I. Introduction
Any of us who enjoy movies are curious about the content of the latest films. Should we go see them now, wait for them to show up at our preferred rental location, or avoid them altogether? Lots of film experts are available to advise us. But which of their opinions should we follow? Opinions are cheap; anyone can have one of those. But which film expert possesses the kind of knowledge that
gives us an opinion on which we can rely? Deciding which those are is hard work. To make the task easier, we often use one of our favorite web sites, http://www.rottentomatoes.com
However, one of the most obvious things one learns when reading dozens of reviews of a particular film is the certainty that human judgment will not be identical. Pick any movie you wish; check the reviews. Regardless of how many reviewers hated the movie, some reviewer somewhere will string together a positive review. Similarly, pick the most popular movie in history; go to the reviews. What do you find? Some expert thought it was a dog.
The book you are about to read contains the best answer we know. You need to build skills and attitudes that will enable you to decide for yourself which opinions to make your own. This book consists of asking questions in an effort to reach a personal decision about the worth of what you have experienced.
II. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking, as we will use the term, refers to the following
- awareness of a set of interrelated critical questions;
- ability to ask and answer critical questions at appropriate times; and the
- desire to actively use the critical questions.
Questions require the person being asked the question to act in response. By our questions, we are saying to the person: I am curious; I want to know more; help me. This request shows respect for the other person. The questions exist to inform and provide direction for all who hear them. In that respect, critical thinking begins with the desire to improve what we think. The point of your questions is that you need help to have a deeper understanding or appreciation of what is being said.
As a package, they will be useful whenever you choose to react to what you are hearing or reading. They are also useful in improving your own writing and speaking because they will assist you when you:
- react critically to an essay or to evidence presented in a textbook,
- a periodical, or on a Web site;
- judge the quality of a lecture or speech;
- form an argument;
- write an essay based on a reading assignment; or
- participate in class.
III. Thinking Styles
1. The sponge approach
- First, the more information you absorb(hấp thụ) about the world, the more capable you are of understanding its complexities. Knowledge you have acquired provides a foundation for more complicated thinking later.
- Second, rather than requiring strenuous(không ngừng) mental effort, it tends to be rather quick and easy, especially when the material is presented in a clear and interesting fashion. The primary mental effort involves concentration and memory.
The sponge approach emphasizes knowledge acquisition.
The sponge approach has a serious disadvantage: It provides no method for deciding which information and opinions to believe and which to reject. If a reader relied on the sponge approach all the time, he would believe whatever he read last
Solution: you must read with a special attitude : a question asking attitude. Such a thinking style requires active participation. The writer is trying to speak to you, and you should try to talk back to him, even though he is not present. This is panning-for-gold style of thinking
2. The Panning for Gold approach
A model for active readers and listeners as they try to determine the worth of what they read and hear.
The panning-for-gold approach stresses active interaction with knowledge as it is being acquired. To pan for intellectual gold, there must be something in your pan to evaluate. In addition, to evaluate arguments, we must possess knowledge, dependable opinions.
3. Example
a. What does the individual who takes the sponge approach do when he reads material?
- reads sentences carefully, trying to remember as much as he can.
- underline or highlight key words and sentences.
- take notes summarizing the major topics and major points.
- checks his underlining or notes to be sure that he is not forgetting anything important.
- find and understand what the author has to say.
- memorizes the reasoning, but doesn't evaluate it.
b. What does the reader who takes the panning-for-gold approach do?
Like the person using the sponge approach, he approaches his reading with the hope that he will acquire new knowledge. There the similarity ends.
The panning-for-gold approach requires that the reader asks himself a number of questions designed to uncover the best available decisions or beliefs:
- frequently questions why the author makes various claims
- writes notes to himself in the margins indicating problems with the reasoning
- continually interacts with the material.
- His intent is to critically evaluate the material and formulate personal conclusions based on the evaluation
MENTAL CHECK: Am I Panning for Gold?
- Did I ask "why" someone wants me to believe something?
- Did I take notes as I thought about potential problems with what was being said?
- Did I evaluate what was being said?
- Did I form my own conclusion about the topic?
IV.The Right Questions
To give you an initial sense of the skills that Asking the Right Questions will help you acquire, we will list the critical questions for you here. By the end of the book, you should know when and how to ask these questions productively:
1. What are the issues and the conclusions?
2. What are the reasons?
3. Which words or phrases are ambiguous?
4. What are the value conflicts and assumptions?
5. What are the descriptive assumptions?
6. Are there any fallacies in the reasoning?
7. How good is the evidence?
8. Are there rival causes?
9. Are the statistics deceptive?
10. What significant information is omitted?
11. What reasonable conclusions are possible?
Source: Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, 8th Ed
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