> ”Our teachers of the last generation have divided knowledge into relatively isolated “subjects” without emphasizing the interconnection of all knowledge. We have learned “subjects” without actually learning how to tackle these subjects—we have not learned how to learn. We might say that we have been set to work hammering, chiseling, planing and carving without ever being taught how to use the tools. We have picked up what we could as we went along, incidentally.
> The classical educators started from the other end and emphasized the importance and use of those master tools that could be widely applied. Of course in order to learn the use of these master tools (grammar, logic and rhetoric), it is necessary to apply them to some piece of wood, to some subject—and so actual subjects must be studied (English, Latin, History, etc.). But note that the chief goal was to master the tools—for in mastering the tools, the subject (any subject) would soon be mastered as well. We encounter a paradox: classical educators favor tool over content and therefore help students to master more content than ever. They have taught their students how to learn.“
Studying math is the most direct and easiest route to get the human tendency to believe what's psychologically expedient beaten out of you. Any rigorous intro to math (abstract algebra, analysis, topology, whatever) book will do. But the easiest, most varied and funnest would be intro to discrete math or the so called "transition" books. For example, check out [1] Discrete Math by Susanna Epp, [2] Transition to Advanced Math by Gary Chartrand et al, [3] How to Think about Analysis by Lara Alcock, [4] Learning to Reason by Nancy Rodgers
I've been doing the book of proof front-to-back, all the odd problems and finished like 30% of it. Been doing it for about 1.5 months so far before I go to sleep.
Its made me realize that critical thinking is just breaking down logic to its smallest component form. And having some means of expressing different ways of organizing those components. Logic applies to all things, so time spent learning math is always useful.
I'm trying to make math derivations / critical thinking something I can do without trying, so its easier for me to pick up more complex topics and actually understand what's going on.
1) Resist attaching my ego to my thoughts and ideas, whenever possible (sometimes it is unavoidable).
2) Avoid having a strong opinion on something without really good reason [1], especially if it is a serious issue.
This makes it easier to deeply look at a difficult issue from multiple angles, and perhaps get a better understanding. Something that is difficult but very rewarding is the practice of taking some idea or belief that you disagree with, and trying very hard to imagine what the world would look like if it was true.
[1] Such as significant time researching and studying multiple sides of an issue. And even then, we have to be careful. How do we know our research was actually sufficient? The world is incredibly complex.
. Shows how most situations in life we face require a larger perspective, to see them as a complicated system. Contains many good references to systems thinking
I believe that there is no one-fits-all recipe for critical thinking, because its more of a personal thing.
It depends on your motivation for starters. Ever caught yourself thinking "Why do I need to question everything?"? Well, there you have it. Are you just curious, or is it mistrust that drives you? Are you able to question your own thoughts and motivation? Can you identify and fix your own errors? Are you able to answer these question? Observe your own thoughts and examine ideas that come to your mind, as if in argument with yourself.
Critical thinking is an endless stream of: Why, why why? So its not really about finding the answers, but rather asking the right questions.
I would add that it helps to hang around people who are themselves critical thinkers. Not the negative cynical kind, mind you, but those who like to explore new ideas, question old ones, and are not afraid to admit that some new ideas ended up sucking (after some consideration) and that the old ones weren't too bad with which to begin. Surrounding yourself with people like these help expand perspective and avoid group think.
As someone who wanted to ask a similar question to the OP, and didn't specifically know how to word it, the link on mental models really hit the nail on the head.
Make sure that whatever resource you find doesn't prescribe the results of your critical thinking. There are plenty of ideologues that try to prove to you that with critical thinking and rationality you will come to the same conclusion as the ideologues and that this is the only valid way of thinking.
If you define "critical thinking" as the ability to reason correctly, ie to identify the truth value of a statement or idea, given certain assumptions, then you're talking about logic.
It baffles me that -- at least in the U.S. -- we don't include logic per se in the core curriculum of a liberal arts college (let alone high school) education.
As an undergraduate I took an "Intro to Formal Logic" course, found I really enjoyed it, and was invited to become a tutor in subsequent semesters. At the time (circa 1995) we used the 7th edition of a classic textbook, "Logic & Philosophy: A Modern Introduction"[1]. Doing logical proofs in sentential and predicate logic is a lot more fun than it sounds, and results in improved instincts and ability to determine the logical validity and veracity of any set of statements. This skill is profoundly useful, and has incredibly broad applicability. It helped me ace my LSATs, and enabled my transition to software engineering. I think logic per se should be a core requirement for any kind of decent education. And if you're looking to improve your critical thinking skills, this is the foundation. It's reason, distilled.
While not disagreeing with your thesis, I took "Argument and Applied Logic" in college and found it to be a low-point in my academic career. It was less fun than it sounds.
I think one of the fundamental aspects is self-awareness and meta cognition. Think about your thinking process, in comparison to those you interact with, and you will learn about your assumptions/biases (and theirs). Use that awareness to compare with people whose judgement you respect (and those you don’t), and how they frame their opinions. These might even be fictional/idealized characters—the point is that they provoke meta cognition in you. As you become aware of different mental models, start practicing applying them to matters you encounter, and learning from feedback. Most resources take a short cut to this stage, but the art of choosing which mental models to apply when is an intensely personal matter, and can’t be obtained by reading about mental models.
Further, as a useful rule of thumb: On any controversial topic, you’re not allowed to hold a strong opinion till you can clearly articulate the reasons for both/all sides of the matter (such that a person advocating the respective side would consider it a fair representation of their views/thought process)
The highest roi I ever found for critical thinking enhancement was LSAT prep.
Specifically, the logical reasoning section has you evaluate a series of arguments and answer (often tricky) questions about the argument--analogizing, finding flaws, etc.
Formal books etc are fine, but if this were programming, I'd say dive in and write code. Imo LSAT prep is the 'write code' in this instance.
Logical thinking is the absence of illogical thinking. Therefore, one way to learn logical thinking is to learn the common patterns of illogical thinking, and avoid them.
Here is a list of the most common ways that humans think illogically:
In all seriousness, the comedian Gallagher started me on the path. He would point out a lot of flaws in our language, society, a lot of odd things, but the bit of wisdom that rung in my ears:
"What is the truth? And what does it mean to be true to the truth?"
A full exploration of that question is its own education.
Patience is the key to so many things! I break into three steps:
- Faith: in your methodology or approach
- Determination: to actually follow through
- Courage: to act when the time is right or to admit you were wrong
If courage fails you lack determination if determination fails you lack faith. Such is patience.
Now what should you believe? Cause that is the question you are trying to have answered here, when you ask to learn 'critical thinking' you are asking for a method to believe in.
I don't think that makes much sense, you already have a method and it is your raison d'être. Now what you need is introspection, but approach the task of incremental improvement patiently (i.e. explicitly / scientific method-y) and you won't go in circles.
Math is a fine place to start but just study whatever is relevant and do it well.
It's not as easy as one would think, no pun intended.
For way too long I have lamented the steep decline of critical thinking in everyday life, and yet - outside for Academic circle - there's very little discussion and education on the matter. In my ever-long TO-DO list there's a project to write a Critical Thinking 101 book, alas it's probably not going to happen.
The "Meta-Model" is a set of questions based on Chomsky's Transformational Grammar that are designed to elicit"hidden" information by detecting and "surfacing" the deep structure of linguistic models in a therapeutic context.
For example, a statement of the form, "Foo shouldn't bar." omits the reason or motive, and can be met with a question of the form, "What would happen if foo did bar?"
You can use the Meta-Model to guide your own introspection and elicit thoughts or beliefs that you might not even be aware you hold.
Not an external resource but I've identified that there are thought tools I continually apply in my own thinking to gain new perspective. I started writing them down and organizing them which has immediately benefited me and maybe one day I'll have distilled them clearly enough to share with others. Kind of like a toolbox for the mind.
Anyway, my advice is write down your own thoughts and discoveries. You'd be surprised how much content there is when you start collecting it all in one place and it will help you be more critical of your inner workings
[+] [-] walterbell|7 years ago|reply
https://classicalacademicpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/0...
> ”Our teachers of the last generation have divided knowledge into relatively isolated “subjects” without emphasizing the interconnection of all knowledge. We have learned “subjects” without actually learning how to tackle these subjects—we have not learned how to learn. We might say that we have been set to work hammering, chiseling, planing and carving without ever being taught how to use the tools. We have picked up what we could as we went along, incidentally.
> The classical educators started from the other end and emphasized the importance and use of those master tools that could be widely applied. Of course in order to learn the use of these master tools (grammar, logic and rhetoric), it is necessary to apply them to some piece of wood, to some subject—and so actual subjects must be studied (English, Latin, History, etc.). But note that the chief goal was to master the tools—for in mastering the tools, the subject (any subject) would soon be mastered as well. We encounter a paradox: classical educators favor tool over content and therefore help students to master more content than ever. They have taught their students how to learn.“
(warning: above PDF has a specific worldview)
[+] [-] noponpop|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chalmette|7 years ago|reply
[1] https://books.google.com/books?id=PPc_2qUhXrAC&pg=PA1&source...
[2] https://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-Proofs-Transition-Advanc...
[3] https://books.google.com/books?id=n0tuBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4&source...
[4] https://books.google.com/books?id=J9RLuhDRWGQC&pg=PR6&source...
If you're on a budget, check out the free ones like [1] Book of Proof by Richard Hammack, [2] Math Foundations of Computing by Keith Schwarz
[1] https://www.people.vcu.edu/~rhammack/BookOfProof/
[2] https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs103/notes/Mathematical%20Fo...
[+] [-] swaggyBoatswain|7 years ago|reply
Its made me realize that critical thinking is just breaking down logic to its smallest component form. And having some means of expressing different ways of organizing those components. Logic applies to all things, so time spent learning math is always useful.
I'm trying to make math derivations / critical thinking something I can do without trying, so its easier for me to pick up more complex topics and actually understand what's going on.
[+] [-] malmsteen|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dwaltrip|7 years ago|reply
1) Resist attaching my ego to my thoughts and ideas, whenever possible (sometimes it is unavoidable).
2) Avoid having a strong opinion on something without really good reason [1], especially if it is a serious issue.
This makes it easier to deeply look at a difficult issue from multiple angles, and perhaps get a better understanding. Something that is difficult but very rewarding is the practice of taking some idea or belief that you disagree with, and trying very hard to imagine what the world would look like if it was true.
[1] Such as significant time researching and studying multiple sides of an issue. And even then, we have to be careful. How do we know our research was actually sufficient? The world is incredibly complex.
[+] [-] nolite|7 years ago|reply
Systems Thinking: https://amzn.to/2y43BaO
. Shows how most situations in life we face require a larger perspective, to see them as a complicated system. Contains many good references to systems thinking
How to Solve it: https://amzn.to/2sR1Jw4
A book by a mathematician (Polya), which tells you how to think about problems in a way that you can generalize to any type of life situation
Edit: Sorry, fixed the second link
[+] [-] zamalek|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spai2|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dschuetz|7 years ago|reply
It depends on your motivation for starters. Ever caught yourself thinking "Why do I need to question everything?"? Well, there you have it. Are you just curious, or is it mistrust that drives you? Are you able to question your own thoughts and motivation? Can you identify and fix your own errors? Are you able to answer these question? Observe your own thoughts and examine ideas that come to your mind, as if in argument with yourself.
Critical thinking is an endless stream of: Why, why why? So its not really about finding the answers, but rather asking the right questions.
[+] [-] drchiu|7 years ago|reply
I would add that it helps to hang around people who are themselves critical thinkers. Not the negative cynical kind, mind you, but those who like to explore new ideas, question old ones, and are not afraid to admit that some new ideas ended up sucking (after some consideration) and that the old ones weren't too bad with which to begin. Surrounding yourself with people like these help expand perspective and avoid group think.
[+] [-] superquest|7 years ago|reply
This site has great information on how to think. The above post is particularly excellent.
[+] [-] personlurking|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] maxxxxx|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] egjerlow|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] oh-moses|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chrisweekly|7 years ago|reply
It baffles me that -- at least in the U.S. -- we don't include logic per se in the core curriculum of a liberal arts college (let alone high school) education.
As an undergraduate I took an "Intro to Formal Logic" course, found I really enjoyed it, and was invited to become a tutor in subsequent semesters. At the time (circa 1995) we used the 7th edition of a classic textbook, "Logic & Philosophy: A Modern Introduction"[1]. Doing logical proofs in sentential and predicate logic is a lot more fun than it sounds, and results in improved instincts and ability to determine the logical validity and veracity of any set of statements. This skill is profoundly useful, and has incredibly broad applicability. It helped me ace my LSATs, and enabled my transition to software engineering. I think logic per se should be a core requirement for any kind of decent education. And if you're looking to improve your critical thinking skills, this is the foundation. It's reason, distilled.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Logic-Philosophy-Introduction-Alan-Ha...
[Edited to add intro / context]
[+] [-] ljw1001|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ssivark|7 years ago|reply
Further, as a useful rule of thumb: On any controversial topic, you’re not allowed to hold a strong opinion till you can clearly articulate the reasons for both/all sides of the matter (such that a person advocating the respective side would consider it a fair representation of their views/thought process)
[+] [-] bmpafa|7 years ago|reply
Specifically, the logical reasoning section has you evaluate a series of arguments and answer (often tricky) questions about the argument--analogizing, finding flaws, etc.
Formal books etc are fine, but if this were programming, I'd say dive in and write code. Imo LSAT prep is the 'write code' in this instance.
[+] [-] itronitron|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bane|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thejerz|7 years ago|reply
Here is a list of the most common ways that humans think illogically:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies
[+] [-] oceanghost|7 years ago|reply
"What is the truth? And what does it mean to be true to the truth?"
A full exploration of that question is its own education.
[+] [-] openfuture|7 years ago|reply
Patience is the key to so many things! I break into three steps:
- Faith: in your methodology or approach
- Determination: to actually follow through
- Courage: to act when the time is right or to admit you were wrong
If courage fails you lack determination if determination fails you lack faith. Such is patience.
Now what should you believe? Cause that is the question you are trying to have answered here, when you ask to learn 'critical thinking' you are asking for a method to believe in.
I don't think that makes much sense, you already have a method and it is your raison d'être. Now what you need is introspection, but approach the task of incremental improvement patiently (i.e. explicitly / scientific method-y) and you won't go in circles.
Math is a fine place to start but just study whatever is relevant and do it well.
[+] [-] willart4food|7 years ago|reply
For way too long I have lamented the steep decline of critical thinking in everyday life, and yet - outside for Academic circle - there's very little discussion and education on the matter. In my ever-long TO-DO list there's a project to write a Critical Thinking 101 book, alas it's probably not going to happen.
Good comments and resources in this discussion, I'd like to add http://criticalthinking.fsu.edu/news/ted-talks/ and also the usual suspects at Amazon.com.
P.S.: If someone has a good resource/book for Critical Thinking for kids, please post it.
[+] [-] nsomaru|7 years ago|reply
Study it critically: https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Human-Intellect-Parthasarathy/dp...
[+] [-] js8|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] carapace|7 years ago|reply
The "Meta-Model" is a set of questions based on Chomsky's Transformational Grammar that are designed to elicit"hidden" information by detecting and "surfacing" the deep structure of linguistic models in a therapeutic context.
For example, a statement of the form, "Foo shouldn't bar." omits the reason or motive, and can be met with a question of the form, "What would happen if foo did bar?"
You can use the Meta-Model to guide your own introspection and elicit thoughts or beliefs that you might not even be aware you hold.
[+] [-] heckanoobs|7 years ago|reply
Anyway, my advice is write down your own thoughts and discoveries. You'd be surprised how much content there is when you start collecting it all in one place and it will help you be more critical of your inner workings