CSC 101 Introduction to Computers Fall 2010 Critical Thinking Instructor: Susan E Traudt Sue@ttsw.com / Sue@ox.ttsw.com

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Attributes of a Critical Thinker: asks pertinent questions assesses statements and arguments is able to admit a lack of understanding or information has a sense of curiosity is interested in finding new solutions is able to clearly define a set of criteria for analyzing ideas is willing to examine beliefs, assumptions, and opinions and weigh them against facts listens carefully to others and is able to give feedback sees that critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment suspends judgment until all facts have been gathered and considered looks for evidence to support assumption and beliefs is able to adjust opinions when new facts are found looks for proof examines problems closely is able to reject information that is incorrect or irrelevant Ferrett, S. Peak Performance (1997)

Critical Thinking Exercise: Applying Critical Thinking Guidelines

1. Ask questions; be willing to wonder.
2. Define the problem.
3. Examine the evidence.
4. Analyze assumptions and biases.
5. Avoid emotional reasoning.
6. Dont use either/or thinking or overgeneralize.
7. Consider other interpretations.
8. Tolerate uncertainty.

1. A political editorial supporting severe penalties for the production and sale of pornography pointed out that all societies are repressive to some extent, and that it was Freud who pointed out that repression is the price we pay for civilization.
2. Since we have never been visited by extraterrestrials, and have had no communication from outer space, we can safely assume that intelligent life exists only on our own planet.
3. It is pretty obvious that smoking marijuana causes people to crave more potent drugs, like cocaine and heroin. Statistics show that almost all the people who become addicted to drugs smoked marijuana before they began using more potent drugs.
4. Jezebel bought a bottle of pain reliever because a TV commercial claimed that most hospitals prescribe it.
5. You're either for us or against us.
6. I get disgusted with my science classes. We study the principle of this and the theory of that. Arent there any laws? Why can't scientists make up their minds and stop acting like they dont know anything for sure?
7. People tend to become forgetful as they get older. This is just one of the natural consequences of aging, and it would be a waste of time to look for specific causes or ways to prevent the problem.
8. People of different ethnic backgrounds just cant live harmoniously in the same neighborhood. Almost everyone Ive talked to thinks the same way. This is a gut feeling, and we arent likely to be wrong.
9. The increase in violence by adolescent gangs in this country is just another result of the liberal thinking that has more sympathy for criminals than for their victims.
10. Why are the people in this class so much better looking and intelligent than people in other introductory classes?
11. You can tell that Alice is a lot smarter than her brother. She wears those thick glasses and has a high forehead.
12. A mother was trying to dissuade her son from marrying a girl he had met just three weeks before. The son's response was "But I know shes the one; the first time I saw her I began to tremble and see spots before my eyes, and I had flutters in my chest and strange sensations in my stomach. When Im with her, I feel like I could just take off and fly."
13. I looked at several issues of the Journal of Parapsychology, a periodical that publishes research on psychic phenomena. Every article confirmed the existence of ESP, so I dont understand why most psychologists are skeptical about it.
14. Lets just make up our minds and buy one or the other of the houses. I'm tired of thinking about it, and all this investigation and indecision is making me nervous.