1. All information is suspect (including anything you learn in this class, at home, church, school). Trust no one but yourself, yet only after due consideration that you may be wrong.*
    
2. Recognize that thinking critically does not mean simple criticism. It means not simply accepting information at face value in a non-critical or non-evaluating way.

3. The essence of critical thinking centers not on answering questions but on questioning answers, so it involves questioning, probing, analyzing, evaluating. In his novel "Sophie's World", the Danish writer Jostein Gaarder notes that: "The most subversive people are those who ask questions".

4. Check the source. Who wrote the article or scripted the programme? How knowledgeable is the source? Does the source have a particular interest or 'angle' or prejudice? Is the source known to you by reputation or previous work? In the case of a Web site in particular, it may be difficult to establish the source.

5. Use different sources. If there is a dispute over the ecological impact of oil exploration, check out the views of the 'green' pressure group and the oil company and other, more independent, sources such as scientists and commentators. If there is a government statement on health expenditure, check out the views of health authorities, doctors and nurses, and independent commentators.

6. Always prefer prime sources. A personal, eyewitness account is to be preferred to the statement from the politician who was told by a journalist who read it on a news wire which obtained it from a company spokesman who was briefed by a senior manager on the basis of an eyewitness report from a colleague. A newspaper quote from a report may be accurate but, when you obtain and study the report itself, you might find that the quote was selective or unrepresentative of the work as a whole.

7. Check the date. Generally speaking, the more recent the material, the more accurate it is likely to be and the more useful it is. This is especially the case in changing situations. For instance, something about Russia written after the fall of communism may well have been able to use sources not available in previous decades. In a war situation, even a few days or hours may make a significant difference to the information and perspective available. On the Web, material is frequently undated and one needs to be aware that it could be outdated.

8. Check the publisher or promoter or funder. Many newspapers, magazines and television stations have a definite political orientation and can be expected to push a particular 'line' or interpretation. A Government source may be regarded as particularly authoritative or dangerously partial, depending on the circumstances. A report on the effect of smoking on cancer rates might be regarded with some caution if the underlying research is found to be funded by tobacco companies.

9. Remember that prominence does not equate to importance. A newspaper may have made its lead story the rumour of a break-up between Britney Spears and her latest boyfriend, but that does not necessarily make it the most important news item that day. Conversely, in 1914 that tiny story about the assassination of an obscure nobleman in some backwater called Sarajevo proved to have rather more repercussions that most readers first appreciated. Try an experiment: one day, buy five or six national newspapers, compare their coverage of the same stories on the same day, and note the different prominence - and the different slant - given to the same stories.

10. Make temporal comparisons. If a company announces that it has increased revenues by 25% in the last three years, look at the rate of growth in revenues in the three previous years.

11. Make geographical comparisons. If the government claims that it is now spending 10% of Gross Domestic Product on the health service, compare that with the percentage expenditure in other industrialized countries.

12. Always look for evidence. The Scottish philosopher David Hume noted that "A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence". Many Americans believe that the attack on the World Trade Center was engineered by Saddam Hussein, while many Arabs believe that it was planned by the Israeli secret service. They can't both be right, but they could both be wrong. What is the evidence? Millions of Americans believe that they have been abducted by aliens and subjected to sexual experiments. They may be right, but again what is the evidence? Are there witnesses or photographs? Are there body marks on the 'victims' or do they have souvenirs from the spaceships?

13. Always consider alternative explanations. Those who believe that they have been abducted by aliens might have dreamt or fantasized it. The report of a body found in the park could mean a murder or a suicide or a heart attack or old age. The fall in crime levels could be the result of more police, better detection procedures, social changes or simply new methods of reporting.

14. Beware of making assumptions. Someone once said that: "Never assume, as assume makes an ass out of u and me". So, just because a particular source is usually accurate doesn't necessarily make it accurate this time. Just because the facts can be explained by one particular scenario doesn't mean than another scenario isn't possible and maybe even more likely.

15. Don't jump to conclusions. Although the currently available facts may suggest a particular conclusion, other conclusions may be possible. Further facts may support an alternative conclusion and even invalidate the original conclusion. Even when this is not the case, it is always helpful to have further, supporting evidence to support the original conclusion.

16. Remember Occam's Razor [the maxim is named after William of Occam, the philosopher who was probably born at Ockham in Surrey]. When two or more explanations are possible on the basis of the same facts, always prefer the simplest possible explanations, unless there are very good reasons for favoring a more complex - and therefore unlikely - one. Or, as scientist Albert Einstein put it: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler".

17. Look for cause and effect. When I go to bed, the sun comes up - but there is obviously no causality. When I go to bed, I feel refreshed - and there clearly is a relationship. Sometimes relationships are not obvious: in the movie "The Truman Show", when the Jim Carey character goes to bed, the 'sun' does come up in a casual manner because the Ed Harris character ensures that it does.

18. Look for 'meaningful' statements. Often politicians and businessmen make statements which are virtually meaningless, such as "I think that, if we tried harder, we could possibly do somewhat better" or "Some improvements in performance might be expected in the fullness of time". Much more meaningful sentences - and ones therefore to be preferred - would be something like "We will reduce recorded crimes of violence by 10% before the next General Election" or "If we increase our capital expenditure by 5% annually for the next three years, we should achieve a 25% increase in revenues by the end of the decade".

19. 'Translate' statistics. So, convert a percentage into an absolute figure. A claim to have increased customers by 10% might simply mean an increase from two to four. Conversely, a 2.5% increase in a nation's economic growth could - in the case, for instance, of the UK or the UK - mean the availability of billions of more pounds or dollars. Similarly, convert absolute numbers into percentages. A politician might claim that expenditure on the health service has increased by £500M which seems like a massive figure to someone earning £500 a week but, when expressed as a percentage of total expenditure on health, is seen to be proportionately a mere blip in expenditure patterns. Again conversely, it could be that paying a relatively small cash sum monthly into a pension scheme results in a 25% increase in payments in 20 years time.

20. Don't rest on authority. The scientist Albert Einstein once remarked: "Foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth". In the early 1990s, I gave a presentation to a group of Russians using slides in Russian. At one point, I realised that I had been speaking to the wrong slide for the last five minutes. When I asked my audience why no one had told me this, I was advised that in Communist Russia no one challenged the teacher! Just because the management or the government states something does not necessarily mean that it is true. This is especially the case where there is a vested interest, so asbestos and cigarette manufacturers both claimed authoritatively for many years that their products were not damaging to health. Study the evidence and make an independent judgement based on the balance of the available evidence.

21. Closely related to this, don't necessarily rest on the received wisdom. Galileo was excommunicated for challenging the Church's view that the sun, the planets and the stars revolved around the earth - but he was right. Today even the most fundamental rule of modern physics - Einstein's insistence that the speed of light is a constant - is being challenged (by a scientist called João Magueijo). Many management styles and political policies are the received wisdom for a time, but frequently deserve to be challenged. The important thing is to marshal the evidence and subject it to review and analysis.

22. Beware of anecdotes. Two of your friends may have had a bad experience on holiday in India which might be interesting but is unlikely to be conclusive. India is a massive country, it has millions of visitors a year, your friends' experiences might have been years ago or be more to do with the travel company than the country. Check the information on India on the Foreign Office web site and read independent travel guides and surveys before making a more informed and balanced judgement.

23. On the other hand, trust your instincts. If something doesn't 'feel' right, even if it is in a newspaper or a television programme, check it out. Strange though it may seem, the media can make mistakes and corrections rarely achieve the prominence of the original story.

24. Deconstruct the elements of a work. In the case of a paper or speech, look at the arguments, the evidence, the structure, and the presentation. In the case of a novel, consider the plot, the characterisation and the language. In the case of a film, think about the script, the acting, the direction, the cinematography and the music.

25. Think about what is not there. When invited to respond to material, most people confine their comments or their thinking to what they can see or hear. Sometimes what is not there is just as important. You might want to ask: Why are certain arguments missing? Why have certain sources not been used? Is this the full picture? A political manifesto will inevitably mention achievements but not failures and will often criticise another party's policy or performance but fail to offer a constructive alternative. A company's annual report will put the most favourable possible 'gloss' on activities and not mention at all financial difficulties or threats from competitors. In a job application, a missing period of time could mean a sabbatical travelling around the world or it could mean a sentence in prison.

26. Learn to think 'out of the box'. Albert Einstein once said that: "Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the framework in which they were created". For instance, you are asked to decide whether a new product should be trialed in Manchester, Birmingham or London. But maybe it should be trialed in all three or in three different locations. Maybe it shouldn't be trialed at all, but launched straightaway, because a competitor is about to launch a similar product. Maybe it shouldn't be trialed at all because it is still an inferior product that needs more development. Maybe the whole discussion is irrelevant because the company is about to be taken over by another company which already has such a product in the marketplace. For another illustration, try this exercise click here

27. If you dare, go beyond thinking 'out of the box' to thinking the 'unthinkable'. What does this mean? It means considering variations to the most basic of parameters and entertaining the most radical of possibilities. In the last example - trialing a new product - thinking the unthinkable might mean leaving the company, forming your own and marketing a rival product or it might involve a recognition that you are disillusioned with such products altogether and want to make a career change. Albert Einstein once said that: "If at first an idea doesn't seem crazy, then there is no hope for it". As Yosserian in Joseph Heller's iconic novel "Catch-22" concludes: "Of course it's insane … That's why it's the only sane thing to do".

28. Try thinking like your competitor. If you are in a competitive situation - even if it is just a discussion or debate, but much more so if it is a business or a sport (or a war!) - put yourself in the mind of your competitor. If you were him or her, what would you do? If he were to think 'out of the box' or even to think the 'unthinkable', what might he do? How would you respond to that? Should you make such a move first? Even if this process of thought does not lead you to adopt a new strategy, it is a useful discipline that will change the way you look at the situation and how prepared you will be mentally for the unexpected or unlikely.

29. Test your thinking on others. Brainstorm your ideas before starting a piece of work. Show drafts of work in progress to colleagues or friends. Welcome corrections, suggestions and constructive criticism. Entertain challenge. Embrace change. Encourage diversity.

30. Practice critical thinking. Alfred Mander asserted in his book "Logic For The Millions": "Thinking is skilled work. It is not true that we are naturally endowed with the ability to think clearly and logically - without learning how or without practicing". The British philosopher Bertrand Russell bemoaned that: "Many people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do", while the British writer George Bernard Shaw quipped: "Most people don't take the time to think. I made an international reputation for myself by deciding to think twice a week".

31. Keep practicing critical thinking. The British politician Barbara Castle once said: "Think, think, think. It will hurt like hell at first, but you'll get used to it".

32. Don't worry if thinking critically initially confuses you. Life isn't simple and the world is not black and white. As the Greek philosopher Socrates put it: "Confusion is the beginning of wisdom".

33. Finally, remember that 'thinking critically' ends in 'why?' The word 'why?' is the most powerful tool in your mental toolbox. Keep asking 'why?' Why is this person writing this story in this particular newspaper? Why is this politician making this statement now? Why has the author of this paper quoted this source and not that one? Why has she used a percentage instead of an absolute figure? Why am I asking all these questions?!?

ROGER DARLINGTON: http://rogerdarlington.co.uk/index.html  

Last modified on 4 June 2003

Exercise*

Take three of these 33 points about critical thinking and apply them to your search on your project. You can do this by researching a site that has information you would like to use on your topic and ask questions about this information. Add it to your post on the blog thread in class discussions. Be sure to list the number of the points you are employing in this exercise.

*Added by John Elfrank-Dana and not a part of Mr. Darlington's work.