An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity - always yours

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112 ARGUMENT ANALYSIS b) We should not trust scientists because they keep on changing their theories. Today they say that this is true. Tomorrow they come up with a different theory and say something else. c) It is useless to punish students because they will always make mistakes. 12.4 Evaluate these arguments and in particular pay attention to any hidden assumptions. a) Low taxation is desirable because it has lots of benefits. It is good for business and investment, and the citizens are likely to be happier. b) The universe could not have existed forever. Radioactive material will decay until they cease to become radioactive. Since the universe still contains radioactive material, there must have been a beginning. Otherwise all the radioactive material will have long been gone already. c) Indira donated $2 million to the Democratic Party and only $500,000 to the Liberal Party. So she is probably going to vote for the Democratic Party.
CHAPTER 13 SCIENTIFIC REASONING Science is regarded as one of the greatest achievements of human beings, alongside art, music, and literature. Technology is a product of science, and it has a huge impact on our lives. But the core of scientific methodology is hypothesis testing, an essential part of critical thinking. Broadly speaking, hypothesis testing is a matter of gathering evidence to select the best hypothesis. (In this book, a hypothesis is the same as a theory or a claim— a statement that can be either true or false.) But hypothesis testing is not just for scientists. In any type of career, we have to solve problems, and hypothesis testing helps us find the best solutions to our problems. Suppose your mobile phone is not working. Is the battery dead or is the phone broken? You try to recharge it to see if it works. If it does the phone wasn't broken. This is hypothesis testing. Or think about how to improve your health. What should you eat and what exercises should you do? You need to gather information and evaluate different theories before coming up with a plan. This also involves hypothesis testing. There are two noteworthy features about hypothesis testing. First, it is based on evidence, not on gut feelings, tradition, popularity, authority, or personal preferences. Second, hypothesis testing is fallible, and it is often difficult to prove that a theory must be correct. Our evidence might be tainted without our knowledge, An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity: Think More, Think Better. By Joe Y.F. Lau 113 Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & S
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VIII CONTENTS 9 Valid and sound arg
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X PREFACE • This book has a compa
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2 INTRODUCTION Which is more import
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4 INTRODUCTION knowing the rules of
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6 INTRODUCTION 1. The first questio
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8 INTRODUCTION • Open-mindedness:
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12 THINKING AND WRITING CLEARLY Con
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14 THINKING AND WRITING CLEARLY own
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16 THINKING AND WRITING CLEARLY •
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18 THINKING AND WRITING CLEARLY Tip
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20 THINKING AND WRITING CLEARLY g)
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22 DEFINITIONS • The referent of
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24 DEFINITIONS is too wide because
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26 DEFINITIONS sophisticated sense.
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28 DEFINITIONS 3.5.2 Definition by
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30 DEFINITIONS 3.2 Evaluate these d
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34 NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT CONDITI
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42 LINGUISTIC PITFALLS ambiguous. A
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44 LINGUISTIC PITFALLS change of di
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46 LINGUISTIC PITFALLS BILLY : All
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48 LINGUISTIC PITFALLS absolve anyb
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50 LINGUISTIC PITFALLS 5.4 GOBBLEDY
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52 LINGUISTIC PITFALLS c) Our cooki
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54 TRUTH false, but we would never
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56 TRUTH matter of linguistic conve
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58 TRUTH i) If Rebecca is Shannon's
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60 BASIC LOGIC 7.1.1 Consistency A
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Page 82 and 83: 70 IDENTIFYING ARGUMENTS of opinion
Page 84 and 85: 72 IDENTIFYING ARGUMENTS it easier
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Page 92 and 93: 80 VALID AND SOUND ARGUMENTS 9.2.5
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Page 100 and 101: 88 INDUCTIVE REASONING highly confi
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Page 108 and 109: 96 ARGUMENT MAPPING Every person is
Page 110 and 111: 98 ARGUMENT MAPPING of arguments ex
Page 112 and 113: 100 ARGUMENT MAPPING elusion. Separ
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Page 116 and 117: 104 ARGUMENT MAPPING a) High school
Page 120 and 121: 108 ARGUMENT ANALYSIS ing. It will
Page 122 and 123: 110 ARGUMENT ANALYSIS As an example
Page 126 and 127: 114 SCIENTIFIC REASONING or perhaps
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Page 136 and 137: 124 SCIENTIFIC REASONING 13.3 Some
Page 138 and 139: 126 MILLS METHODS 14.1 THE METHOD O
Page 140 and 141: 128 MILLS METHODS 14.3 THE JOINT ME
Page 142 and 143: 130 MILLS METHODS feet is not among
Page 144 and 145: 132 MILLS METHODS d) Situation Cand
Page 146 and 147: 134 REASONING ABOUT CAUSATION Simil
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Page 154 and 155: 142 DIAGRAMS OF CAUSAL PROCESSES an
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Page 158 and 159: 146 STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY 17.1
Page 160 and 161: 148 STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY •
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Page 166 and 167: 154 STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY 17.4
Page 168 and 169: 156 STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY 4,12
Page 172 and 173: 160 THINKING ABOUT VALUES It is the
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162 THINKING ABOUT VALUES Once thes
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164 THINKING ABOUT VALUES is flat o
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166 THINKING ABOUT VALUES will be c
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168 THINKING ABOUT VALUES Similarly
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170 THINKING ABOUT VALUES 18.2 M Ou
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174 FALLACIES One further clarifica
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176 FALLACIES All circular argument
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178 FALLACIES 19.4.1 Irrelevant res
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180 FALLACIES the question. Murder,
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182 FALLACIES • Non sequitur: Non
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184 FALLACIES g) All my Facebook fr
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186 COGNITIVE BIASES These question
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188 COGNITIVE BIASES • Subjects w
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190 COGNITIVE BIASES more likely to
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192 COGNITIVE BIASES - Avoid framin
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196 ANALOGICAL REASONING a big appe
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198 ANALOGICAL REASONING Furthermor
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202 MAKING RATIONAL DECISIONS 22.1
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204 MAKING RATIONAL DECISIONS So if
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206 MAKING RATIONAL DECISIONS the s
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208 MAKING RATIONAL DECISIONS succe
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210 MAKING RATIONAL DECISIONS about
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212 MAKING RATIONAL DECISIONS EXERC
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216 WHAT IS CREATIVITY? The observa
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218 WHAT IS CREATIVITY? Step 1 : Pr
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220 WHAT IS CREATIVITY? remedy our
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224 CREATIVE THINKING HABITS made o
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226 CREATIVE THINKING HABITS materi
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228 CREATIVE THINKING HABITS orate
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230 CREATIVE THINKING HABITS Ellis
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234 SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES any of t
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236 SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES SOLUTION
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242 SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES 1 l.l.h
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244 SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES 12.1.f T
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246 SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES 13.4 One
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250 SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES 17.3.d T
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252 SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES 19.2.e F
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Bibliography Ackerman, J., Nocera,
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258 BIBLIOGRAPHY McRae, C, Cherin,
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260 BIBLIOGRAPHY Wolf, G. (1996). S
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262 INDEX consequentialist reasonin
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