Critical Thinking

JOURNALISM
Motto:

Question Everything
Definition
Critical thinking is the ability to
think clearly and rationally about
what to do or what to believe
Critical thinking
We can:
Understand the logical connections between ideas
Identify, construct, and evaluate arguments
Detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
Solve problems systematically
Identify the relevance and importance of ideas
Reflect on the justification of beliefs and ideas
Critical thinking
Not a matter of accumulating information
Not being argumentative or critical of other people
Out of the box
Importance of Critical thinking
Domain-general thinking skill
Very important in the new knowledge economy
Enhance language and other skills
Promote creativity
Crucial for self-reflection
Foundation of philosophy, science, and democracy
Critical thinking
CT is metacognitive skills: thinking about thinking
Aware of good principles of reasoning
Reflective about our own reasoning
Make conscious effort to improve ourselves
Avoid biases
Maintain objectivity/autonomy
Critical thinking: Theory
Follow rules of reasoning: laws of logic, methods of
scientific reasoning
Avoid knowledge mistakes:
◦Knowledge of fallacies
◦Understand bias and limits of human reasoning
Critical Thinking: Practice
NOTHING BETTER THAN PRACTICING
Discuss and debates
Think more deeply about the laws of reasoning
Trivia
Suatu pabrik menggunakan 5 mesin selama 5 menit untuk
menghasilkan 5 produk. Berapa waktu yang diperlukan untuk
menghasilkan 100 produk dengan menggunakan 100 mesin?
Critical thinking: attitude
Obstacle attitudes:
◦Prefer given answers than searching for them
◦Don’t like to think a lot
◦Don’t like to review mistakes
◦Don’t like to be criticized
Critical thinking: attitude
Supportive dispositions:
◦Truth-seeking
◦Open-mindedness
◦Analytical
◦Systematic
◦Confidence in reasoning
◦Maturity of judgment
Exercise 1
Is the following statement true?

At least three leaves exist in the universe

Exercise 2
Is the following statement true?

The grass is green

individual skills for journalist 1
Think Independently
Exercise fair-mindedness
Explore thoughts underlying feelings and feelings underlying thoughts
Refine generalization and avoid simplification
Clarify issues, conclusions, or beliefs
Clarify and analyse the meanings of words and phrases
Develop criteria for evaluation; clarify values and standards
Evaluate credibility of sources of information
Analyse and evaluate arguments, interpretations, beliefs, or theories
individual skills for journalist 2
Generate or assess solutions
Read critically
Listen critically
Examine or evaluate assumptions
Distinguish relevant from irrelevant facts
Make plausible inferences, predictions, or interpretations
Argument
Argument
Definition
◦A set of sentences such that
◦One of them is being said to be true
◦The other(s) are being offered as reasons for
believing the truth of the one
Argument

It is Friday, Marianne always wears jeans on

Friday so Marianne will be wearing jeans today
List the sentences that make up this argument
Identify the conclusion of the argument
Identify the premises of the argument
Argument
It is important to distinguish arguments from set of sentences
Argument
Set of sentences that are not arguments might:

◦ Have no relation at all between them

◦ Have between them a relation other than that characterizing an argument

Argument
A set of sentences that is not an argument:

◦ The sea is salt

◦ Jakarta is in Indonesia
Argument
But not how easy it is to make it an argument:

◦ The sea is salt therefore Jakarta is in Indonesia

Arguing is something we do with sentences

Argument
It is also important to distinguish arguments from assertions
Argument
Argument or assertion?

If it is snowing the mail will be late

Argument
◦Assertions are either true or false

◦Arguments are either good or bad

Argument
◦A good argument is one which:

◦The conclusion follows from the premises

◦The premises are all true
Critical Thinking
Next sessions:
Principles of reasoning
Logical fallacies
Good and sound argument
Biases
Limits of reasoning
Cognitive Reflection Test