From Formed to Informed: Developing Critical Thinking Skills

From Formed
to Informed Opinions

RHETORIC I Bruce Clary
Fall 2009 Instructor

Nothing is so ﬁrmly believed
as what we least know.
– Michel de Montaigne


Nothing is so ﬁrmly believed
as what we least know.
– Michel de Montaigne

To become educated is to move
from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty.
– Unknown


First, Some Deﬁnitions


• Opinion: a conclusion or a judgment that, although it is
open to question, seems true or probable to you


• Opinion: a conclusion or a judgment that, although it is
open to question, seems true or probable to you
• Fact: a thing that is indisputably true; the truth about
events as opposed to interpretation


Examples of Facts


Topeka is the capital of Kansas.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in
Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963.

During the 2008
presidential campaign,
Barack Obama posted a
copy of his birth
certiﬁcate online as a
response to opponents
who claimed that he was
not a “natural born
citizen” and, thus,
ineligible to be President
of the United States.

Examples of Opinions


Of all the 50 states, Kansas may be
the most backward.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in
Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963,
by Lee Harvey Oswald.

The birth certiﬁcate that
Barack Obama
produced to verify that
he was born in Hawaii in
1961 – and thus a
qualiﬁed candidate for
President of the United
States – is a forgery.

Your Turn


Your Turn
In groups of three, generate a short list of facts.
Then develop a claim about each fact that is
based upon interpretation, thus adding the
element of uncertainty.


Where Do Our Opinions
Come From?


And... (what we’re after)...


And... (what we’re after)...
Informed opinions


How do we get there?


How do we get there?
Critical Thinking


The Three Essential Attitudes


1. A willingness to recognize that our own belief
or position is an opinion that could be
mistaken.


mistaken.
2. A willingness to acknowledge the possibility
that another’s opinion could be correct.


mistaken.
2. A willingness to acknowledge the possibility
that another’s opinion could be correct.
3. A willingness to do the hard work necessary
to acquire and evaluate information/evidence.


❝To say that [critical thinking] implies a skeptical state of mind
is by no means to say that it implies a self-satisfied fault-
finding state of mind. Quite the reverse: Because critical
thinkers seek to draw intelligent conclusions, they are
sufficiently open-minded that they can adopt a skeptical
attitude toward their own ideas, toward their own
assumptions, and toward the evidence they themselves
tentatively offer, as well as toward the assumptions and
evidence offered by others.❞
–Barnet & Bedau, p. 3-4


❝ The heart of critical thinking is a willingness to face
objections to one’s own beliefs, a willingness to adopt
a skeptical attitude not only toward authority and toward
views opposed to our own but also toward common
sense – that is, toward the views that seem obviously
right to us.❞
–Barnet & Bedau, p. 3-4


Two Models of Critical Thinking
1. Stock Issues
2. Elements of Thought


Stock Issues Model
1. Topicality
2. Inherency
3. Signiﬁcance
4. Workability
5. Solvency
6. Disadvantages


Stock Issues Model
1. Topicality Is what we’re talking about relevant?
2. Inherency
3. Signiﬁcance
4. Workability
5. Solvency
6. Disadvantages


Stock Issues Model
2. Inherency What’s the real cause of the problem?
3. Signiﬁcance
4. Workability
5. Solvency
6. Disadvantages


Stock Issues Model
3. Signiﬁcance Is this really that big of a deal?
4. Workability
5. Solvency
6. Disadvantages


Stock Issues Model
4. Workability Is the proposed answer realistic?
5. Solvency
6. Disadvantages


Stock Issues Model
5. Solvency Will it really solve the problem?
6. Disadvantages


Stock Issues Model
5. Solvency Will it really solve the problem?
6. Disadvantages What unintended effects might occur?


Elements of Thought Model


Whenever we think,


Whenever we think,
we think for a purpose
within a point of view
based on assumptions
leading to implications and consequences.


Whenever we think,
we think for a purpose
within a point of view
based on assumptions
leading to implications and consequences.
We use data, facts, and experiences
to make inferences and judgments
based on concepts and theories
to answer a question or solve a problem.


Whenever we think,
we think for a ____________
within a ________________
based on _______________
leading to ______________ and consequences.


Whenever we think,
we think for a ____________
within a ________________
based on _______________
leading to ______________ and consequences.
We use ______, facts, and experiences
to make _____________ and judgments
based on ___________ and theories
to answer a ____________ or solve a problem.


Consider also…


Consider also…
1. Checklist for Critical Thinking (p. 14)


Consider also…
2. Checklist for Examining Assumptions (p. 19)


Consider also…
2. Checklist for Examining Assumptions (p. 19)
3. Checklist for Evaluating Letters of Response (p. 22)


Keep your eyes on the prize


Keep your eyes on the prize

Moving from cocksure ignorance
to thoughtful uncertainty.


From Formed to Informed: Developing Critical Thinking Skills

From Formed to Informed: Developing Critical Thinking Skills

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