Intro Flashcards
Uncritical Thinking
Automatically believing what you read or are told without pausing to ask whether it is accurate, true or reasonable.
Uncritical Thinking
When we take things at face value without pausing to consider whether it is sensible or justified.
Critical Thinking
Setting out actively to understand what is really going on by using reasoning, evaluating evidence and thinking carefully about the process of thinking itself.
Scepticism
Not automatically accepting something you hear, read or see as true.
Objectivity
Trying to understand something from a more neutral perspective, rather than relying on a single opinion or the first piece of information that comes to hand.
Become Better Sceptic, Ask 4 Questions
- Why should I trust this claim? 2. Why does the person making this claim believe it – or want me to believe it? 3. What else has been said, written or reported about this? 4. Do I know enough to answer all of the above questions confidently?
Slow Down
Critical thinking cannot happen in a rush. Before you do anything else, you need to take the time to engage your slow, considering mind rather than relying on instinct.
Bias
Approaching something in a one-sided way that creates a distorted account of the way things actually are.
Unconscious Bias
When someone’s opinions or decisions are distorted by factors that they are not even aware of.
Conscious Bias
When someone deliberately presents a one-sided view of something, or explicitly holds a one-sided opinion about something.
Confirmation Bias
The universal human tendency to use new information only to confirm existing beliefs, rather than seeking to improve and clarify your understanding.
WYSIATI
What You See Is All There Is: A phrase used by psychologist Daniel Kahneman to describe the human tendency to pay attention only to what is immediately obvious, and to neglect the hidden complexities that exist in most situations.
Survivorship Bias
The tendency to use new information obly to confirm existing beliefs, rather than seeking to improve and clarify your understanding, failing to consider the bigger picture in which the vast majority of all cases are failures.
Dogmatism
The claim that certain principles or ideas are both absolutely true and immune to any form of critical scrutiny or discussion.
Attention vs Distraction
The art of allocating not just time but focused engagement to the task in front of you, while shutting out other tasks and irrelevant information.