1.5 - About University

❑❑❑If there’s a chain of argument, ensure that every link in the chain works.When two hypotheses explain the data equally well, choose the simpler of the two;(this is known as Occam’s razor).Determine whether the hypothesis can be falsified. (It is far easier to prove somethingwrong than right!)❑ Learn group leadership skills. (They are designed to help you minimize errors oflogic.)4. Think of a decision that you or your workgroup is currently facing. Check (✓) whicherrors of logic you might be particularly vulnerable to making, given your own past historyof decision making and the circumstances of this particular decision.__Attacking the person, not theproblem__Vague terms__Defining the problem as asolution__An either-or false dichotomy__Confusing association andcorrelation with causation__Sequence means cause__The statistics of small numbers__Misunderstanding the nature ofstatistics__Incorrect conclusions—nonsequitur (It does not follow.)__Pleading__Blindly trusting authority__Selective observation__Inconsistency__Caricaturing__Slippery slope (domino theory)__Appealing to ignorance__Short-term versus long-term;tactics versus strategy__Weasel wordsWhat specific actions can you or your workgroup take to avoid making these errors of logic?R ELATED LEADERSHIP TOOLS1.9 Paradigms 6.4 Discussing Messes 7.1 Problem Framing6.2 Assumption Analysis 6.6 Six-Hat Thinking 7.3 Finding CauseF OR FURTHER ASSISTANCEPaulos, John. Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, 2nd ed. Vintage Books, 1990.Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark. Ballantine Books, 1996.172 SECTION 6 TOOLS FOR CRITICAL THINKING AND INNOVATION