Critical thinking
Table of Contents
Introduction
Introduction
What you will learn
Critical thinking is a key part of being an intellectual. It means thinking in a careful, organised and thoughtful way. It is also a highly valued skill in the workplace. According to the World Economic Forum (2016), critical thinking is the second most important skill for future jobs, just after complex problem solving.
This module will help you build your critical thinking skills by:
- Looking at different types of information, where it comes from, and how to judge its quality
- Helping you understand your own thinking and how personal bias can affect it
- Learning how arguments are made and how to assess them properly
Information
Take a moment to think about the question below. Once you have an answer, flip the card to learn more:
Information can come in many forms, such as facts, gossip, rumours, theories and knowledge. Because of this, it is important to check how trustworthy the things you hear, see or read are. Try this short quiz to learn some useful tips for checking credibility:
When you are checking a source, you should at least look for the following:
Authority: Is the author qualified to write about the topic? Do they have the right education or experience? Have they written other articles on the same subject? If the author is an organisation, is it well-known and reliable? Could they have a hidden reason for sharing the information, such as making money or pushing a political view?
Purpose: Why was the content made? Is it meant to inform by giving a fair and evidence-based view? Is it trying to persuade by showing only one side? Is it trying to sell something?
Evidence: Are there facts or proof to support the claims? Are there references or links to more information? Are the references written by people who are qualified in the topic? Can you find other sources online that agree with the points being made?
If you are checking a source for an assessment, make sure it meets the basic requirements. Has it been published recently enough? Is it in a format that is allowed? Always follow the instructions for your assessment so that you do not lose marks.
Fact-checking
When you come across new information, you may need to look beyond the original source to check if the claims are true. This is especially important if the information has not been reviewed before being published, or if it comes from an organisation you do not know well. So, what is the best way to fact-check a source?
The most effective way to check if information is trustworthy is by using a method called lateral reading. Instead of reading the page from top to bottom, you read across by opening new tabs and searching for more information while you read. This helps you check the facts as you go. It includes:
- Looking up more details about the author or organisation that created the content
- Searching to confirm any statistics or numbers mentioned
To learn more about lateral reading, watch this short video made by the Stanford History Education Group:
Bias
We have already learned that information can be biased. Now, it is important to think about our own bias.
Research shows that we are more likely to accept information that matches what we already believe. This is called confirmation bias or myside bias (see Kappes et al., 2020; McCrudden & Barnes, 2016; Pilditch & Custers, 2018). Wittebols (2019) defines it as a “tendency to be psychologically invested in the familiar and what we believe and less receptive to information that contradicts what we believe” (p. 211). Qn simple terms, we may reject information that does not support our existing ideas.
This bias can appear in different ways. Hahn and Harris (2014) identify four main behaviours:
- Only searching for information that supports what we already believe
- Not carefully checking information that supports our beliefs, and accepting it without question, while being very critical of information that disagrees
- Becoming fixed in our thinking after forming an opinion, and ignoring new information
- Feeling too confident that our beliefs are correct.
Peters (2020) also suggests that we are more likely to remember information that supports our views. This can strengthen our bias even more. Overall, research shows that bias strongly affects the way we think. To learn more about how and why bias affects everyday thinking, watch the short video.
Filter bubbles and echo chambers
The idea of filter bubbles was first introduced in 2011 by internet activist Eli Pariser. He described it as “your own personal unique world of information that you live in online” (Pariser, 2011, 4:21). At the time, Pariser focused on how algorithms on social media platforms and search engines work. These algorithms prioritise content based on a person’s past online activity. This means “the Internet is showing us what it thinks we want to see, but not necessarily what we should see” (Pariser, 2011, 3:47). You can watch his TED talk to learn more.
Today, we understand that people also create their own filter bubbles. This can happen when you look for people or sources that share your views, follow friends or public figures on social media, and connect with people who have similar beliefs and interests.
Barack Obama (2017) spoke about filter bubbles in his presidential farewell address:
For too many of us it’s become safer to retreat into our own bubbles, whether in our neighbourhoods, or on college campuses, or places of worship, or especially our social media feeds, surrounded by people who look like us and share the same political outlook and never challenge our assumptions… Increasingly we become so secure in our bubbles that we start accepting only information, whether it’s true or not, that fits our opinions, instead of basing our opinions on the evidence that is out there. (Obama, 2017, 22:57).
Filter bubbles are not new. Before social media, a similar idea was called an echo chamber. This term was used to describe how news media can present different viewpoints in separate spaces. In an echo chamber, people mainly see information that supports their existing beliefs and are less likely to see ideas that challenge or oppose them.
Other forms of bias
There are many other ways that bias can affect how you think and understand new information. Try the quiz below to learn about other types of bias, or read Buzzfeed’s 2017 article on cognitive bias.
Argument
Categories of Arguments
A key skill when judging information is being able to decide how strong an argument is and whether it makes sense. But what exactly is an argument? Take a moment to think about this question. Once you have an answer, flip the card to learn more:
Arguments can be grouped into two main types:
Deductive arguments
If premises are true, then conclusions must also be true.
Example : Claire likes cats. Bella is a cat. Therefore, Claire likes Bella.
Inductive arguments
If premises are true or have a high likelihood of being true, then conclusions are likely to be true, but not guaranteed.
Example: In most cases, where there is smoke, there is fire. There is smoke on the mountain. Therefore there is probably a fire on the mountain.
Let’s explore through an example the different ways deductive and inductive arguments are constructed and analysed.
| Deductive | Inductive |
|---|---|
Observation – a phenomena is observed
|
Observation – a phenomena is observed
|
Theory – is developed to explain why it occurred
|
Data is collected to determine the possible reasons for this trend
Trends in data
|
Explanation – theory is analysed/tested and either accepted, rejected or revised
|
Theory
|
Evaluating arguments
Arguments can be evaluated by following four steps:
- Begin by deconstructing the argument so that you can identify its premises, the assumptions that underpin in, and its conclusions.
- Establish whether the argument is deductive or inductive
- Determine whether the argument is logically valid. Does the conclusion follow from the premises? Is there any missing information or hidden premises that would be required to make the conclusion valid?
- If you feel that the conclusions are valid, check that the premises are true
Evaluating arguments can be difficult at first. For an example of evaluation in action, watch this video which evaluates a common argument connected to climate change produced by staff at the University of Queensland (and if you’re interested you can read their full paper examining this issue).
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