PHIL1005 Critical thinking

and logic

Kelly Inglis
Office: MB 306
Office hours: by appointment
Email: [email protected]
How to improve your thinking

Powerpoint courtesy of Joe Lau, with additions by Kelly

 About this course:
Course objectives

 Study the basic principles of critical thinking

 How to think clearly and rationally
 Show how the theory is applied
 Examples from different areas
 Both theoretical & practical problems
 Information about the course

 WebCT ( login through HKU portal )

 Powerpoint files
 Other online readings
 Check course web site
 Link: http://philosophy.hku.hk
 All the information you need about the course
 Check updates and announcements
 Assessment – see course web site
 60% coursework + 40% final exam
 Coursework
 10% tutorial, 15% mid-term, 35% portfolio
 Final exam
 Short questions, T/F MC questions (about 1 hr)
 Copying
 If you copy from others, or if you let others copy
your work, then you will be punished, and you
might be expelled from HKU.
 Group tutorials
 Weekly tutorials. About 6 meetings.
 Signup through through mysignup.com after next week’s
session (January 21)
 Tutorials begin in about two weeks. Check course web
site announcements.

 Tutors:

 Tim Li
 Lam Ka Ho
 Irwin Chan
 Derek Lam
 Me (Kelly)
What is critical thinking?
 What is critical thinking?
= Clear & rational thinking
 Meaning analysis (e.g. definitions)
 Logic (e.g. deduction, consistency)
 Scientific reasoning (e.g. use data to test hypothesis)
 Strategic thinking (e.g. making rational decisions)
Why study critical thinking?
Critical thinking has two primary uses:

1) Finding out the truth

2) Persuading others to believe what you
believe is the truth

Which one is more important to you might

depend on whether you’re a philosopher or a
lawyer!
 1. Essential workplace skill
 Better presentation skills
 Explain things more clearly and systematically
 Better at convincing clients and boss
 Better at solving problems
 Rationality and logic increase efficiency
 Better decision-making
 Highly important for managers and CEOs
They all test your critical thinking …

 The HKSAR Civil Service

 The Common Recruitment Examination includes
an aptitude test on logic and critical thinking.
 GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test)
 GRE (Graduate Record Examinations)
 LSAT (Law School Admission Test)
 LNAT (National Admissions Test for Law)
 Google “Our interview process evaluates your …
analytical thinking skills.”
 2. Essential life skill
 Making decisions
 Buying stuff
 Evaluating claims in ads, choosing between rival products
 Deciding between jobs, university places, apartments to rent, etc.
 Making decisions about medical treatments
 Understanding the news
• Making sense of reports about scientific studies
• Evaluating the importance of world events
 Not being conned or manipulated
 Evaluating “weird things”
How to think about weird things: Critical Thinking for the New
Age” on 1-day reserve in main library
 3. There is always room for
improvement
 Good training improves
performance. Thinking is no
exception.
 We are not born with all the
concepts for precise thinking
in the modern world.
 4. Many people are actually
bad at thinking
 Psychologists tell us people have certain
in-built biases, e.g. they tend to

 Over-estimate their abilities

 Make bad decisions, e.g. gamblers’ fallacy
 Repeat the same mistakes in reasoning, e.g.,
scope neglect, hindsight bias, affect bias,
confirmation bias

 Common sense is not common!

 The Wason Card Problem
Which cards do you need to turn over to determine whether
or not the following hypothesis is true?

Hypothesis: If a card have a vowel on one side, it has an

even number on the other side.
 Avoid confirmation bias
Look for evidence that can disconfirm your
hypothesis.

Don’t be skeptical only of what you already

doubt

Be skeptical of what you believe!

 Randomness
Which sequence of numbers is more likely
to win the lottery?

a) 1 2 3 4 5 6

b) 4 9 10 17 20 25
 Cluster effect

Which of these two patterns more resembles a typical random

distribution of particles?
The clustering effect bias leads to imbuing random clusters
with meaning and underestimating the role of chance.

Imagine two towns:

Town A has 5 new cases of cancer in one year.

Town B has no new cases of cancer in the same
year.

Is Town A a healthier place to live than Town B?

Maybe, maybe not.

Warren Buffett
 Famous investor & philanthropist
 Richest person in the world in 2008.

“with a small sum like a million dollars,

I could make 50% or more a year. The
key is rationality. There are always
going to be times when humans act
irrational and this is time to make your
money. I’ve made a career of cashing
in when people act irrational.”
5. We’re in the knowledge economy
 Global competition
 Fast changes everywhere
 Highly complex problems
 Information explosion
 6. Living a meaningful life
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Socrates

“In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to

hang a question mark on the things you have long
taken for granted.”
Bertrand Russell
Some misconceptions
about critical thinking
 A misconception
 Critical thinking is against creativity.

 But - Critical thinking can distinguish

between good and bad ideas.
Anson Chan

“Critical thinking and creativity

are the engines of human progress.”

 Member of the Legislative Council of HK

 Former Chief Secretary of Hong Kong
 Thinking skills

Critical thinking Creativity

CORRECTNESS ALTERNATIVES
clear & rational Generating new
thinking & useful ideas
 Another misconception
 Critical thinking is being critical of others.

 But
 Critical thinking need not be confrontational.
 Critical thinking can be constructive.
 Yet another belief
 Critical thinking ignores real people, who are
often emotional, irrational, and manipulative.

 But - Being rational is not the same as talking

about reasons all the time.
So how to improve
critical thinking?
The TAP method

Learn the Theory

Watch your Attitude

Constant Practice
 Theory
 Studying, reading, and
reflection
 Develop conscious
awareness of a
technique, in order that it
becomes natural and
automatic.
 Attitudes (1) – thinking style
 Independent thinking vs. follow the crowd
 Acting on reasons vs. “just do it”
 Intellectually curious vs. superficial
 Open-minded vs. inflexible
 Attitudes (2) – emotions
 Tolerant of criticisms
 An appropriate level of confidence
 Emotions aligned with judgments
The TAP method

Learn the Theory

Watch your Attitude

Constant Practice
How do you get to Carnegie
Hall?

Practice, practice, practice.

 The 10-year rule
Performance at world-class level
in an activity requires continuous
and deliberate practice for a
period of at least ten years
(10000 hours).
 From research in the psychology of expertise
 Talent is less important than dedication and method
 Chess, music, science, surgery, sports, …
 Even so-called “child prodigies” and “geniuses”
 What you need
 The right method
 Some high school athletes can now achieve
mid 20C Olympic records.
 Regular practice
 Read good quality material
 Learn from role models, friends (and enemies)
 Apply to your daily life
 Mobile
The fourfold path phones cause
brain cancer.
 What does it mean?
 Is it reasonable?
 Why is it important / relevant?
 What are the alternatives?
“To doubt everything or to believe everything
are two equally convenient solutions; both
dispense with the necessity of reflection.”
Jules Henri Poincare
Get this file and other information
from the course web site

Find the link here:

http://philosophy.hku.hk