A COMPREHENSIVE THINKING STRATEGY
Observe: It is necessary to have data in order
to assess information that is presented to you. Therefore one
must observe in order to
- detect the issues being discussed,
- the opinions expressed about those issues,
- the evidence offered in support of those opinions,
- the various disputes that have arisen
- Arenas for observation:
- printed material - newspapers, magazines, and books
- non print media - movies, television, and radio
- everyday contacts with other people, at home, in school
and at work
Record: to allow for later reflection
Keep a journal, record the following:
| interesting issues you would like
to address when you have more time |
Identify the various views people take
on the issues and the evidence they offer in support.
Find additional evidence, if possible, and decide which
view of the issue is most reasonable. |
| statements that appear to be
unusually insightful |
Think of appropriate ways to test the
statements to determine whether they are, in fact,
insightful. Carry out the tests (Be prepared to modify or
even reverse you first impression) |
| statements that seem to be shallow
or mistaken - issues that are serious enough to be of
interest |
Think of appropriate ways to test the
statements to determine whether they are in fact shallow
or mistaken. Carry out the tests. Consider as above. If
you wish, frame a response to any statement that proves
to be shallow or mistaken. |
| questions that arise from your
reading, listening or otherwise occur to you and seem
worth pursuing |
Decide how best to proceed in answering
the questions. Answer them. |
| ideas or situations that seem to
have wider implications |
Probe the implications. |
| anything you experience or hear
about that you wish to understand more fully |
Decide how best to learn more about the
matter. Apply yourself to that end. |
Address relevant questions.
TESTING OPINIONS
Test evidence
In quality - if it is relevant to the issue and
is accurately presented.
in quantity - is dependent upon how sweeping the
opinion is. - “may exist” may rest on a single study,
“exists” requires a much more comprehensive data base.
Ways to test opinions for reasonableness:
- Think of situations in which the opinion ought to apply
and decide whether it does apply.
- Think of exceptions to the claim set forth in the
opinion.
- Check relevant research to see if it supports the
opinion.
- Search out competing opinions to determine whether any of
them are more reasonable than the opinion in question.
- If the author offers an example, think of
counter-examples
TESTING OPINIONS
Test evidence
In quality - if it is relevant to the issue and
is accurately presented.
in quantity - is dependent upon how sweeping the
opinion is. - “may exist” may rest on a single study,
“exists” requires a much more comprehensive data base.
Ways to test opinions for reasonableness:
- Think of situations in which the opinion ought to apply
and decide whether it does apply.
- Think of exceptions to the claim set forth in the
opinion.
- Check relevant research to see if it supports the
opinion.
- Search out competing opinions to determine whether any of
them are more reasonable than the opinion in question.
- If the author offers an example, think of
counter-examples
Types of Errors in Thinking
Errors of Perception:
- Mine is better thinking - this often occurs in
matters that are important to us such as our race,
religion, ethnic group, social class, political party, or
philosophy of life. We value kinship with those who are
similar.
- Selective perception - attending to those points/
arguments with which you agree.
- gullibility and skepticism - the error of believing
everything or doubting everything.
- Bias toward the majority or the minority -
following our affections, identifying with the majority
or with the underdog.
- Pretending to know - believing what we have
pretended.
- Bias for or against change - conservatives have
never met a new idea that they liked and liberals have
never met a new idea that they didn't like.
- Either/or thinking - taking only extreme positions
on an issue when other positions are possible.
- Errors of Judgement:
- Double standard - using one standard of judgement
for our own ideas and another for those of others.
- Irrelevant criterion - not defining appropriate
criteria for an action.
- Overgeneralizing or stereotyping - generalizations
need a reasonable number of subjects to be acceptable.
- Hasty conclusions - drawn without enough evidence.
- Unwarranted assumptions - ideas taken for granted
without appropriate basis.
- Failure to make a distinction - subtle differences
may make a large difference in evaluation a situation or
idea.
- Oversimplification - omits essential information
and ignores complexity.
- Errors of Reaction:
- Explaining away - discrediting contrary opinions
without consideration.
- Shifting the burden of proof - demanding to have
contrary proof provided rather than offering support for
one's own opinion.
- Attacking the person - bringing in unconnected
allegations to cover own weakness in argument.
- Straw man - pretending someone has said something
that she has not and then denouncing her for saying it.
Twisting words to imply what is not meant.
- Errors can Multiply
- The desire to be knowledgeable may lead to the pretense
of knowledge which results in errors of perception which
pave the way for errors of judgement. These may force us
to commit errors of reaction to save face.
- APPLYING CRITICAL THINKING
- Thinking critically about commercials
- Look for glittering generalities, empty comparisons,
meaningless slogans, testimonials and transfers
- Steps used by advertisers - gain audience
attention, arouse interest, stimulate desire for
the product, then make sales pitch
|
- Bandwagon
|
- everyone else has it - appeals to desire to
conform
|
- Glittering generality
|
- the use of words and phrases to imply excellence
with no specific support
|
- Empty comparisons
|
- the use of words such as bigger, better, more,
with no “than what”
|
- Meaningless slogan
|
- present a pleasant impressions without promising
anything about the product
|
- Testimonial
|
- Paid endorsements by “important people”
|
- Transfer
|
- Voice over by familiar voices which imply
endorsement or symbols superimposed
- (e.g. statue of liberty)
|
- Thinking critically about print advertising
- Advertisers choose every word and picture with an aim in
mind - to sell a product, service, or idea. Analyze print
advertisements.
- Look for:
- deceptive images - glamorous connections which
imply connections of lifestyle
- offensive picture - gender put-downs
- material which is supportive of violence or
inappropriate values
|
- Thinking critically about television programming
- Consider whether television viewing promotes habits that
hinder critical thinking . Critics claims that it:
- keeps children from books, cramping the imagination,
- aims at the lowest common denominator,
- hinders language skills - using slang and clichés,
- limits game show questions to who what where and when,
- implies that careful analysis of issues is unnecessary or
boring,
- uses narrative rather than analytical approach,
- presents opinions by celebrities rather than by
authorities.
- It promotes a bias for:
- war over peace,
- violence over nonviolence,
- superficiality over depth,
- simplification over balance,
- feelings of conflict over feelings of
agreement,
- lust over satisfaction,
- anger over tranquillity,
- jealousy over acceptance,
- competition over cooperation,
- materialism over spirituality,
- the bizarre over the usual,
- the fixed over the evolutionary,
- the static over the dynamic
|
- Thinking critically about music
- Critics say that popular music promotes
antisocial attitudes; musicians deny the charge
and decry censorship. Decide for yourself
- Popular taste in music has moved from big band
music and jazz in the 1940s to rock and roll in
the 1950s and on through several transformations,
notably acid rock and then heavy metal, and now
includes other music forms such as reggae and
rap.
- Critics charge that new music is undermining the
fundamental values of society and cause
antisocial attitudes and behaviour, including
crime.
- Differences in modern days include:
- amplification
- voices which are often not the previously
valued, finely tuned instrument and
lyrics which may not be easily heard
- ideas and attitudes conveyed by the
lyrics themselves and the mannerisms
which accompany them
- video music themes now include the
celebration of the destruction of
property, rape, child abuse, incest,
sadism, murder and suicide (often in
graphic detail). The average age of the
audience that watches them is between 14
and 16 years of age.
|
- Thinking critically about magazines
- Consider whether popular magazines glorify
the sensational or merely give the public what it
wants
- Common criticisms of news and/or general
interest magazines:
- editorial bias results in lack of
objectivity in reporting particularly on
issues related to magazines own bias.
- general interest magazines promote
shallowness and superficiality by
focussing on the details of celebrities'
lives, particularly scandalous details.
- That many magazines allow their choice
and treatment of subject matter to be
influenced, and often compromised, by
their advertisers.
- that many magazines tend to reinforce the
values of popular culture - in
particular, impulsiveness,
self-indulgence, and instant
gratification - rather than the values of
traditional culture
|
- Thinking critically about newspapers
- The way newspapers present information has
changed radically over the years. Facts and
opinions are now generally intertwined throughout
the paper.
- .
- In response to TV and radio, the
newspaper industry has simplified and
shortened stories. The most extreme
example of this approach is the USA Today
format
- Change in the treatment of fact and
opinion. Traditionally, news stories
presented only facts, objectively and
without comment, while having an
editorial page which expressed the
newspaper's official point of view.
- Today's newspapers have such pages but
opinion is no longer carefully screened
out of news stories. Many journalists, in
fact, blend their interpretations and
personal judgements into the news. Only
the alert reader will understand where
reporting ends and editorializing begins.
|
Hone your critical thinking skills on editorials and
letters to the editor. Expressing your ideas persuasively
- Compete the thinking process, focus on your viewpoint,
choose a suitable organization, provide evidence, use an
exact and lively style, vary paragraph length, and
proofread