WGU Critical Thinking -D265
QUESTIONS WELL ANSWERED
Critical thinking - correct answer ✔✔primarily the ability to think carefully about thinking and
reasoning—to criticize your own reasoning. "Criticize" here is not meant in the sense of being
mean or talking down or making fun of. Instead, it is used in the sense of, for example, how a
coach might take a critical stance toward a players' skills—he throws high every time, she does
not lead with her foot, they ride too forward in the saddle, etc. "Critical" here means something
more like "reflective," "careful," or "attentive to potential errors."
Being curious and thinking creatively: - correct answer ✔✔not believing things are simple and
settled, being willing to go the next step and think about all of the possible positions and
arguments before settling into a position.
Separating the thinker from the position: - correct answer ✔✔being able to discuss a position
without attacking or judging the person holding the position, without getting caught up in our
own attachment to the position or its antithesis, and without having our identities wrapped up
in a particular viewpoint or opinion.
Knowing oneself enough to avoid biases and errors of thought: - correct answer ✔✔being
aware of the flawed patterns of reasoning we are disposed to engage in, being aware of
cognitive biases and mental heuristics (rough rules that work well enough to survive but don't
work in many cases) that we're prone as a species to have, all in the interest of counteracting
these biases and flaws.
Having intellectual honesty, humility, and charity: very important: - correct answer ✔✔being
honest about what we know and how we know it, what evidence we have and what questions
are not yet settled; being humble in recognizing the vast number of things we don't yet know or
understand and in recognizing how very difficult it is to truly know anything at all and so
recognizing that the standards are high and we, most of the time, don't meet them (and that's
, okay); and being charitable or having the disposition to attribute the best intentions and most
sophisticated positions and arguments that we can imagine to our opponents in arguments.
Understanding arguments, reasons, and evidence: - correct answer ✔✔thinking carefully about
thinking, about arguments and positions.
Propositions - correct answer ✔✔statements that can be true or false.
Non-propositions - correct answer ✔✔Sentences that are not statements about matters of fact
(or fiction). They do not make a claim that can be true or false.
Exhort - correct answer ✔✔to urge strongly, Example: Let's go to get dinner! Let's go hiking on
Tuesday!
Command - correct answer ✔✔give an authoritative order. Example: Go to the store later to
buy me some cheese. Don't do that.
Plead/Request - correct answer ✔✔ask for something from someone, often on the verge of
begging. Example Would you please stop that? Please read me a bedtime story!
Question - correct answer ✔✔something asked, a statement that requires an answer Example:
What is the capital of Florida? How much do the pineapples cost?
Perform - correct answer ✔✔carry out, accomplish, or fulfill (an action, task, or function)
Example: I hereby adjourn this meeting. I pronounce you husband and wife!
Simple propositions - correct answer ✔✔have no internal logical structure, meaning whether
they are true or false does not depend on whether a part of them is true or false. They are
simply true or false on their own.
QUESTIONS WELL ANSWERED
Critical thinking - correct answer ✔✔primarily the ability to think carefully about thinking and
reasoning—to criticize your own reasoning. "Criticize" here is not meant in the sense of being
mean or talking down or making fun of. Instead, it is used in the sense of, for example, how a
coach might take a critical stance toward a players' skills—he throws high every time, she does
not lead with her foot, they ride too forward in the saddle, etc. "Critical" here means something
more like "reflective," "careful," or "attentive to potential errors."
Being curious and thinking creatively: - correct answer ✔✔not believing things are simple and
settled, being willing to go the next step and think about all of the possible positions and
arguments before settling into a position.
Separating the thinker from the position: - correct answer ✔✔being able to discuss a position
without attacking or judging the person holding the position, without getting caught up in our
own attachment to the position or its antithesis, and without having our identities wrapped up
in a particular viewpoint or opinion.
Knowing oneself enough to avoid biases and errors of thought: - correct answer ✔✔being
aware of the flawed patterns of reasoning we are disposed to engage in, being aware of
cognitive biases and mental heuristics (rough rules that work well enough to survive but don't
work in many cases) that we're prone as a species to have, all in the interest of counteracting
these biases and flaws.
Having intellectual honesty, humility, and charity: very important: - correct answer ✔✔being
honest about what we know and how we know it, what evidence we have and what questions
are not yet settled; being humble in recognizing the vast number of things we don't yet know or
understand and in recognizing how very difficult it is to truly know anything at all and so
recognizing that the standards are high and we, most of the time, don't meet them (and that's
, okay); and being charitable or having the disposition to attribute the best intentions and most
sophisticated positions and arguments that we can imagine to our opponents in arguments.
Understanding arguments, reasons, and evidence: - correct answer ✔✔thinking carefully about
thinking, about arguments and positions.
Propositions - correct answer ✔✔statements that can be true or false.
Non-propositions - correct answer ✔✔Sentences that are not statements about matters of fact
(or fiction). They do not make a claim that can be true or false.
Exhort - correct answer ✔✔to urge strongly, Example: Let's go to get dinner! Let's go hiking on
Tuesday!
Command - correct answer ✔✔give an authoritative order. Example: Go to the store later to
buy me some cheese. Don't do that.
Plead/Request - correct answer ✔✔ask for something from someone, often on the verge of
begging. Example Would you please stop that? Please read me a bedtime story!
Question - correct answer ✔✔something asked, a statement that requires an answer Example:
What is the capital of Florida? How much do the pineapples cost?
Perform - correct answer ✔✔carry out, accomplish, or fulfill (an action, task, or function)
Example: I hereby adjourn this meeting. I pronounce you husband and wife!
Simple propositions - correct answer ✔✔have no internal logical structure, meaning whether
they are true or false does not depend on whether a part of them is true or false. They are
simply true or false on their own.
