrawn due to the families of victims complaining).

AD HOMINEM: ATTACKING THE MAN

• Jane is friends with Bob who was caught embezzling from the company; therefore, she should be fired.

• That candidate smoked pot when he was in college; therefore, he should not be president of the United States.

• That candidate had an affair; therefore, he should not be president of the United States.

STRAW MAN

• After Will said that we should put more money into health and education, Warren responded by saying that he was surprised that Will hates our country so much that he wants to leave it defenseless by cutting military spending.

• Please proceed, Governor:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz86prvGGOc

FALSE AUTHORITY

• Matt Damon should write an expose about the CIA since knows all about it; he was in the Bourne trilogy.

• In the annual NCAA March Madness office pool, the boss picked North Carolina State to win it all. I’m going to pick the same team she did. After all, she’s the boss.

Language Fallacies

• “I am firm, you are stubborn, he is pigheaded.” – Bertrand Russell • “Friendly fire” – military term for killing your own team by mistake• “Collateral damage” – military term for people who are

inadvertently killed or property inadvertently destroyed in warfare• Everyone who is prison can still be free, for true freedom is

knowledge about one’s situation. The more one knows about one’s self, the more free one is.