CRITICAL THINKING STANDARD

1. CLARITY

We need to understand what people say clearly before we can effectively evaluate their arguments and claims.

Unfortunately, that can be difficult because people often fail to express themselves clearly.

This lack of clarity is due to : 1.laziness 2.carelessness 3.a lack of skills

Only by paying attention to language we can avoid such needless miscommunications and disappointments.

To achieve our personal goals in life we need a clear conception of our goals and priorities, a realistic abilities, and clear understanding of the problem and opportunities we face…..

2. PRECISION

Sherlock Holmes is the famous fictional sleuth written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

In Doyle’s stories Holmes if often able to solve complex mysteries when the bungling detectives from Scotland Yard haven’t so much as a clue..

WHAT IS THE SECRET OF HIS SUCCSESS???? An extraordinary commitment to precision.

1. By careful and highly trained observation Holmes is able to discover clues that others have overlooked.2. By a process of precise logical inference He is able to reason from those clues to discover the solution to the

mystery.

The importance of precision in specialized fields: Medicine Mathematics Architecture Engineering

Critical thinkers really understand the importance of precise thinking in

life.They understand that to cut through the confusion and uncertainties that surround many problems and issues,

it is often necessary to insist on precise answer to precise questions.

What exactly the problem we’re facing?

What exactly are the alternative?

3. ACCURACY

There is well-known saying about computers ”Garbage in, garbage out”. This mean if you put bad information into a computer, bad information is exactly what will you get out of it…

Much the same is true about human thinking. No matter how brilliant you may be, you’re almost guaranteed to make bad decisions if your decision are based on false information

4. RELEVENCE

Anyone who ever sat through a boring school assembly or watched a mud-slinging political debate can appreciate the importance of staying focused on relevant ideas and information.

A favorite debaters trick is to try distract an audience attention by raising an irrelevant issues.

In a case of Judge(Stephen T.) Logan:

Always earnest and grave –opposed him, Lincoln created no little merriment by his reference to Logan’s style of dress. He carried the surprised in store for the later, till he reached his turn before the jury. Addressing them, he said "Gentlemen, you must be careful and not permit yourselves to be overcome by the eloquence of counsel for the defense. Judge Logan I know is an effective lawyer. I have met him to often to doubt that but shrewd and careful though he be, he still is someone wrong. Since this trial has begun i have discovered that with all this caution and fastidiousness he hasn’t knowledge enough to put his shirt on right”

Logan turned red as crimson , but sure enough , Lincoln was correct , for the former had donned a new shirt , and by mistake had drawn it over his head with the pleated bosom behind . The general laugh which followed destroyed the effect of Logan’s eloquence over the jury-the very point at which Lincoln aimed.

Lincoln’s ploy was entertaining and succeeded in distracting the attention of jury. Had the

jurors been thinking critically, however, they would have realized that carelessness about one’s attire has no logical relevance to the

strength of one’s arguments.

5. LOGICAL CORRETNESS

To think critically we need accurate well and supported beliefs.

But just as important, we need to be able to reason from those beliefs to conclusions that logically follow from them.

Unfortunately illogical thinking is all too common in human affairs.

As Russell observes, from the proposition:1. God sees everythingThe pious correctly drew the conlusion:2. God sees through bathroom wallsHowever, they failed to draw the equally obvious

conclusion that3. God sees through bathrobes

7. FAIRNESS

1. Critical thinking demands that our thinking to be fair: open-minded Impartial Free from biases Preconception

2. people are often strongly disposed to resist unfamiliar ideas, to prejudge issues, to stereotype outsiders and to identify truth with their own self-interest of their nation or group.

3. It is probably unrealistic to suppose that our thinking could ever be completely free of biases and preconceptions.

4. But as difficult as it may be to achieve, basic fair-mindedness is clearly an essential attribute of a critical thinker

THE BENEFITS OF CRITICAL THINKING

CRITICAL THINKING IN THE CLASSROOM

Students learn a variety of skills that can greatly improve their classroom performance. This skills include:

understanding the arguments and beliefs of others.

Critically evaluating those arguments and beliefs.

CRITICAL THINKING IN THE WORKPLACE

Skill that can help workers at the workplace that involves critical thinking:

Quick learners who can solve problemsThink creativelyGather and analyze informationDraw appropriate conclusions from dataCommunicate their ideas clearly and effectively

CRITICAL THINKING IN LIFE

1.Critical thinking can avoid us from making foolish personal decision.

all of us have made one time or another made decision about consumer purchase, relationships, personal behavior, and then we later realized were seriously misguided and irrational.

2. Critical thinking plays important role in promoting democratic process.

most serious society problem- environmental destruction, nuclear proliferation, religious and ethnic intolerance, racial prejudice and so on have largely been caused by poor critical thinking.

3. Critical thinking is worth studying for the personal enrichment to our lives.

its can help free us from the unexamined assumption and biases of our upbringing and our society.

its lets us step back from the prevailing customs and ideologies of our culture

its also allows us to lead self-directed, ”examined” lives.

BARRIERS TO CRITICAL THINKING

Barriers to critical thinking:

lack of relevant background information poor reading skills bias prejudice superstition peer pressure close-mindedness narrow-mindedness

DIFFERENT THINKING BETWEEN CRITICAL

THINKERS AND UNCRITICAL THINKERS

Critical Thinker Uncritical thinker

Think independently and are not afraid to disagree with group

opinion

Tend to engage in “groupthink”,

uncritically following the beliefs and values

of the group

Critical Thinker

Uncritical Thinker

Understand the value of critical thinking, both to individuals and society as a

whole

See little value in critical thinking