“You
come in here with a head full of mush and you leave thinking like a
lawyer”
Fictional
Professor Kingsfield in an old TV show, "The Paper Chase."
I
do not want you to leave this course "thinking like a lawyer." Oh,
please, no!
But
I want you to start thinking more clearly and more independently.
Don't accept anything at face value until you have checked it out. One
of the best definitions I have ever heard -- and certainly one of the
best philosophies of life is:
“Do
not believe in anything simply because you have heard
it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored
by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written
in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the
authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions
because they have been handed down for many generations. But after
observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with
reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then
accept it and live up to it.”
The Buddha
Quotation Source: The
Quotations Page
In
other words, don't blindly accept things just because you are told
-- no matter who told you. Check it out for yourself. Be sure that it
follows the law of cause and effect ... unless the evidence says
otherwise (which it sometimes does in Quantrum Physics!).
I
cannot provide a course in critical thinking, and any attempt
to provide even the basics of critical thinking in a single,
short article is hopeless. Critical thinking is a skill developed
through out life, but here are my basic principles, which I call
"Positive Skepticism," about which I originally wrote in the late 1970's or early 1980's:
1)
Question the idea
Ask whether the concept or idea makes sense. If it doesn’t, then don’t
waste your time on it.
a) What data or evidence is there?
b) Is the evidence thorough or selective?
c) Are there alternative explanations?
2)
Question the manner in which the idea is presented
There are many ways in which an idea can be presented that can put a
positive “spin” on the idea at the expense of the truth.
a) Be suspicious of arguments with many absolutes
b) Watch for appeals to emotions or ego
c) Be careful of arguments based largely on statistics
d) Cast a wary eye on arguments rife with rhetorical questions
3)
Apply “Ockham’s Razor” (that is, seek the simplest
workable answer)
William of Ockham essentially said that when looking for the correct
option when presented with two or more, look for the one that demands
the smallest number of assumptions. That is, if option 1 requires you
to make one assumption (that is, assume something to be true that you
do not know is true), and option 2 requires you to make two
assumptions, then option one is most likely the correct option.
4) Question credentials (that
is, are they real and are they relevant?)
Credentials can be a real sticky point. Just because someone has an
advanced degree in something does not automatically make that person an
expert, although the term “doctor” or “professor” often carries a lot
of weight. Conversely, a true expert doesn’t necessarily need any
degree. A Ph.D. in engineering may not know squat about medicine, but
the “Dr.” in front of the name can procure an assumed and undeserved
level of expertise in other areas. That said, you’re likely on much
safer ground accepting the word of a person highly educated in a
particular field than someone who isn’t. When it comes to matters of
cosmology, I am far more likely to accept the views of my friends with
PhDs in physics than of my medical doctor, whom I have known longer and
frankly trust with my life. They are all highly educated, but it just
stands to reason that each knows more about the field they are trained
in. (Well, duh!) But could a physicist be wrong about cosmology, or a
physician wrong about migrain headaches. Of course. By the same token a
physicist could be wrong about the Big Bang and a physician wrong about
arthritis. You have to give credit to (real) credentials, but you
must think for yourself. The important point is that
credibility should
not rely entirely on credentials.
5)
Check your own emotions and feelings (acknowledge your
biases)
Anyone who says that they can be unbiased is lying to you and him- or
herself. The important thing is to identify your biases and understand
how they can color your view. If you want there to be UFOs, it is a lot
easier to believe they exist whether there is evidence or not. Feelings
can make you look for confirmation while denying evidence to the
contrary (or lack of evidence in confirmation).
6)
Be open minded but not gullible
I don’t know who first said it, but I like the saying: “Be open-minded,
but not so open-minded that your brains fall out.” (I heard it first
from Robin Williams as Mork on Mork and Mindy!).
Trust logic and reason, but also keep in mind what Mr. Spock said in Star
Trek VI: “Logic is the beginning of wisdom … not the
end.”
Larry
S.
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