Critical thinking

Critical thinking is a process of hunting assumptions—discovering what assumptions we and others hold, and then checking to see how much sense those assumptions make. (Brookfield 2012, “Teaching for critical thinking”)

How?

1. look from multiple viewpoints
2. be sensitive to ideologies (tacit economic, political, and social values)
3. appreciate different types of assumptions
4. be aware of thinking errors
5. look for falsifying evidence

Thinking errors

• cognitive biases (e.g., availability bias)
• logical fallacies (e.g., ad hominem)
• misunderstandings (e.g., correlation and causation)

A Quick Puzzle

Why critical thinking?

So as to take informed action.

actions that are grounded in evidence, can be explained to others, and stand a good chance of achieving the results we desire. (Brookfield 2012, “Teaching for critical thinking”)

Spurious correlation

Shark attacks vs ice-cream consumption??

Correlation != Causation

Spot the errors?

This critical thinking video has critical thinking fails.

Other cognitive biases