Airman Leadership School: Critical Thinking (2023/2024) Already Graded A

Airman Leadership School: Critical Thinking (2023/2024) Already Graded A Critical Thinking 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. open-minded and skeptical means seeking out the facts, information sources, and reasoning to support issues we intend to judge; examining issues from as many sides as possible; rationally looking for the good and bad points of the various sides examined; accepting the fact that we may be in error ourselves; and maintaining the goal of getting at the truth (or close to the truth (or as close to the truth as possible), rather than trying to please others or find fault with their views; much skepticism will lead one to doubt everything and commit oneself to nothing Intellectcual Humility Means adhering tentatively to recent acquired opinions; being prepared to examine new evidence and arguments even if such examination leads one to discover flaws in one's own cherished beliefs; to stop thinking that complex issues can be reduced to matter of 'right and wrong' or 'black or white', and to begin thinking in terms of 'degrees of certainty' or 'shades of grey'. What Are The Characteristics of Critical Thinking? Open-Mindedness and Healthy Skepticism; Intellectual Humility; Free Thinker; Highly Motivated What Are The Approaches for Evaluating Information? Credible, Unbiased, and Accurate Credible Information that is believable, from a trustworthy source. Unbiased Information that is fair, impartial, rather than prejudice. Accurate Information that is free from error, a corrector truthful representation of something. Reactive Thinking (System-1) Deciding first, reacting, then trying to make sense of it all. Automatic (reactive) decisions that are made based on instinct, intuition based upon expertise, training, and practice. Reflective Thinking (System-2) Thinking begins with a state of doubt, hesitation, or perplexity and moves through the act of searching for information that will resolve, clarify, or address the problem/situation. open-mindedness willingness to investigate viwepoints different from your own and the ability to recognize when to doubt claims that do not merit such investigation. Free Thinker Having an independent mind and being able to restrain yourself from the desire to believe because of social pressures to conform. What does it mean to have a high motivation to become a critical thinker? Having a natural curiosity to further your understanding. Putting the work to evaluate the multiple sides of an issue; reaching a sufficient level of understanding. Basic Human Limitations Confirmation Bias and Selective Thinking, False Memories and Confabulation, Personal Biases and Prejudices, Physical and Emotional Hindrances, Testimonial Evidence Confirmation Bias and Selective Thinking This is the process where one tends to notice and look for what confirms one's beliefs, and to ignore, not look for, or undervalue what contradicts one's beliefs. False Memories and Confabulation This is being unaware that your memories are often "manufactured" to fill in the gaps in our recollection, or that some memories of facts, over time, can be unconsciously replaced with fantasy. Personal Biases and Prejudices These result from our own unique life experiences and worldview, which makes it difficult to remain objective and think critically. Physical and Emotional Hindrances Physical and emotional hindrances can severely affect our ability to think clearly and critically. These include stress, fatigue, drugs, and related hindrances. Testimonial Evidence testimonies and vivid stories of others to substantiate one's own beliefs, testimonies are inherently subjective, inaccurate, unreliable, biased, and occasionally fraudulent Use of language Ambiguity, Assuring expression, Meaningless comparisons, Doublespeak jargon, Emotive content, False implications Ambiguity The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. Assuring Expressions Using expressions that disarm you from questioning the validity of an argument. Meaningless Comparisons Language that implies that something is superior but retreats from that view. Doublespeak Jargon The use of technical language to make the simple seem complex, the trivial seem profound, or the insignificant seem important, all done intentionally to impress others. Emotive Content The intentional use of words to arouse feelings about a subject to bias others positively or negatively, in order to gain influence or power. Some examples are: Naming detergents "Joy" and "Cheer" (positive), not "Dreary" or "Tedious" (negative) and the military using the phrase "neutralizing the opposition" (less negative) than saying something like "killing". False Implications This is the use of language that is clear and accurate but misleading because it suggests something false. One example is when the dairy industry cleverly expresses fat content as a percentage of weight, not of calories. Faulty Logic or Perception Apophenia and superstition, Argument from ignorance, False analogies, Irrelevant comparison, Pragmatic fallacy, Slippery slope fallacy Apophenia and Superstition It is the erroneous perception of the connections between unrelated events. An example would be someone who irrationally believes wearing their hat while watching a football game can influence the score. Argument from Ignorance A logical fallacy claiming something is true because it has not been proven false. Such as life on Mars. False Analogies Arguing on the basis of a comparison of unrelated things. 2 children sharing a room vs. 2 prisoners. Irrelevant Comparison This is when you are making a comparison that is irrelevant or inappropriate. One example of this is making a claim that printer A makes better copies than printer B, while ignoring the fact that only printer B can fax, copy, and scan. Pragmatic Fallacy This is arguing something is true because "it works," even though the cause of this something and the outcome are not demonstrated. slippery slope fallacy is an argument that assumes and adverse chain of events will occur, but offers no proof. 'Because regulators have controlled smoking in public places, their ultimate goal is to control everything else in our lives.' Psychological and Sociological Pitfalls Ad hominem fallacy, Ad populum, Emotional appeal, Evading the Issue - Red Herring, Fallacy of False Dilemma, Poisoning the well Ad Hominem Fallacy when speakers attack the person making the argument and not the argument itself. 'You should not believe a word my opponent says because he is just bitter I am ahead in the polls.' Ad Populum This bandwagon fallacy is an appeal to the popularity of the claim as a reason for accepting the claim. Emotional Appeal is making irrelevant emotional appeals to a claim. vainty, guilt, desire with no logic. Fallacy or False Dilemma Either/or fallacy is intentionally restricting the number of alternatives, thereby omitting relevant alternatives from consideration. 'You are either with us, or with the terrorists.' Poisoning the Well This is when one is creating a prejudicial atmosphere against the opposition, making it difficult for the opponent to be received fairly. 'Anyone who supports removing troops from Iraq is a traitor'. Evading The Issue, Red Herring This could happen when someone attempts to divert attention to an issue irrelevant to the issue at hand. Red Herrings are distractions that attempt to mislead you. What are 8 Elements of Thought? Purpose, Questions, Information, Inferences/Conclusions, Concepts, Assumptions, Implications/ Consequences, and Points-of-View Purpose What I am trying to accomplish? What is my central aim/purpose? Questions What question am I raising? What question am I addressing? Am I considering the complexities in the question? Inference/Conclusions How did I reach this conclusion? Is there another way to interpret the information? Information What information am I using in coming to that conclusion? What experience have I had to support this claim? What information do I need to settle the question? Concepts What is the main idea here? Can I explain this idea? Assumptions What am I taking for granted? What assumption has led me to that conclusion? Implications/Consequences If someone accepted my position, what would be the implications? What am I implying? Point of View From what point of view am I looking at this issue? Is there another point of view I should consider? Intellectual Standards Clarity Accuracy Precision Relevance Depth Breadth Logic Significance Fairness Clarity is a gateway standard. Could you elaborate further? Could you give me an example? Accuracy means checking to see if something is accurate or true. How could you check on that?How could you find out if that is true? Precision means asking for more details or specifics. Could you be more specific? Could you give me more me deatils? Relevance The quality of being directly connected with an important to something else. How does that relate to the problem? How does that bear on the question? Depth encompasses finding out how your answer addresses the complexities in the question. What factors make this a difficult problem? What are some of the complexities of this question? Breadth is having an open and tolerant view of things, other viewpoints Do you need to look at this from another perspective? Do you need to consider another view point? Logic is when the combination of thoughts is mutually supporting and make sense. Does your first paragraph fit with your last? Does what you say follow the evidence? Significance is the quality of having importance being regarded as having great meaning. Is this the most important problem to consider? Is this the central idea to focus on? Fairness implies the treating of all relevant viewpoints alike without reference to one's own feeling or interest. Do I have a vested interest in this issue? Am I sympathetically representing the viewpoints of others?