The Power of Critical Thinking

1. The Power of Critical Thinking

2. Are You a Critical Thinker?Do you have these qualities? • Rationality • Self-Awareness • Honesty • Open-mindedness • Discipline • Judgment

3. Definition>Critical Analysis • Evaluating and analyzing what other people write or say to determine whether or not we can believe their statements. • The State of Colorado elects a new governor every four years • Governor Ritter should require all home owners to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats to 65 degrees in winter.

4. Rationality • Use reason rather than emotion • Rely on evidence • Concerned more with finding the best explanation than just being right

5. Self-awareness • Weigh the influences of motives and bias • Recognize our own prejudices, biases, assumptions, or point of view

6. Honesty • Able to recognize emotional impulses, selfish motives, or other modes of self-deception

7. Open-Mindedness • Evaluate all reasonable inferences • Consider a variety of possible viewpoints or perspectives • Remain open to alternative interpretations • Able to accept new explanations because they explain the evidence better, is simpler, or has fewer inconsistencies • Accept new priorities in response to new evidence

8. Discipline • Precise, meticulous, comprehensive, exhaustive • Resist manipulation and irrational appeals • Avoid snap judgments

9. Judgment • Recognize the relevance and/or merit of alternative assumptions and perspectives • Recognize the extent and weight of evidence

10. Critical Thinkers: • Skeptical, suspicious, ask question, seek answers • Active not passive ask questions do analysis • Do not have an egotistical view of the world

11. Non-Critical Thinkers • See life in black and white, either/or not shades of gray • Yes or no with no subtleties • Cannot make connections between ideas and concepts • Can’t see relationships or create faulty relationships • Egotistical view of the world • Their facts are the only relevant ones • Their perspectives are the only ones • Theirs goals are the only valid ones

12. Understanding Bias Are you biased? How do you know? Easier to make hasty judgments based on your opinion and biases rather than to consider facts the facts and evaluate the arguments How do shape your opinions?

13. Writer’s View Point: Fact or Opinion? • Critical readers are able to distinguish between the two. • Fact: a statement that can be proven true • Opinion: a statement that expresses how the writer thinks or feels or what the writer believes to be true • Ex: 2% of teens commit suicide: Fact or Opinion? • Ex: The high divorce rate is responsible for a 2% rate in teen suicides: Fact or Opinion? • Statistics don’t always make a statement fact. • Qualify such statements: Some believe that; or the high rate of divorce could

14. Evaluating your Source: Primary Source or Secondary Source • Primary Source: original material or information that has not been interpreted by another person: court records, government documents, letters, documentary films, memoirs, original research, and editorials, position papers. Problems? Have to make sure material has not been tainted by the writer • Secondary Source: Made up of primary material that has been gathered and interpreted by a writer. Be cautious, requires careful analysis that this writer, while he/she may have a unique perspective and has complied several primary sources, presents unbiased discussion

15. 3 Things to look for as you evaluate your sources • Identify which sources are primary sources: • Your interview, survey, government documents, email • Indentify your secondary sources: news articles, research projects, analyses. • Look biases, recognize the biases (not always bad) • Be honest and take stock of your own biases • Look for:

16. 1. Author’s Point of View • Know something about the author: • Previous writings • group affiliations, personal interests • Compare with other articles in the same publication: look for consistencies • Compare with other articles on same topic • Look for biased, opinioned statements • Look for opposing views, be aware of opposing views

17. 2. Timeliness • Information adequately reflects the time period in which the topic covers. • Many topics will have periods where there is abundant activity and interest in the subject: ex: feminism in fairytales hot topic in the ’80s. • Current information

18. 3. Usefulness • Abundance of information • Pick best sources • Careful analysis • 10,12,to 15 sources for this essay

19. Aristotle: 3 types of appeal • Logos: an appeal to the reader’s good sense of logic; uses sound reasoning to develop argument • Ethos: an appeal to ethics—the writer uses good writing skills and techniques • Pathos: Reasonable use of emotional appeal

20. Logical Fallacies • Bandwagon: everybody is doing it: California has legalized medical marijuana, so Colorado should • Scare Tactics: Threat • Strawman (person): distorting or exaggerating an opponents ideas to make one’s own seem stronger • Personal Attack: attacking the person rather than his arguments or policies • Testimonial: quoting the expert. Don’t take out of context, beware of biases • Slanders: name calling, exaggerations • Generalization: using statistics or facts to draw faulty conclusions • Categorical statements: making a statement that shuts down any discussion.

21. Recognizing Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes • Ethnocentrism: one’s own religion, nationality, cultural traditions are better than all other. • Stereotyping: assuming all members of the same group share the same characteristics: Pit Bulls must be banned because they are vicious dogs

22. Thanks to • Kurland, Daniel. “How the Language Really Works: The Fundamentals of Critical Reading and Effective Writing.” www.criticalreading.com . 2000. Web. 24 Feb. 2010. • “Critical Thinking.”Cengage Learning. Infotrac College Edition. 28 Feb. 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2010.