2. History and Evolution
• The roots of critical thinking stems from Socrates 2500 years ago and he found
that:
• Inadequate evidence or contradictory beliefs often lurked beneath many theories
and common beliefs.
• One cannot depend upon those in "authority" to have sound knowledge and insight
• People may have power and high authority but yet be deeply confused and
irrational.
• It is important to ask deep questions that probe (challenge) profoundly into thinking
before we accept ideas as worthy of belief.
3. The Socratic Method
• Socrates (470-399 BC) developed this method
to get to the views of his students and
colleagues by asking continual probing
questions
• Until a contradiction was exposed, proving the
fallacy of the initial assumptions
• It is used to develop critical thinking skills
and is used in many law schools to approach
the law as intellectuals
A Socratic questioner
should:
• a) keep the discussion
focused
• b) keep the discussion
intellectually responsible
• c) stimulate the discussion
with probing questions
• d) periodically summarize
what has and what has not
been dealt with and/or
resolved
• e) draw as many students as
possible into the discussion.
4. Sociocentric Thinking is Linked to Egocentric
Thinking
• Consider these definitions:
• Human egocentrism, the natural human tendency “to view
everything within the world in relationship to oneself, to be self-
centered” (Webster’s New World Dictionary); and
• Human sociocentrism, most simply conceptualized as group
egocentricity. To define sociocentricity, we might take Webster’s
definition of egocentricity (above), substituting group for self.
Thus, sociocentric thinking is the natural human tendency to view
everything within the world in relationship to one’s group, to be
group-centered.
5. • Beginning at a very young age humans begin “fitting in” to groups, from no choice of their own, but out of
instinct and in order to survive.
• Due to an innate need to be accepted and esteemed by others, to be validated, humans operate largely
as members of various groups through most of their lives.
• Due to the gullibility of the uncultivated (unsophisticated) mind, from a very young age, humans largely
uncritically accept the beliefs of family, school, religion, peers, government, clubs and organizations,
indeed any group in which they become members.
• Native sociocentric thought is at the root of many human problems and countless injustices.
• Critical Thinking can fight these problems and injustices
7. What is Critical thinking?
“Reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.”
8. History and Evolution
• Education professor Michael Scriven and philosopher Richard Paul defined it as
"the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing,
applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or
generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a
guide to belief and action.“
• Common to all these definitions is an active activity as opposed to passive one and
is of a higher order and is of an abstract nature.
9. Critical Thinking…
• is one of the most frequently discussed higher order skills
• believed to play a central role in logical thinking, decision making, and problem-
solving (Butler, 2012; Halpern, 2003).
• It is also a highly contentious skill in that researcher’s debate about its definition.
All that being said:
• critical thinking has received heightened attention from educators and
policymakers in higher education
• has been included as one of the core learning outcomes of college students by
many institutions
10. Critical Thinking Importance
• The Future of Jobs Report by the World Economic Forum suggests that by 2020,
more than a third of the core skill sets in most job categories will be comprised of skills
that are not considered essential today.
• The Forum surveyed 350 chief human resources and strategy officers across 9
industries in 15 of the world’s biggest economies to generate this report and indicates
that one of the top skills that will reshape the landscape of modern workplaces
is critical thinking
11. So Why Critical Thinking?
The Problem:
• Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. But much of our thinking left to
itself is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed, or downright prejudiced (Paul & Elder,
2014).
• Yet the quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depends
precisely on the quality of our thought.
• Shoddy thinking is costly, both in money and in quality of life. Excellence in thought,
however, must be systematically cultivated.
12. A Well Cultivated Critical Thinker …
• Raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely;
• Gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret
it effectively;
• Comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against
relevant criteria and standards;
• Thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought
• Communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex
problems.
13. Critical Thinking
• The best we can say, in our present state of knowledge, is that critical thinking
seems to be a composite of as many as forty separate abilities. Some of which
include observation, analysis, interpretation, reflection, evaluation,
inference, explanation, problem-solving, and decision making.
• The second point to remember is that we can see these abilities at work only in
some language contexts…we can only speculate about the existence of critical
thinking, but we can teach and measure critical reading or critical listening ability
14. Critical Reading + Critical Listening = Critical Thinking
1. The ability to distinguish
between relevant and irrelevant
information
2. The ability to judge the
reliability of a source
3. The ability to distinguish
between statements of fact and
statements of opinion
4. The ability to judge the
suitability of material for a
particular purpose
5. The ability to recognize the
bias of the writer
6. The ability to distinguish
between emotive and report
language
7. The ability to recognize the
inferences that a writer has made
8. The ability to recognize the
assumptions implied by a
statement
9. The ability to determine the
recency of a printed statement
10. The ability to recognize the
competency of a writer to write
about a given subject
15. Critical Reading + Critical Listening = Critical Thinking
• These critical reading abilities (and their corresponding critical listening abilities)
can be developed by appropriate lessons, and exercises.
• The teacher who promotes growth in these abilities is, whether by
conscious effort or not, is contributing to the development of the critical
thinker.
16. How to Improve Your Critical Thinking Ability
Here are some of the more serious thinking errors:
• Appeal to authority or consensus
• Argument selectivity (glossing over alternative perspectives)
• Circular reasoning (reasoning where the premise of an argument is used as support)
• Cognitive shortcut bias (doggedly sticking with a favored view)
• Confusing correlation with causation (Example: rain and lightning go together, but
neither causes the other.)
• Jumping to conclusions (using only a few facts for a definitive conclusion.)
• Overgeneralizations (assuming that what is true for one is true for something else.)
17. How to Improve Your Critical Thinking Ability
Require Yourself to Think Critically
Force yourself to become more attentive and engaged with others
18. Specific Strategies for Critical Thinking
Be aware of your thinking
• Know how you think; this is the art of introspection focused on being aware of one’s alertness,
attentiveness, bias, emotional state, exploration of interpretation options, and self-assurance.
• Be able to be focused: In today’s multi-tasked world people often have a tough time concentrating, be
able to extract meaning from what you read.
• Identify what is missing: In conversation or reading the most important part may be the part that is not
stated
• Use evidence-based reasoning – Don’t confuse opinion with fact; look for contrary evidence
• Ask questions and provide your own answer. Developing this as a thinking habit will ensure you will
become a more critical thinker and learn more.