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In school, we learn O
 to think but not O to think. Here¶s a crash course in how to 


 

.







We have too much information. Critical thinking helps you focus on what matters.

We have too many options. Critical thinking helps you R what matters.

Millions of scam artists want to steal your time and money. You can use critical thinking to
defeat them.

Critical thinking helps you avoid false beliefs. Do you believe something because you read it
somewhere? Because your family or government or culture told you so? Because it makes you
feel good? Because you ³just believe´ it?

If so, you probably have many 
 beliefs. Critical thinking can help you avoid those. Who
knows? It might even help you form some   beliefs.

But we probably already agree that critical thinking is good. How do we do it?

 





Here are 16 basic techniques of critical thinking.

1. 

State one point at a time. Elaborate. Give examples. Ask others to clarify or give
examples. If you¶re not sure what you¶re talking about, you can¶t address it.

u

: ³How can we fix education?´


: ³How can teachers better prepare students for the workforce?´ or ³How can we
change policies to encourage better teaching?´

2. 
 

Check your facts.


: ³Most people these days are obese´ or ³Just vent your anger; you¶ll feel
better.´
 ^


: ³Most people in the U.S. are not obese´ or ³Studies show that venting your
anger actually increases angry feelings and actions.´

3. 



Be precise, so you are
 to check accuracy. Avoid generalizations, euphemisms, and

other ambiguity.


: ³Mary is overweight.´


: ³Mary is 6 pounds overweight according to her Body Mass Index, which is a
deceptive measure of healthy weight anyway.´

4. 


Stick to the main point. Pay attention to how each idea is connected to the main idea.


: ³Why do I believe in the Christian God? Well, the human eye is too complex
to have happened by chance, so God must have created it.´


: ³The human eye is a complex system. Its origins, Darwinian or otherwise, are
not fully understood. But our  

 is not  R
 for God or anything else.´

5. r
 
 



What are you trying to accomplish? What¶s the most important thing here? Distinguish
your purpose from related purposes.

6.






All thinking is based on assumptions, however basic.

^
  R R: ³Logically, God cannot exist.´

^
 R R: ³Logic is only a process applied to assumptions. If you apply
logic to the assumption that µscientific evidence is the only reliable means of knowing
something,¶ then of course non-physical entities cannot be known using your
assumptions.´

7. 
 




Emotions only confuse critical thinking. Notice how your emotions may be pushing your
thinking in a certain direction.

8. 
 Try to see things from your opponent¶s perspective. Imagine how they feel. Imagine how
you sound to them. Sympathize with the logic, emotion, and experience of their
perspective.

9. r
 



Each person knows less than 0.0001% of the available knowledge in the world. Even if
you know more about relevant issues than your opponent, you  might be wrong.
Educate yourself as much as possible, but still: be humble.

10.


Think critically about important issues for yourself. Don¶t believe everything you read.
Don¶t conform to the priorities, values, and perspectives of others.

11.
 



Consider the consequences of your viewpoint.

å      


 : ³A fetus is biologically alive and mentally conscious.

Therefore, killing a fetus is wrong.´

      


 : ³Monkeys, dogs, and many other animals are alive and
almost certainly conscious. Is killing them always wrong, too? Why do they have less
rights than a fetus? Let¶s think about this.´

12.r
 






Your biases muddle your thinking. Notice how they might be pushing your thought
toward a particular end, regardless of the logical steps it took to get there.


R: ³I¶m not sure how to defeat the Kalam cosmological argument for God¶s
existence, but I know it¶s flawed somewhere because God doesn¶t exist.´

u 
R: ³The Kalam cosmological argument is compelling. I¶ll have to think it through
before I can say whether or not it indicates God¶s existence.´

13.

 

Critical thinking should produce judgments, not the other way around. Don¶t make a
decision and   use critical thinking to back it up. If anything, use the method of
science: take a guess about how things are and then try to R
  it.

R
 R  : ³We¶re here to promote Johnson¶s plan for education reform. What
logical arguments can we construct in its favor?´
  
 RR R  : ³What do we want from our educational system? Once we know,
let¶s use critical thinking to find the best ways to do those things.´

14. 





Listen to other viewpoints in their own words. Seriously consider their most persuasive
arguments. Don¶t dismiss them.

å
O  RR: Reading an essay and letting it persuade you.


   RR: Reading an essay, then reading an essay that argues the opposite point.

15.D
  





People from different times and cultures thought much differently than you do. In fact,
your ideas might have arrived only in the last 50 years of human history! Why is your
perspective better than that of everyone else in the world today and throughout history?

16.






Each person¶s most basic bias is for themselves.

 : ³I can¶t know everything. It¶s not my fault I made that error.´


: ³I can¶t know everything, but I could easily have done some basic research before
making such a bold statement.´