LECTURE 2

CRITICAL THINKING

2.1 Introduction

This lecture introduces you to the definition and levels of thinking.

Universally understood; thinking is simply any natural process activity of human mind involving

ideas, be it automatic accidental and unregulated or deliberate and planned. The former is

spontaneous and sometimes unconscious while the latter is planned in the latter one is more

conscious.

Thinking can range from simple to complex operations of the mind e.g. daydreaming,

remembering, doubting, questioning, reasoning etc. Thought can be expressed in speech and

literary work

Every human person is born with potentiality to think.

What is the difference thinking and reasoning?

Although sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably, reasoning has more formal flavor

and is more intellectual.

Reasoning is an intellectual process by which the mind makes inferences (draws conclusions)

based on given statements or data (premises). As such, it is an element/component of thinking.

2.2 Lecture Objectives

By the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

a) Identify levels of thinking

b) Define critical thinking

c) Obstacles to critical thinking

2.2 Levels/Classification of Thinking

Thinking can be classified according to:

active, regulated, and deliberate thinking. Non-goal directed thinking tends to be

automatic, passive, accidental and low conscious and not directed to any operation. This

course deals with goal directed thinking. Three kinds of goal directed thinking are:

i. Cognitive thinking: - whose goal is to gain knowledge and understanding.

ii. Contemplative/evaluative thinking: -whose goal is to ascertain whether actions is

right/wrong or whether something is true or false e.g. in moral reasoning and in

epistemology

iii. Deliberative thinking: - whose goal is solving problems, making decisions, and resolving

situations.

2. Effectiveness of thinking in achieving the targeted goals: Low level thinking (L. L. T) is

less skillful and breaks the standards of correct thinking. Consequently, it is less effective.

High level thinking (H. L. T.) is highly skillful, meets certain standards of correct thinking

and it is effective.

High level thinking is we can, in other words, call ‘good thinking’. It is the distinguishing mark of

a genuinely educated person.

Good thinking can be viewed as thinking which has two inseparable sides: criticality and creativity.

As a course, Critical thinking, is concerned with Goal directed thinking (G.D.T.) with the aim of

moving the mind from low level thinking to high level thinking; the level at which goals are

effectively achieved,

Since we draw conclusions about many things all the time, it is necessary to examine the process

we are using. The more conscious we are about how we are reasoning, the more it becomes easier

to avoid mistakes or errors.

The mind, like any other organ can be trained to think skillfully and effectively. This is especially

done by:
i. Equipping the mind with thinking skills and standards (thinking canons) the application

of which distinguishes between correct and wrong thinking or effective and ineffective

thinking.

ii. Bringing to awareness the various factors that can be hindrance to good and effective thinking.
 2.3 E-tivity- Critical Thinking and Levels of Thinking

Title Critical Thinking and Levels of Thinking

Purpose To enable students, assess the various levels of thinking as used in critical

thinking

Brief Summary of the Task Students to watch the following video:

Individual Task • Using bullet points evaluate the different levels of thinking.

• In summary form, assess Goal Directed Thinking versus Low Level

Thinking

Interaction • Students to post three ways the 2 levels of thinking are used in daily

life

• Feedback will be provided to views posted on the forum

E-moderator interventions • Ensure students are focused on the contents and context of the

discussion.

• Stimulate further learning and generation of new ideas.

• Provide feedback on the learning progress.

• Close the e-tivity

Schedule and time The individual task will take 40 minutes

Next Elements of Critical Thinking

2.4 Elements of Critical Thinking

2.4.1 Definition of critical thinking

The word ‘critical’ is derived from two Greek roots: Kriticos which means discerning judgments

and ‘Kriterion’ which means standards. Etymologically therefore, critical implies discernment based

on standards.
Applied to thinking then, critical thinking can be defined in various ways:

i. It is a habit of carefully reasoned inspection of the way we evaluate, judge and act with the aim

of making ourselves wiser, more self-reflective, and thereby better people.

ii. It is intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, analyzing,

evaluating, synthezing and applying information gathered from various sources.

iii. In summary: critical thinking is a disciplined thinking governed by clear universal intellectual

standards. These standards are at times referred to as tools of evaluation.

Depending on the underlying motive, there are two senses in which critical thinking can be

understood:

i. Critical thinking in weak sense: skillful manipulation of ideas and skills in service to one’s

group’s vested interests. It is intellectually flawed however pragmatically successful it might

be.

ii. Critical thinking in strong sense: ideas and skills are employed in the service of an objective

goal based on fair-mindedness and intellectual integrity. There is commitment to use one’s

abilities to seek out the most accurate and fair positions regardless of one’s interests.

NB: This course concerns itself with critical thinking in the strong sense. Critical thinking (in

strong sense) thus consists of:

• a set of skills and

• The habit of using those skills objectively to guide behavior based on intellectual

commitment. Basically, this is what distinguishes a critical thinker from uncritical

one.

Some important aspects (characteristics) of critical thinking – dram from the above definition

a) It is a higher-level thinking and self-directed activity.

b) It is guided by reason and seeks to justify claims i.e. it seeks rationally justified claims,
 c) Respect for evidence and objectivity: beliefs are based on facts rather than personal

preferences or self-interests. Critical thinking relies on the data available to all rational

beings.

d) Characterized by intellectual courage and perseverance. It not only faces and assesses

fairly ideas that challenge even their most basic beliefs, but also pursues insights or truth

despite the obstacles or difficulties. In other words, a critical thinker is unafraid of differing

with group’s opinions and does not give up.

e) It is reflective and attempts to get in depth to avoid deceptive situations.

f) It is purposeful and focused-not merely accidental and spontaneous.

g) It is conscious of the barriers to good thinking (barriers to critical thinking)

h) It is skillful: it employs specific reasoning skills in understanding, analyzing, and evaluating

arguments and viewpoints in search of the most accurate and fair positions.

i) It is flexible: it cultivates open-mindedness. Listens open-mindedly to opposing viewpoints

and welcomes criticism of beliefs and assumptions

j) It is responsible since it is accountable for all that it evaluates and generates.

k) It is both meta-cognitive and dialectical: it consists of thinking about one’s own thinking

as well as thinking about other people’s reason, motive, and arguments.

l) Rich in Point of view /perspectives: critical thinkers look at phenomena in multiple ways

2.5 Barriers to Critical Thinking

Some of the major barriers to critical thinking include:

1. Ego-centricism

-This is self-centered thinking- a tendency to see reality as centered on oneself.

-Ego-centrists are selfish; self-absorbed people who view their interests, ideas, and values as

superior to everyone else. The two common forms of ego-centricism are:

own self-interests and self-serving biases.’

(ii) Self-serving interest: tendency to see one’s group (be it a nation, a tribe, a sect, peer

group) better or important in some respect than it is. It is the tendency to overrate oneself.

Ego-centricism obstructs critical thinking by:

❖ Limiting one’s points of view (only one’s perspective matters)

❖ Hinders employment and cultivation of intellectual virtues

❖ Promotes relativistic thinking and its implications to thinking

❖ In most cases decisions are made on basis of desires/ appetites and not on

reasonable criteria

❖ It lacks objectivity

2. Socio-centricism

-This is group centered thinking. It has two forms:

(i) Group bias: - tendency to see one’s culture or group as being better than others. This kind

of ‘mine is

better’ thinking lies at the root of great deal of human conflicts e.g. tribal conflicts

(ii) Conformism: - tendency to follow crowd i.e. to conform often unthinkingly to authority

or to group

standards of conduct and beliefs. This conformism includes authoritarianism.

Socio – centricism hinders critical thinking

❖ In the same way ego-centricism does, albeit at a group group’s level

❖ Since conformism includes authoritarianism-the way the latter is an obstacle also

applies here.

3. Authoritarianism

This the uncritical and or blind appeal to authority, leading to uncritical and unreflective

acceptance of authority
-Authoritarianism is grounded on false belief that knowledge is validated or guaranteed by

authority

-Usually we are led astray by the prestige of the authority and even fail to realize when they

speak outside their area of competence.

-Many people rely on authority because either they have little confidence in themselves or they

are intellectually lazy

-Authority moves, impresses, influences, and intimidates people so much that under right

conditions we abandon our own values, beliefs, judgments, and even doubt our own immediate

sensory experience.

Authoritarianism impedes thinking by:

❖ Making us accept thins uncritically and unreflectively,

❖ Making us to accept things without question

❖ Blocking progress in further thinking and investigation

❖ Making us surrender ourselves to others to think for us.

Remedy: we need to beware of seductive power of peer pressure and reliance on authority,

and

develop habits of independent thinking to combat them.

4. Unwarranted assumptions

-These are things we take for granted without good reason i.e. without proof or conclusive

evidence.

-Assumptions are warranted if they are based on god reasons to hold them.

-Often unwarranted assumptions take the form of stereotypes i.e. generalization about a group

of people in which identical characteristics are assigned to all members of that group, often

without regard whether such attributions are accurate.

These hinder critical thinking by:

❖ Relying on hasty generalizations,

❖ Not taking time to evaluate issues or objects under observation

Remedy: we need to become more conscious of the assumptions upon which we base our

more

important attitudes, actions, and decisions we make.

5. Relativistic thinking

-This is thinking based on the idea that there is no objective or absolute truth because truth is

simply a matter of opinion.

-The most popular form of relativism is moral relativism, which holds that what is morally

right and good varies from individual to individual (moral subjectivism) or from culture to

culture (cultural relativism)

-Cultural moral relativism does not necessarily support the value of tolerance. Relativism

tells us that we should accept the customs and the values of our society.

❖ It encourages intolerance of new ideas and ways of life

❖ Promotes mental/ psychological fixation

❖ Promotes intellectual laziness-People will not put effort to search for the absolute

truth beyond what is accepted by his /her culture

Remedy: need be aware that deep disagreement about an issue does not mean that there is no

objective truth about that issue.

-people need to do a lot of research on the issue as most disagreements result from

superficial study and shallow thinking.

6. Propaganda (susceptibility to propaganda)

Propaganda occurs when information is deliberately tainted or manipulated or distorted by the

source to achieve a certain predetermined end e.g. political

The propagandist first tries to arouse in the people some strong emotion or desire and then

through suggestion present a line of action that appears to satisfy that emotion or desire.
 Propaganda is a device commonly used by politicians and advertisers. Propagandists in most

cases use mass media.

Propaganda inhibits thinking by:

i. Controlling and manipulating our thinking

ii. Making it difficult for us to think for ourselves

iii. Leading us into biased and inaccurate conclusions

iv. Leads to mass Manship – group thinking

7. Wishful thinking

-believing something because it makes one feel good, not because there is good reason for that

thing to be true.

-It is scenario whereby, due to the fear of unknown, one invents comforting myths to render

the universe less hostile and more predictable.

-For instance, due to fear of death people turn to listening unquestioningly to stories of healing

crystals, quack cares, and communication with the dead.

-They fantasize about possessing extra-ordinary personal powers and accept uncritically

accounts of psychic predictions e.g. miracle workers and their followers.

This hinders thinking of practical solution by:

❖ Making us feel comfortable but in the ‘world of dreams,

❖ Not being in touch with reality,

❖ Promotes denial as to the existence of problems-admitting of which is the point of

departure for search of a solution.

8. Habit

-Habits forms when we learn to do things repetitively often without careful reflection and

criticism

- Thus, through habits we learn to do things only in one way

Habits hinder our thinking by:

❖ Making us dogmatic,

❖ Making us blind to alternatives/ puts in us psychological blocks and fixation

❖ Make us recognize only evidence that is familiar to us hence making it difficult to

deal with new and unfamiliar situations

9. Prejudice

-A prejudice is a pre-judgment or a mental bias

-Prejudices rest on emotional grounds and tends to be in line with self-interest, pride, or

comfort. Hence, we tend to rationalize to find reasons to continue to believe what we value.

-The older we get, the more preconceived ideas we have about things.

Prejudice impedes clear thinking by making one.

❖ To rationalize i.e. to find reasons to continue to believe what we value.

❖ To recognize only evidence that is favorable e.g. to our gender, tribe group etc.

❖ To ignore or minimize the part of evidence that is unfavorable to us.

❖ To overestimate parts of the evidence that is favorable to us.

❖ To see things from our limited point of view/inability to see beyond what we know

or believe.

❖ To be unable to draw accurate conclusions

10. Negative attitudes towards critical thinking

These are mental dispositions that block creativity. They include:

a) Denial attitude; avoidance or denial of existence of a problem

b) Paralysis: surrendering before the battle in believe that a problem cannot be conquered.

c) Attitude that ‘that is childish’: - In our effort to appear mature and sophisticated, we often

ridicule the critical playful attitudes that marked our younger years.
 d) ‘What will people think?’ attitude: -results from a strong social pressure to conform and to

be ordinary, and not critical. It goes hand in hand with certain mental blocks to critical

thinking such as functional fixation and certain psychological blocks.

e) ‘I might fail’ attitude: Fear of failure is one of the major obstacles to creativity and problem

solving. Failing should not be feared. Failures are simply learning tools that help focus the way

on success. Failing is a sign of action, struggle, and attempt. There is accomplishment that

comes after a long struggle.

11. Some myths about critical thinking and problem solving

These include the belief that:

(a) Every problem has only one solution (one right answer); (b) The best answer /solution

/method have already been found; (c) Creative answers are complex technologically; (d) Ideas

either come or they don’t come (But there many successful techniques of stimulating idea

generation)

Other obstacles: prejudice, negative attitudes towards critical thinking, some myths about

critical thinking and problem solving, conformism, stereotyping, biases, poor reading skills,

peer pressure, narrow mindedness, selective perception, selective memory, denial,

overpowering emotions, self-deception, short term thinking, fear of change, provincialism

(parochialism), superstition, distrust in reason, lack of relevant background information, cape

gloating, face saving.

2.6 E-tivity- Elements of Critical Thinking

Title Critical Thinking and Levels of Thinking

Purpose To enable students, assess the elements of critical thinking and obstacles to

critical thinking

Brief Summary of the Task Students to watch the following videos:

Individual Task • In brief, assess the elements of criticality

occur

Interaction • Students to post three ways the 3 elements of critical thinking

• Feedback will be provided to views posted on the forum

E-moderator interventions • Ensure students are focused on the contents and context of the

discussion.

• Stimulate further learning and generation of new ideas.

• Provide feedback on the learning progress.

• Close the e-tivity

Schedule and time The individual task will take 40 minutes

Next Summary of Lecture 2

2.7 Summary

In this lesson, we have defined critical thinking. We have also evaluated levels of thinking, as

well as elements of critical thinking. Moreover, we have discussed in detail barriers/obstacles

to critical thinking. We have ended the lecture by mentioning some myths about critical

thinking. In the next lecture, we will look at tools of reasoning.

2.8 Further Activity