All dogs are animals,
German shepherds are animals,
So, German shepherd is a dog.
? Obviously, the logic of this passage is wrong. According to the thinking of this passage, we can draw the fallacy that "cats are dogs". By reading Critical Thinking by American writers Moore and Parker, I found that the reason for this mistake belongs to: belief deviation.
? In real life, we are faced with many choices, such as who to vote for, whether to buy a house, whether the mathematical proof is reliable, what toothpaste to buy, what dog to keep and so on. Different problems need to consider different factors. But no matter what we consider, we want to avoid making or accepting bad arguments. We also hope to eliminate the interference of irrelevant factors, not to let emotions dominate our thoughts, not to be victims of fallacies and prejudices, and not to listen to incompetent authorities or half-baked assumptions. Critical thinking can help us solve these problems.
(A) What is critical thinking
What is critical thinking? Obviously, this is not a blind action or reaction. Educators generally believe that critical thinking is not dominated by all kinds of temptations, and is not easily disturbed by emotions, greed, irrelevance and stupid prejudice. The goal of critical thinking is to make wise decisions and draw correct conclusions.
Not only thinking, but also our critical thinking is to consider whether our own or others' thinking is logical and meets good standards.
In our actual judgment, there are many psychological factors that affect our beliefs, including belief deviation, usability inspiration, wrong cognitive effect, conformity effect, negative prejudice, loss avoidance, inner circle prejudice, fundamental attribution error, obedience to authority, overconfidence effect and above-average illusion. These cognitive biases affect our judgment and choice. If we understand these principles by training critical thinking, it will help us to reduce unnecessary wrong choices.
Deductive argument and non-deductive argument
We have two methods of argument: deductive argument and non-deductive argument. Deductive reasoning means that the premise is true and the conclusion is true. Non-deductive reasoning means that the premise does not prove the conclusion, and the premise provides support for the conclusion. Deductive argument includes category logic and truth function logic. This knowledge makes our thinking more precise and meticulous.
The most commonly used form of syllogism in life: all A's are B's, all B's are C's and all A's are C's, which can be used in mathematics teaching. For example, ABC is an equilateral triangle and an equilateral triangle is a special isosceles triangle, so ABC is a special isosceles triangle.
Non-deductive reasoning is not used to prove or confirm the conclusion, but to support the conclusion, so the reliability of the conclusion is improved to any extent according to the premise, and non-deductive reasoning is described as relatively strong or relatively weak. Therefore, the only way to improve the knowledge of deductive analysis is through persistent and patient study and endless life.
A paper usually consists of four parts: stating the theme, indicating the position on the theme, providing arguments to support the position, and refuting arguments to support the opposite view.
When writing, we can adhere to the following principles:
1, focusing on the differences with opponents on the topic, and frankly admitting.
Don't be rude when refuting your opponent's point of view. You can't say that your opponent's argument is ridiculous.
3. frankly admit the good arguments put forward by your opponent.
4. Under limited time and conditions, focus on the most important links.
5. State a strong argument first.
? (D) How to judge the credibility of news media
Stephen Lycock said: "Advertising is a science that tries to suppress human intelligence in order to profit from it."
So as far as censorship is concerned, it can be questioned from two aspects: questioning the assertion itself and questioning the source of the assertion. So as to avoid making wrong choices and buying unnecessary things or being cheated.
In short, by reading critical thinking, you will not simply accept all the arguments and conclusions you see, but keep a questioning attitude towards them. Its suspicion will prompt you to find the basis for this conclusion. So you are an active learner, asking questions and thinking about the information you receive, rather than passively receiving information. Make choices more reasonable and persuasion more efficient!