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Chapter 1
What are some of the reasons the world is increasingly threatening, according to Paul and Elder? (p. 3)
A world in which national mass media gain more and more power over the minds of people.
A world in which increasing numbers of civilians find themselves trapped in the crossfire of warring groups and ideologies.
A world in which privacy is increasingly penetrated by multiple invasive technologies: face-recognition software, DNA testing, e-mail review systems, credit card tracking, and auto-tracking systems.
Why is a complex world a problem for critical thinking? (p. 6)
Much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed, or downright prejudiced. Critical thinking begins, then, when we start thinking about our thinking with a view toward improving it.
Chapter 2
What are some reasons we should think about our thinking? (p. 10)
Did you ever study your thinking?
Where does your thinking come from?
To be an effective critic
To make learning about thinking
To notice things
What are the characteristics of each of the three levels of thought? (p. 17)
Level 1: Lower-Order Thinking (Unreflective – Low to mixed skill level- self-deceived)
Level 2: Higher-Order Thinking (electively reflective • High skill level• inconsistently fair,
may be skilled in sophistry
Level 3: Highest-Order Thinking : Explicitly reflective • Highest skill level
• Consistently fair
Chapter 3
Are the differences between a weak-sense critical thinker (p. 22) and a strong-sense critical thinker? (p. 23)
Weak-sense: just wants to “win”, sees it as an argument, and does not really care about what the other person is saying or want to change their opinion they are unfair and use their skills to serve their selfish
(Unethical critical thinkers selfish. .
Strong-sense: wants to actually engage in a dialogue with the other person (fair-minded critical thinkers.
What are the eight characteristics of fair mindedness? (p. 26)
Intellectual unfairness
Intellectual arrogance
Intellectual laziness
Intellectual hypocrisy
Intellectual cowardice
Intellectual self-centeredness
Intellectual conformity
Intellectual distrust of reason
intellectual disregard for justice
Fairmindedness means: being conscious of the need to treat all viewpoints alike, without reference to our own feelings or selfish interests
Chapter 4
What is Paul and Elder’s definition of egocentrism? (p. 52)
Egocentricity: the tendency to view everything in relationship to oneself. selfishness
What are the five characteristics of egocentric thinking? (p. 55)
“It’s true because I believe it.”
“It’s true because we believe it.”
“It’s true because I want to believe it.”
“It’s true because I have always believed it.”
“It’s true because it is in my selfish interest to believe it.”
Chapter 5
What are the characteristics of the unreflective thinker? (p. 65)
We are Unaware of the role thinking
We are poor thinking causes many problems in our lives
We are unaware of intellectual traits
What are the characteristics of the challenged thinker? (p. 67)
• Make questionable assumptions.
• Use false, incomplete, or misleading information.
• Make inferences that do not follow from the evidence we have.
• Fail to recognize important implications in our thought.
• Fail to recognize problems we have.
• Form faulty concepts.
• Reason within prejudiced points of view.
• Think egocentrically and irrationally.
( we become aware of problems )
What are the characteristics of the beginning thinker? (pp. 69-70)
Analyze the logic of situations and problems.
• Express clear and precise questions.
• Check information for accuracy and relevance.
• Distinguish between raw information and someone’s interpretation of it
• Recognize assumptions guiding inferences.
• Identify prejudicial and biased beliefs, unjustifiable conclusions, misused words, and missed implications.
• Notice when our selfish interests bias our viewpoint.
Finally, what are the characteristics of the practicing thinker? (p. 75)
Committed improvement ( we now the necessity of practice )
Chapter 6
What is the definition of inert information?
Inert information: is taking into the mind information that, though memorized, is not understood, and, hence, cannot be used.
What is the difference between activated ignorance and activated knowledge? (pp. 104- 107, especially the first paragraph after each of these terms)
Activated ignorance: Which is means taking into the mind, and actively using, information that false, though we mistakenly think it to be true.
Activated knowledge: taking into the mind, and actively using, information that is not only true but also, when insightfully understood, leads the thinker by implication to more knowledge, deeper understandings, and rational actions.
What factors shape a person’s point of view? (p. 119-120)
Point of view : the precise place from which you view something;
Factors such us :
A point in time
A culture
A religion
A gender
Sexual orientation
A profession
A discipline
• A social group
• A professional group
• An economical interest
• An emotional state
• An age group
• A company philosophy
Chapter 7
Why is clarity a gateway standard? (129)
If a statement is unclear, we cannot determine whether it is accurate or relevant. we cannot tell anything about it because we don’t yet know what is being said. So clarity is the quality of being clear and easy to understand.
(clarity, provides a better guide to thinking.)
Q-EXAMPLE:
• Could you give me an example?
What questions help an idea or statement become more precise? And why are they important? (p. 132)
Precise exact and accurate in form, time, detail, or description
Question:
Could you give me more details?
• Could you be more specific?
Why?
They important because they give more details needed for someone to understand
Explain the underlined terms in the following statement made by Paul and Elder: “When we think through problems, we may want to make sure that our thinking is justified. To be justified is to think fairly in context” (p. 139)
JUSTIFIED : To be justified is to think fairly in context. In other words, it is to think in accord with reason.
Fairly : If you do something fairly, you do it in a way that is right and reasonable and treats people equally.
Context: the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect:
Why is fairness so important to these authors? (p. 139-140)
Because we often use concepts in an unjustified way in order to manipulate people. And we often make unjustified assumptions, unsupported by facts, which then lead to faulty inferences