About the Author: Tom Chatfield is a tech philosopher, broadcaster, speaker and columnist.
Recognizing an argument is the first step in learning to reason.
An argument is basically a claim backed by justification. When people present an argument, they are trying to persuade you to agree with their opinion by providing you with their reasoning. Once you recognize the reasoning behind their statement and the conclusion they have drawn, you can begin to assess the argument. This means considering other arguments on the topic, deciding if they have supported their assertions and perhaps engaging in debate to change their – or your – opinion.Persuasion using emotional appeals, rather than reasoning, is not an argument, nor are mere descriptions or explanations.
To reconstruct someone’s argument, identify the premises that support their conclusion and clearly verbalize the person’s assumptions. This ensures you have fully comprehended the argument. Identifying these things will allow you to spot extraneous information that may have obscured important facts and led to flawed conclusions.
“If we wish genuinely to challenge what other people think, we need to engage with
the very strongest version of their argument. Otherwise, by building straw men or addressing only others’ weakest points, we are likely simply to reinforce existing beliefs – and to allow ourselves to get away with weak or underhanded forms of argument.”
Even if you believe your counterpart’s opinion is wrong, deal with the person’s argument in the most charitable way, ensuring that you find the strongest points of their reasoning. Assuming that they are honest and informed helps you avoid dismissing opinions based on mere prejudice. Being open to having your own mind changed is a vital point in rigorous critical thinking and pushes you to continually search for better explanations. Thus, you can better explain your own position and change your opinion if new knowledge comes to light.
Deductive, inductive and abductive reasoning help you draw logical conclusions, explore probabilityand seek the best explanations.
Deductive reasoning uses logic to come to a conclusion. Logic seeks to differentiate between “correct and incorrect reasoning.” Logic and truth are not the same thing. Deductive reasoning aims to establish whether an argument is valid or invalid, that is, if the conclusion follows from the premises – not if the premises are true. Deductive proof shows that a conclusion is true if the premises are true.
Inductive reasoning, on the other hand, is more concerned with the observation of patterns and prediction of trends, rather than with pure logic. It is about “seeking good reasons to believe something in the absence of logical certainty.” Inductive reasoning can’t be absolute; rather, it focuses on degrees of certainty. Meticulous observation and high probability should form the basis for supporting evidence.
“An inductively forceful argument is one that has both a good structure and premises we accept as true, meaning we also have good reason to accept its conclusion as true (similar to a sound deductive argument, although without its certainty).”
Abductive reasoning is about creating theories and hypotheses to explain what people believe is true. What is the most reasonable and best explanation for what you observe? Uncertainty and conjecture – not just straightforward logic – play an important role in answering that question. Scientists, for instance, create a model to explain data they observe, and then test it. For example, Isaac Newton watched apples fall from the tree straight to the ground, and asked why they inevitably moved toward the Earth. His answer, forged over twenty years, gave humanity the theory of gravity.
Evaluating the evidence behind a claim involves questioning the source.
Critical thinking requires evaluating the evidence behind a claim. To do so, question the sources by considering the following questions:
- Is there an agenda, and if so, what is it?
- What knowledge do the authors of the source have or don’t have?
- Can you corroborate this claim?
- What other knowledge do you need to discover more?
- What type of reasoning was applied, and is it good?
- If there is no reasoning, why not and what else is going on?
Sources for studies are normally either primary (directly from the subject of your research) or secondary (involving someone else’s interpretation of the investigation.)With primary sources, ascertain that the results are authentic, look at the process used to create the evidence, discern if it is both representative and correct, and decide if it is relevant to the argument you’re investigating.
“Good reasoning does more than make sense on its own terms. For us to accept someone’s reasoning, it must not only be coherent but also be connected to the world by firm evidence in the form of accurate, relevant information demonstrating (as far as possible) the truthfulness of their claims.”
To evaluate a secondary source, ask if it is a reliable, reputable source, if it is impartial and up-to-date, and if anyone has replicated the results. Consider the most authentic and influential sources in your subject area.
Learning to identify and wield the persuasive tool of rhetoric is crucial in critical thinking.
Reasoning and logic don’t come naturally to human beings. People are inherently more instinctual and emotional than rational and reasonable; they behave subjectively and follow their intuition. Yet humanity’s ability to examine experiences and impulses critically can help prevent decisions that do not serve people well.
Individuals normally communicate in three ways: to relay information, to express feelings and subjective opinions, and to attempt to change someone else’s opinion or behavior.
The third category bears consideration, especially if people commit to reasoning as part of critical thinking. An important aspect of classical learning, rhetoric is the art of persuading people through the proficient expression of ideas – not through reasoning.
“The assumption that rhetoric is the kind of clumsy manipulation that any smart person ought to see through is a myth, as is the idea that it is either a bad thing or an optional extra that we can choose to do or not to do.”
Persuasive communication relies on showing your audience you are trustworthy, presenting relevant content, evoking emotion and knowing the best timing for making your point. Consider also the linguistic register of your argument: whether it is informal and chatty, heavy on detail, sensational, or a deliberate appeal to a person’s reason. Notice how people use words in their arguments, skillfully drawing their audience to their own point of view.
Rhetoric uses language to drum up sympathy for a topic (closeness) or to cause the audience to push it away because it feels foreign (distance). Be aware of manipulation in a message that suggests you should be open or feel closed to an issue.
Learning to write impartially is a valuable skill which can help you present your work in ways as free of bias as possible. Avoiding emotional words, presenting the facts of the matter, discussing other points of view with their supporting facts, and seeking to evaluate differing beliefs all contribute to impartial work.
Spot faulty reasoning by identifying fallacies.
A fallacy is a “faulty connection between premises and a conclusion.” Paying attention to fallacies reveals the misapplication of reasoning, and will make you more capable of recognizing when someone tries to mislead you. Some fallacious arguments use these techniques:
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“Appeal to popularity” – Whatever the majority thinks must be true.
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“Appeal to irrelevant authority” – Appealing to a non-expert authority.
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“Unwarranted hidden assumption” – A flawed, unsaid part of reasoning that seems to support the argument.
Learning to recognize fallacies helps you see where reasoning breaks down and makes you aware of the seductive nature of this type of erroneous reasoning.
“The illusion of certainty is precisely what gives a fallacy much of its force. In many fallacies, a weak inductive argument is masquerading as a sound deductive argument – and this, it turns out, can be a comforting and convincing way to simplify the world.”
One way to combat the confusion of these fallacies is to use the same argument in a completely different context to test the reasoning. If the argument is, “Everyone I’ve spoken to thinks that the president is doing a terrific job. You should stop moaning and accept that he’s the right leader for this country,” you could substitute, “Everyone in this room says that two plus two equals five. So it does.” This is not to disregard the original argument but to point out the fallacy supporting it.
Informal fallacies contain flaws in the believability of a premise relating to external evidence. They depend on flawed interpretations of external facts. For example, determining if the sentence, “Alice says that my band is world-class – and she should know!” is a fallacy or not depends on whether Alice is truly an expert on bands. Formal fallacies, on the other hand, exist in the argument’s logic and whether the conclusion follows the premise.
In order to identify informal fallacies in others’ arguments, and in your own, consider the following points: Has anyone put forward emotions, traditions or personal opinions as truths? Has anyone assessed a claim simply on the basis of the source rather than the content? Has anyone asserted a belief as a premise? Does irrelevant material masquerade as reasoning and lead to a false conclusion? Do analogies, metaphors or generalizations hold up to scrutiny? Has anyone given a simplistic answer to a complex issue?
Become aware of cognitive shortcuts to avoid cognitive bias.
Considering every decision in a meticulous manner involves too much time and energy, so humankind has developed instinctual and unconscious methods of dealing with everyday situations. People have to be selective about where to put their mental resources and need to make quick decisions too many times a day to belabor each choice. As a result, people favor what is urgent and close to home, and they create patterns and stories to build a decision-making framework. Noticing new information is not a priority, as a rule. The cognitive tactics humans use to take a mental shortcut are called heuristics. Four main types of heuristic exist:
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Affect heuristic – The emotional intensity – negative or positive – of people’s reaction guides their decision-making, even when the reaction is misleading.
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Availability heuristic–Allowing how easily something comes to mind guide your decisions.
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Anchoring heuristic–An initial frame of reference, even if it’s not relevant, influences your decision-making. For instance, having an expensive bottle of wine on the menu makes the other wines look comparably reasonable in price.
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Representativeness heuristic–People tend to favor options that conform to their expectations rather than simply considering probability.
Heuristics allow you to take shortcuts in everyday decision-making, as they turn complex matters into something more intuitive. They work best for decisions for which you have enough reliable information to make a clear choice. Heuristics are also effective for decisions in your areas of expertise. Being aware of the shortcuts you take in decision-making can help you avoid cognitive bias.
Distrust your intuition when cognitive biases are involved.
Pay attention to where cognitive biases distort your decision-making. How someone frames the facts will affect how you react. For example, advertising a product as 90% fat free is more appealing to most people than claiming it contains 10% fat. Re-framing, or changing the way you present something, will help you see the issue from a new perspective.
Confirmation bias occurs when people notice evidence affirming their own opinions and disregard support for opposing ideas. While creating narratives and patterns to explain a prior event, people disregard what doesn’t fit their stories.
“Unless we are extremely cautious, we are apt to see what we either want to see or expect to see, or are inclined to view as note-worthy, while ignoring information that is not meaningful to us in this way.”
Another bias – the Dunning-Kruger effect – occurs when ignorant and unskilled people perceive themselves as much more capable than they actually are. Conversely, when people with a high level of expertise in one area are grossly self-assured about their abilities outside their sphere of competence, overconfidence bias occurs.
Be on guard for three ways your intuition can mislead you:
1. Attributing great significance to a random event.
2. Ignoring the significance of events or situations that did not occur.
3. Assuming events or results are predictable and follow a regular pattern.
People are able to navigate familiar, local decisions with ease. However, they falter in large-scale, complicated situations which require statistical understanding. Here, intuition will often lead them astray.
Be critical about the use and influence of technology.
While technologies are a valuable asset for accessing, processing and preserving knowledge, they are prone to bias, just like humans are. Technologies have taken on world views, opinions and presuppositions which have the power to influence your opinions and behaviors.
“Far from being neutral tools, our technologies encode certain habits, assumptions and ways of seeing the world – ways that, unless we are careful, help define our actions and attitudes without us even noticing.”
Be aware of deception through misinformation (untrue information) or disinformation (information that is deliberately misleading). When using technology, look for a source you trust, investigate where a story
started and check for fake URLs. Find out everything about the entire story, don’t just read the headline. Be aware of unsubstantiated stats or facts. People can alter videos and photos, so check them thoroughly for authenticity. Pay attention to how you feel. Often, false news seeks to make you feel upset or angry. False hope can also be seductive, so check everything skeptically.
Honing your critical thinking skills will help you interact meaningfully with the vast array of information at your fingertips, while aiding you in presenting your own thoughts and working with clarity.
