Ask questions
Stripped to its essence, critical thinking means asking and answering questions. If you want to practice this skill, get in the habit of asking powerful questions.
In How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren list four questions that sum up the whole task of thinking about another person’s ideas:
1. What is the writing or speech about as a whole? To answer this question, state the basic theme in one sentence. Then list the major and minor topics covered.
2. What is being said in detail, and how? List the main terms, assertions, arguments. Also state what problems the writer or speaker is trying to solve.
3. Is it true? Examine the author’s logic and evidence. Look for missing information, faulty information, incomplete analysis, and errors in reasoning. Also determine which problems the writer or speaker truly solved and which remain unsolved.
4. What of it? After answering the first three questions, prepare to change your thinking or behavior as a result of encountering new ideas.
These four questions apply not only to reading but also to any intellectual activity. They get to the heart of critical thinking.
Look for at least three answers
When asking questions, we can let go of the temptation to settle for just one answer. Once you have come up with an answer, say to yourself. Yes, that is one answer. Now what’s another? Using this approach can sustain honest inquiry, fuel creativity, and lead to conceptual breakthroughs.
Be prepared: The world is complicated, and critical thinking is a complex business. Some of your answers may contradict each other. Resist the temptation to have all your ideas in a neat, orderly bundle.
Be willing to change your mind
So many discussions generate heat instead of light. Often the people involved come already committed to certain viewpoints—which they have no intention of changing. They might just as well stop talking to each other.
We can avoid this trap by entering discussion with an open mind. When talking to another person, is willing to walk away with a new point of view—even if it’s the one you brought to the table? After thinking thoroughly, we can adopt new viewpoints or hold our current viewpoints in a different way.
Lay your cards on the table
Science and uncritical thinking differ in many ways. Uncritical thinkers shield themselves from new information and ideas. In contrast, scientists constantly look for facts that contradict their theories. In fact, science never proves anything once and for all. Scientific theories are tentative and subject to change. Scientists routinely practice critical thinking.
We can follow their example. When talking or writing, we can put all our ideas on the table for examination. We can allow others to freely examine our opinions and beliefs. When doing so, we make room for new ideas that can make a real difference in our lives.
Examine the problem from different points of view
Imagining that two people are standing across from each other, between them, suspended from the ceiling at eye level, is a ball. One person argues that the ball is red. The other person claims that the ball is green. As they rotate their positions and change their points of view, they see that the ball is actually red on one side and green on the other.
Sometimes new ideas are born when we view the world from a new angle. When early scientists watched the skies, they concluded that the sun revolved around the earth. Later, when we gained the mathematical tools to “stand” in another place, we could clearly see that the earth was revolving around the sun. This change in position not only sparked new thinking, it permanently changed our picture of the universe.
Write about it
Thoughts move randomly at blinding speed. Writing slows that process down. Gaps in logic that slips by us in thought or speech are often exposed when we commit the same ideas to paper. Doing so allows us to see all points of view on an issue more clearly and therefore to think thoroughly. Writing is an unparalleled way to practice precise, accurate thinking. 感谢您阅读《Ideas 》一文，出国留学网(liuxue86.com)编辑部希望本文能帮助到您。
