M3 Critical Thinking - FNS Revised

Meeting 3
An Invitation to
Critical Thinking
Frinadiniarta Nur S., S.E., M.Hum.
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LEARNING OUTCOME:
1. Define critical thinking.

2. Explain the benefits of critical thinking in the classroom, in the workplace,
and in life.
3. Examine problems on basic human tendencies and how to avoid them.
4. Examine problems on the use of language and how to avoid it.
5. Examine problems of fallacies and how to avoid them.
6. Apply critical thinking to analyze viral news.

WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?

What is critical thinking?
 Thinking critically is a defense against a world of too much information

and too many people trying to convince us. But it is more. Reasoning is
what distinguishes us from beasts. Many of them can see better, can
hear better, and are stronger. But they cannot plan, they cannot think
through, they cannot discuss in the hopes of understanding better.
 Critical thinking is the skill of correctly evaluating arguments made by
others and composing good arguments of your own. Arguments can be
about any subject. For this reason, critical thinking is an important skill.
You should use it in every college course you take and throughout the
rest of your life.
BENEFITS OF CRITICAL THINKING IN THE CLASSROOM,
IN THE WORKPLACE, AND IN LIFE

IN THE CLASSROOM
Read the situation below.
Critical thinking vs. non-critical thinking.
Suppose that a professor in an economics course asks you to write a paper about whether gas prices will rise or fall over the
next six months. How should you decide what you believe? One option would be to flip a coin. Heads, you decide to believe
that gas prices will rise. Tails, you decide to believe that gas prices will fall. Another option would be to consult an
astrologer and believe what the stars tell you. Neither of these is an example of critical thinking. To use critical thinking
skills to write your paper about gas prices, you need to look for good reasons to think that gas prices will rise and good
reasons to think that gas prices will fall. Then you need to determine which reasons are better. When you provide reasons for
believing something, you make an argument.
Here’s an argument for the view that gas prices will rise: Over the next six months, China will have an increased demand for
gas and other petroleum products. So, the price of gas will rise.
Here’s an argument for the view that gas prices will fall: Over the next six months, Saudi Arabia will increase oil production.
So, gas prices will fall.
Unlike someone who flips a coin to decide what to believe about gas prices, someone who considers arguments is beginning
to think critically.
(Rainbolt and Dwyer, 2015:5)
IN LIFE
Read the situation below. Do you feel the same?
Everyone's trying to convince you of something: You should go to bed early. You should
drop out of college. You should buy a hybrid car. You shouldn’t eat sweet food. You should
have a pet. You should study critical thinking.
And you spend a lot of time trying to decide what you should be doing, that is, trying to
convince yourself: Should I go to bed early? Should I take out a student loan? Should I buy a
car? Is chocolate bad for my complexion? Should I really date someone who owns a cat? Is
critical thinking important?
Are you tired of being persuaded by many people? Of making bad decisions? Of fooling
yourself? Or just being confused?
(Epstein, 2005:1)
IN THE WORKPLACE
When do we need to be critical?

In business context, for example when:
deciding on a solution to a problem,
accepting a business proposal , Think of other
etc. contexts in which
we have to be critical.

BARRIERS TO CRITICAL THINKING:
PROBLEMS ON BASIC HUMAN TENDENCIES

AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

1st Barrier: BASIC HUMAN TENDENCIES
1. The Problem of Egocentricism

= self-centered/selfish, having the attitude of “it’s true
because I believe it”.
2. The Problem of Sociocentricism

= being too culture-bound, or having feelings of prejudice
toward certain people, society, or culture.

Discussion
Discuss the problems on BASIC HUMAN TENDENCIES below:

1. Suppose that you had been adopted at birth by a family very different from your own and that you had been raised in a very
different subculture or even in a very different country.
a) Do you think that your political views would have been different? If not, why not? If so, how? Give two concrete
examples of views you find important in your own life that you might not have had.
b) Do you think that your views about right and wrong would have been different? If not, why not? If so, how? Give two
concrete examples of views you find important in your own life that you might not have had.
c) Do you think that your religious beliefs would have been different? If not, why not? If so, how? Give two concrete
examples of beliefs you find important in your own life that you might not have had.
2. Give an example of a view you once thought was obviously true but which you now think might be false. What led you to
change your mind?

Discussion
 Examine problems on basic human tendencies in our daily life

and how to avoid them.

PROBLEMS ON THE USE OF LANGUAGE AND HOW TO AVOID IT

2nd Barrier: THE USE OF LANGUAGE
1. Vagueness: unclear
2. Emotive word: +/_ feelings
3. Ambiguity: more than 1 meaning
4. Nice expressions: nice words
5. Euphemisms: soften the meaning
6. False implications: misleading
7. Judgmental words: opinions made as facts
8. Meaningless comparisons: compared to what?

Discussion
Be cautious of Euphemism. It might be used to hide the truth.
Directions:
 Study the list of words and their euphemistic expressions on the next
slide.
 Match the expressions on the left with those on the right.
 Which one do you prefer to use & in what context?

Real Meaning or Euphemisms?
1 Retarded A First-year student
2 Downsizing B Newly single
3 Used car C Enhanced interrogation technique
4 Deaf D Adult entertainment
5 Old people E Gaming
6 Divorced F Firing
7 Primitive G Pre-owned car
8 Pimples H Pacified
9 Pornography I Blemishes
10 Bombed J Preliterate
11 Torture K Hearing impaired
12 Freshman L Friendly shooting
13 Gambling M Mentally challenged
14 Accidental killing by fellow soldiers N Senior citizen

Discussion
 Examine problems on the use of language in our daily life and

how to avoid them.

EXAMINE PROBLEMS OF FALLACIES

AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

3rd Barrier: FALLACY
Six (6) most common types of fallacy:
No. Fallacy type Definition
1 Ad Hominem Hate the person, not his/her action
2 Ad Populum (Bandwagon) Follow the crowd
3 Cherry Picking Give half truth only
4 Hasty Generalization Rush thinking/stereotyping
5 Irrelevant Comparisons/Weak Analogy Wrong comparison
6 False Dilemma/False Dichotomy Give 2 dificult choices only

Discussion
Identify the FALLACY in the following arguments. State the type of fallacy.
1) Ford cars are no good. My father has had two and they gave him nothing but trouble.
2) Of course men should wear gemstones! Gemstones are all the rage these days.
3) A Saint Bernard dog is large, cuddly, furry, and makes a great house pet. A baby grizzly bear is also
large, cuddly, and furry. Therefore, a baby grizzly bear would make a great house pet, too.
4) Aurora’s marketing proposal is ridiculous and can’t be original. Indeed, she was caught cheating on
the marketing class once.
5) Either you send your kids to PMBS or they will become useless adults.
6) “A recent study found that there are plenty of scientists who disagree with the consensus position
on this phenomenon.”

Discussion
 Examine problems of fallacies in our daily life and share how to

avoid them.

CRITICAL THINKING TO ANALYZE VIRAL NEWS

BE CAUTIOUS OF
1. Word choices
2. Image cropping

Discussion
1. Describe what you

see in the cartoon.
2. What is the message?
Or what does the
cartoon want to say?

Discussion
The following 2 newspapers (the Seattle Times and Seattle Post Intelligencer)
report the same incident: Crane accident.
 Compare both newspapers’ images. Use the W-H questions below to help
you gather the ideas:
 What is happening?
 Who is involved?
 When?
 Where?
 Why?
 Compare both newspapers’ headlines. Do they have the same or different
perspectives?
1 2

Discussion
 Discuss the following image 1 with your friends.

 Use the W-H questions below to help you gather the ideas:
o What is happening?
o Who is involved?
o When?
o Where?
o Why?

Image 1

Discussion
 You are going to see the whole picture (image 2).

 Rediscuss the story with your friends.
 Use the W-H questions below to help you gather the ideas:
o What is happening now?
o Who is involved now?
o Why?
 Prepare to present your new story to the class.

Image 2
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Discussion
1. Explain how word choice can influence someone’s point of view.
2. Explain how image can influence someone’s point of view.

FACT, ASSERTION, & OPINION
It is always important to understand

whether someone is expressing
his/her opinion, or stating a fact.

FACT, ASSERTION, & OPINION
FACT = 100 % true
ASSERTION = perhaps true
OPINION = relative, can be true or false
stronger Fact
Assertion
Opinion

Discussion
Directions:
Decide whether each statement below is a fact, assertion, or
opinion.
1. The sun rises every morning,
2. Water flows downhill.
3. Plants grow towards sunlight.
4. Most people in this building like fried rice.
5. Neon green is an ideal color for a car.
Add your own statement.

Critical Thinking Models
Don’t judge too quickly
We should always consider the followings:

1. DESCRIPTION (asking what, where, who, & when)
2. ANALYSIS (asking how, why, & what if)
3. EVALUATION (asking so what & what next)
4. BIAS (avoid bias: strongly agree or disagree on an argument/a
group of people without fair judgment)

Characteristics of
critical readers:
Critical
readers
are
critical
thinkers.
Critical
readers
always
ask many
questions
as they
read.
Let’s watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP8NRgWtPaE&ab_channel=ViralNation

Discussion
Task: Apply critical thinking model in analyzing certain viral news:

 Choose a viral news.
 Then analyze it using critical thinking model.
 Share your analysis with your friends.

Review
 What have we learned?

Self
Reflection
Have your education up to this point prepared you to be

a critical thinker? Explain and give examples.

References:
 Bovee, C. L., & Thill, J. V. (2021). Business communication today (15th ed.). London: Pearson.
https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781292353159
 Bassham, G. (2019). Critical thinking: a students introduction (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill,
Chapter 1, pp. XVI-27; Chapter 4-6, pp. 89-168; Chapter 14, pp. 421461.
 Pirozzi, R., Starks-Martin, G., & Dziewisz, J. (2013). Critical reading critical thinking: Pearson new
international edition (4th ed.). Pearson International Content.
 Other sources.

Thank
08
© Aderina Febriana, 2020 04
you
Universitas Prasetiya Mulya, BSD Campus, Tangerang Selatan


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Meeting 3

Frinadiniarta Nur S., S.E., M.Hum.

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

All materials cited herein are for teaching

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

1. Define critical thinking.

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

 Thinking critically is a defense against a world of too much information

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

When do we need to be critical?

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

PROBLEMS ON BASIC HUMAN TENDENCIES

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

1. The Problem of Egocentricism

2. The Problem of Sociocentricism

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

Discuss the problems on BASIC HUMAN TENDENCIES below:

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

 Examine problems on basic human tendencies in our daily life

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

PROBLEMS ON THE USE OF LANGUAGE AND HOW TO AVOID IT

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

Be cautious of Euphemism. It might be used to hide the truth.

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

 Examine problems on the use of language in our daily life and

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

EXAMINE PROBLEMS OF FALLACIES

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

 Examine problems of fallacies in our daily life and share how to

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

1. Describe what you

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

 Discuss the following image 1 with your friends.

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

 You are going to see the whole picture (image 2).

 Prepare to present your new story to the class.

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

1. Explain how word choice can influence someone’s point of view.

2. Explain how image can influence someone’s point of view.

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

It is always important to understand

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

FACT = 100 % true

ASSERTION = perhaps true

OPINION = relative, can be true or false

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

Add your own statement.

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

We should always consider the followings:

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya

Task: Apply critical thinking model in analyzing certain viral news:

This material belongs to Universitas Prasetiya Mulya