CRITICAL THINKING & LOGIC

MASTERY

HOW TO MAKE SMARTER DECISIONS, CONQUER

LOGICAL FALLACIES AND SHARPEN YOUR THINKING

THINKNETIC
A glimpse into what you’ll discover inside:

If your thinking is flawed and what it takes to fix it (the solutions are
included)
Simple and effective strategies to make sound and regret-free decisions
Tried and true hacks to elevate your rationality and change your live for
the better
Enlightening principles to guide your thoughts and actions (gathered
from the wisest man of all time)

(Or go to thinknetic.net or simply scan the code with your camera)

 CONTENTS

Critical Thinking In A Nutshell

Introduction
1. What Is Critical Thinking?
2. Critical Thinking Framework: Understanding The Elements And
Steps Needed For Critical Thinking
3. The Evolution Of A Critical Mind: What Sets Critical Thinkers
Apart
4. Barriers To Critical Thinking
5. Ready, Set, Go: Applying Critical Thinking To Your Personal And
Professional Life
6. Simple And Fun Mental Exercises To Develop And Practice Critical
Thinking
Afterword
References

Conquer Logical Fallacies

Introduction
1. To Understand Reasoning Is To First Understand Logic
2. Reason Through Arguments
3. The Culprit Of Bad Reasoning: Our Logical Errors And Biases
4. Demystifying The So-Called Formal Logical Errors
5. The Informal Logical Errors We Experience Everyday
6. Making The Change: How Can We Become Rational Thinkers?
Afterword
References

The Habit Of Critical Thinking

Introduction
1. How To Think Like A Thinker
2. What Habits Are All About
3. Turning Critical Thinking Into A Habit
4. Make It Stick Today, Tomorrow, And Next Year
5. Building A Better Brain - Push Those Habits Higher
6. Critical Thinking Habit Aids: Trackers, Calendars, Apps And More
Afterword
References
One Final Word From Us
Continuing Your Journey
The Team Behind Thinknetic
Disclaimer
CRITICAL THINKING IN A NUTSHELL

HOW TO BECOME AN INDEPENDENT THINKER AND

MAKE INTELLIGENT DECISIONS
 INTRODUCTION

You have a task to resolve at work. You know that to resolve

the problem, so much would need to change. You toy with
the possibility of coming up with a far-reaching plan to solve
the real fundamental issue at stake.
But you know it is impractical. You do not have the time or
energy to challenge the status quo. You know you will face
opposition from other people. Therefore, you end up making
a solid plan. But one which will not make too many waves or
provide the necessary change. However, you can’t shake a
feeling of dissatisfaction as you make this uninspiring plan.
Do you ever have a nagging feeling that you could be doing
things better? That your brain is capable of so much more
than small mind-numbing tasks? Do you have great ideas
but do not always have the time or energy to follow through?
You want to do your best at your job and life, but there are
too many competing pressures on your time. It is hard to
know where to start, and sometimes it seems much easier
just to do the minimum.
You may have heard that critical thinking is an essential skill
in today’s workplace. Most employers say that they look for
candidates with these skills and are hard-pressed to find
them. Every school curriculum focuses on how to cultivate
these skills.
Critical thinking has become a corporate buzzword, like
synergy or core competency. However, unlike those empty
words, critical thought represents a proven tradition of deep
understanding and problem solving, which has advanced our
society immeasurably. Science, technology, and philosophy
would all be impossible without it.
You may also think that critical thinking is time-consuming.
Who has time to sit and ponder every single decision? You
are 100% correct.
It is impractical and utterly a waste of time to use the full
force of critical thought for every minor decision you make.
However, when you are making an important decision,
employing critical thinking will not only make it far more
likely that you make a correct decision, it will also save you
time.
The skills honed in critical thought will give you the
foresight to predict and prepare in advance for time-wasting
problems. Nothing saves more time than getting things right
the first time.
I plan to inspire you on this journey. I have been an educator
for well over a decade and spent many more years in private
and government positions. I also have a Ph.D. in political
science. But more importantly, I have a firm personal
commitment to clear and purposeful thought exemplified by
many years of training students and employees. I hope my
passion for the topic comes through in this book.
Are you prepared to understand the world better? Are you
ready to create new and better solutions to the problems in
your life? Join me in discovering how to master critical
thinking skills to jump-start positive changes in your life.
Together we can unleash the power of critical thinking by
reading this book.

Shaiel Ben-Ephraim
 1

WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?

The Death Of Socrates

T he leaders of Athens sentenced the greatest mind of his

generation to death. Socrates was to ingest hemlock. A
horrific way to die. The philosopher’s entire body would
become paralyzed before his bladder would be overwhelmed
by toxicity. Socrates would experience frothing at the mouth
and respiratory distress. Finally, a massive seizure would
lead to death.
Many accused Socrates of "not believing the Gods of the city,
introducing new gods, and corrupting the youth" 1. In his
informal role as educator, Socrates had taught many of the
youngest and brightest to question all assumptions. He
taught them ideas were not necessarily correct, just because
their parents or leaders said it was so. Socrates told his
students to examine every idea on its merits alone.
Though accused of undermining authority, Socrates never
supported rebellion for its own sake. Instead, he insisted that
the ideas dispensed by people in positions of authority were
not above question. Rather than defend a certain power
structure, Socrates taught his students to seek out the truth.
Though Socrates died, his students Plato and Aristotle
carried this tradition forward. The man was dead, but his
legacy remains immortal 2.
The method of inquiry he pioneered is still known as the
Socratic Method, and it focuses on the development of ideas
through constant dialogue. Each argument is teased out and
broken down into its underlying assumptions. Each
assumption is exposed to ruthless scrutiny no matter who
made them and why 3.
The trial of Socrates emphasizes the power of questioning
established sources of authority and information. On the one
hand, the powers that decided to end the philosopher's life.
On the other, the thought of Socrates inspired a long-
standing tradition 4.
Critical thinking is an essential component of human
progress. Without questioning authority and common
wisdom, the science and progress we have today would be
impossible. The study of evolution would be impossible if
scientists were unwilling to challenge the Bible’s literal
interpretation. What if we still believed the world was flat?
Or that Kings enjoy a divine right to rule?
Critical thinking skills are among the most sought after in
the modern economy. In a major survey of American
business leaders, 93% of respondents agreed with the
statement that “a demonstrated capacity to think critically,
communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more
important than [a candidate’s] undergraduate major” 5. By
becoming more critical thinkers, we become more well-
rounded people. It doesn’t hurt that we become more
employable on the way, too 6!
How To Define Critical Thinking
When people use the term critical thinking, it can mean
different things. However, certain elements are essential for
a fuller understanding of the concept.
The Delphi Project provided one of the best-known
definitions of the term:
“Purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in
interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as
an explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological,
criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that
judgment is based" 7.
A good translation of this definition into layman's terms
would be the ability to think about connected ideas
thoroughly and independently, basing those ideas on factual
evidence. It is the act of turning the full force of our
reasoning towards resolving real-world problems.
How is this done? Critical thinkers gather and categorize
evidence data relevant to their problem to gain relevant
knowledge. As different elements of the problem and its
potential solution are understood, critical thinkers connect
an issue’s disparate parts into one workable framework.
Once a critical thinker has analyzed the problem, dividing it
into digestible definitions and categories, will then use this
knowledge to solve the problem.
They then make the connections necessary to understand
and define the problem and all of its components.
Another approach to defining critical thinking is to look at
what it isn’t. The word critical can throw people off. This is
not an approach designed to criticize things we don’t like.
You know that person at work you don’t like? Ever notice
how every time they talk, you try to find something wrong
with their ideas? That isn’t critical thinking. That’s just
being critical.
Critical thinking is not a more methodical way of defending
ideas we agree with. Sometimes when we argue, we
brilliantly defend our position, assuming that everything the
other side says is wrong. You can see this happen in just
about every argument held on social media. When we use our
intellect to prove a point we have not thought through, we
are not thinking critically, no matter how well we do it.
We often try to make ideas look better or worse than they are
for our own gain. This is not critical thinking.
A critical thinker is only interested in evaluating the strength
of an argument as it is without exaggerating reality in either
direction. When we apply critical thinking, we attempt to
treat arguments we like and dislike objectively and fairly.

What Is Critical Thinking Good For?

When you engage in critical thinking, your purpose is to
attain one thing only: the truth. Your pursuit of truth means
that you can avoid deception and identify which facts are
accurate. This is because you will now know how to separate
facts from spin, allowing you to arrive at true solutions 8.
Does it sometimes seem like the world around you is
operating wrong? Do you ever ask yourself why you
encounter so many disorganized and inefficient systems?
Have you ever thought that given a chance, you could do
things better?
You probably can. We encounter incompetence and
inefficiency, far too often. To a great extent, this is because
we don’t question existing traditions and processes. Existing
systems are usually not the product of design. Instead,
outdated social beliefs, cultural norms, and simple inertia
shape the systems we encounter. People in authority tell us
what to believe, and far too often, we accept the common
wisdom.
Critical thinking provides us with the tools to cut through
that. From problems as small as where to go on vacation to
large ones, such as who to marry, critical thinking allows us
to make better decisions.
These skills are essential in the current economy, with its
emphasis on start-ups and entrepreneurship. Tech
companies champion an approach of “disruptive
innovation” 9. They attempt to create new markets and value
systems, which displace existing business models. A
disruptive plan is an exercise in critical thinking. To replace
a current model, you will first examine it and assess its
weaknesses and strengths. Next, you will design a more
efficient plan, disregarding traditional “common sense”
models.
Amazon took over the book market by disrupting the
traditional marketplace. Bookstores remained beloved
institutions, and it was still commonplace to go to a store to
sell or buy a book. Nonetheless, this traditional business
model suffered severe drawbacks. There was a good chance
that some books that customers wanted were unavailable
because of limited shelf space. Prices were high due to
significant overhead expenses. Finally, bookstores were
unable to expose their customers to information on new
books efficiently.
Amazon.com revolutionized book sales by coming to the
business from the outside. Jeff Bezos, the entrepreneur
behind the company, was disinterested in maintaining
tradition. Instead, his mission was to use the internet to
provide services efficiently. Only after researching several
inefficient industries did he decide to enter the book
business.
He chose to sell books rather than other products since
customers did not have to try them or taste them. They were
well suited for remote purchases. As unpleasant as this may
sound, from a business perspective, bookstores were
rendered unnecessary.
Having reached this conclusion, Bezos designed a system
that would overcome the flaws of the bookstore model. The
information delivery problem was overcome by centering
recommendations and reviews on the website homepage.
Amazon overcame stocking problems by storing books in
massive delivery centers across the country. Meanwhile, it
lowered prices by stocking up in bulk and paying less
overhead 10.
What Jeff Bezos designed was a simple and intuitive solution
to long-standing problems in the traditional industry. What
made it revolutionary was that it ignored the value system
and common wisdom of the book industry. Instead, Bezos
examined each of the assumptions underlying the industry
critically. Amazon.com is the product of critical thinking, a
very profitable and successful one.

What Does Critical Thinking Consist Of?

The process of critical thinking involves recurring concepts
and components.
Perception: Our first step to thinking about anything is to
perceive the situation. We cannot be aware of a problem that
requires solving unless we have perceived it first. It is
important to keep in mind that our perception is not
objective or neutral. Our perception is how we filter objective
reality through our subjective value systems.
For example, let's say you are setting up your monthly
budget. You may find that you are unable to save a
substantial amount of money. However, your parents
instilled in you the importance of saving money. You may see
this as a serious problem with your budgeting. If you live one
day at a time, you may shrug your shoulders and say, “thank
goodness I have enough!”
Assumptions: Our assumptions are unexamined beliefs taken
for granted. Our plans and actions are, usually unknowingly,
built on assumptions. To foster critical thinking, we must be
willing to examine our assumptions critically to see if they
are accurate and serve a practical purpose. Remember, you
cannot assume anything is true unless you have reviewed it
thoroughly.
Going back to our previous example, neither tendency is
necessarily the correct one. Examine them carefully. If you
are going to actively decrease your budget in the future, you
may not need to squeeze every penny. If your current budget
is a long-term one, not saving anything can be a serious
problem. Whatever your beliefs are on saving, examine how
relevant they are to your current situation.
Emotions: Many people believe that rational thought is
impossible unless you put your emotions aside. This is
neither true nor realistic. Instead, emotions are an integral
part of the critical thinking process. As human beings, we are
highly emotional, and our natural feelings color and
influence every decision we make. This is not a bad thing.
We can use our critical thinking skills to improve the world
around us. There is no way to do that without using
emotional indicators. For example, solving problems in our
children’s lives is a noble and worthy goal for rational
thought. However, it is meaningless without the emotional
significance of parenthood and the institution of the family.
Do not be afraid to use emotional attachments and indicators
to determine what problems you wish to solve and how.
Language: The words we use are the nuts and bolts of critical
thinking. We can turn our thoughts from vague concepts into
firm ones by applying precise language to the problem. To
think critically about any topic, we have to define the
problem and our approach to solving it in an actionable
manner. Critical thinking is only possible when we make an
abstract representation of reality through words.
Going back to our budgeting example, to unpack how much
money we need to save, there are several concepts we need
to take into account, for example, inflation. Sure, our budget
may be enough for right now. But will it be in the future?
How likely do prices rise? Correspondingly, to calculate how
much we need to save, we have to understand the concept of
interest. Putting the relevant factors into words and concepts
helps us understand the problems we face.
Arguments: In the context of critical thought, the word
argument is a crucial building block. It does not refer to
people disagreeing with each other loudly. Instead, it is a
well-reasoned list of assumptions and premises. When these
assumptions formulate an argument, they result in a
functional and rational conclusion. As we already discussed,
we back up logical assumptions with logic and facts.
Otherwise, we could be formulating conclusions based on
faulty logic 11.
Fallacies: Consistent human tendencies towards uncritical
thinking are known as “fallacies.” A fallacy is a belief or
conclusion reached through unsound logic. It is an argument
or belief that will not stand up to critical scrutiny. Though a
fallacy may not be wrong, it is by definition based on an
illogical thought process.
Applying fallacies in your thought process increases your
chances of reaching the wrong conclusion. However, life
isn’t that straightforward. Sometimes a fallacy ridden
thought process can achieve outstanding results. Remember
that old saying, “even a broken clock is right twice a day?”
That is what it means.
For example, imagine you are eating a bag of assorted jelly
beans. Your friend says to you, “I bet you $100 the next one
you take out of the bag is green.” When you ask why, the
friend explains, “The last jelly bean you ate was green, and
therefore all jelly beans are green.” You argue but take the
bet. The next jelly bean you withdraw is, yup, you guessed it,
green. Your friend says, “see!” In this case, your friend's
logic was faulty, but he was right. That is an extreme case.
But often, fallacies seem logical and even clever arguments
12.

Logic: This is a word for structured thinking, designed to

evaluate information accurately. By analyzing the premises
and assumptions’ validity, a critical thinker can distinguish
between fallacies and strong assumptions, thus between
truth and falsehood. If we are logical, we will replace a false
premise or assumption with a valid one 13.
For example, let’s say we only save 10$ a month. We may
panic and think that we will always be living hand-to-mouth
and think we need to make significant changes in our
employment or living situation. However, a logical look at
our budget might reveal this is not true. If, for example, we
pay $500 a month on our student loans, and next month is
the last payment, we may soon be saving $510 a month!
Applying a logical outlook to all the available information
may change our overall evaluation of the problem.
Problem Solving: Critical thinking in the abstract may be
interesting, but it does not make the world around us better.
We usually apply these time-consuming skills when
confronted with a severe problem in need of resolution.
Finding a better way of approaching a problem or achieving
a goal means little unless you take steps to apply it
practically 14.

Action Steps
Let’s perform an exercise and see what role critical thinking
has played in your life so far and how you can apply it in the
future.
Take one of the most significant and most difficult decisions
you have made in your life. Maybe moving to another state
or country, marrying or breaking up with a significant other,
or quitting a job. It doesn’t matter as long as you had
options, and it wasn’t easy to choose between them.
Next, do the following:

1. Write down all the alternatives you had to the

decision ultimately made.
2. Write down why you choose one over the other.
 3. Were these reasons based on facts you thoroughly
researched or on assumptions?
4. What assumptions informed that decision?
5. How do you know these assumptions to be true? Have
you examined their validity?
6. Do you make many of your decisions based on
unfounded assumptions? What are some examples?

When we make decisions, we make many unproven

assumptions. Sometimes they are the product of our
upbringing or beliefs. For example, in American society, we
are taught to pay our debts and emphasize self-sufficiency.
This cultural inclination influences some individuals to
continue to accrue debts they can’t pay even though filing
for bankruptcy would be a much better option.
Maybe these ideas were imparted to us by an authority
figure. Half the time, we don’t even know where they come
from. Although it is completely normal to make unfounded
assumptions, this tendency can have negative repercussions.
It may mean we are making bad decisions based on faulty
information.
The good news is that it isn’t so hard to fix the problem.
When we make an important decision, it is worth taking
time to examine our assumptions and act based on accurate
information and valid arguments. Yes, it involves a bit of
extra work. But after all, Socrates died for his right to
question falsehoods. Don’t we owe him a little extra effort?
 2

CRITICAL THINKING FRAMEWORK:

UNDERSTANDING THE ELEMENTS AND STEPS
NEEDED FOR CRITICAL THINKING

I n 1974, Sony executives were optimistic about producing

a superior product, and they were right. The executives
told their technicians they wanted to record anything on
TV at the highest level of quality available on the market.
The lab team produced a product that no other company
could compete with called “Betamax.”
Sony believed that if they rushed the release of their superior
product before their rivals could release anything
comparable, then “Betamax” would ultimately control the
market. This worked, and Sony had the market completely
cornered.
Hoping to capitalize quickly on this advantage, the Sony
executives neglected some important problems with their
product. Betamax had to contend that its cassettes could
only contain one hour’s worth of programming. This turned
out to be a consequential mistake.
Imagine you had to attend a boring PTA meeting that
coincided with the screening of “The Godfather.” If you
wanted to record it on TV, the Betamax tape would record
only the first hour. Sure, you would get the wedding scene in
beautiful color. But you would miss Sonny’s assassination
and horse head scene!
Meanwhile, the executives at JVS tried a different approach.
They had already lost market control. Their best recourse
was to examine the Betamax system for flaws. Knowing that
they could not rival Sony for picture quality, JVS simply
released a tape with a longer recording duration.
This flaw was responsible for Sony losing its complete
control over home consumer video products within a few
quick years. While Betamax controlled 100% of the market in
1975, by 1980, JVC had a 60% share. Sony failed to deliver
the kind of product that fulfilled customer needs.
To make matters worse, Sony never adapted. They continued
to focus primarily on picture quality over the duration,
believing they had a comparative advantage in that metric.
They maintained their visual superiority, hoping to regain
the market by increasing the length of tapes somewhat. They
also refused to discontinue the line. By the late 1980s, Sony
had wholly lost its market share despite continued
production of Betamax tapes until 2016(!), long after the
brand had become a marketing joke.
What did Sony get wrong? Their plan was flawed. A strong
idea is successful if fitted into a strong strategy. Although
you may view critical thinking as thinking deeply about
something, it is more accurate to imagine it as a series of
steps. Critical thought is a process, not an event.
In this chapter, we will examine the elements and process of
critical thinking deeply and systematically. First, we will look
at the Paul-Elder framework, which provides an overview of
the main elements that go into critical thinking. Then we
will examine Bloom’s Taxonomy, an approach that maps out
the process of critical thinking from inception to the creation
of solutions to real-life problems. Finally, we will see how
these theoretical frameworks apply to decisions in your life.

The Paul-Elder Framework

We have talked about the elements of critical thinking and
their importance. But how do we apply its principles to real-
life problems? In the 1990s, educational scientist Linda
Elder, and the Director of Research at the Center for Critical
Thinking Richard Paul, created a process for developing
critical thinking. It remains the most advanced and widely
recognized blueprint for the critical thought process 1.
Paul and Elder’s framework has three sections: reasoning,
intellectual standards, and intellectual traits. The intellectual
traits section deals with the personality traits associated
with critical thought. Paul and Elder believe that if these
traits are actively encouraged in education, it will raise
individuals able to calmly and successfully process and solve
even the most complex problems. These include the
following:

Intellectual humility
Intellectual courage
Intellectual empathy
Intellectual autonomy
Intellectual integrity
Intellectual perseverance
Confidence in reason
Fair-mindedness

Meanwhile, the intellectual standards section deals with the

technical manner in which we analyze data and build our
arguments. These elements are important in the practical
process of pursuing critical thought. When we appraise our
own thought process and others’ thought process, we should
measure it by these standards. A serious flaw in any of these
standards increases the odds of a flawed process and
outcome.
A true process of critical thinking will comply with high
levels of each of the following standards:

Clarity
Accuracy
Precision
Relevance
Depth
Breadth
Logic
Significance
Fairness

We will return to these elements in-depth later in the book

to deal with the more practical critical thought elements.
First, let’s look at the building blocks of the critical thought
process. This is the focus of the elements of reasoning in the
Paul-Elder framework. To better understand how to apply
critical thinking to actual problems, we will use these
elements to solve problems that commonly arise in the
workplace.
Elements of Reasoning: This is where the Paul-Elder
framework gets into the nuts and bolts of the process of
critical thought. Reasoning is the act of thinking an issue
through, logically and clearly, while drawing well-founded
inferences and conclusions on the matter. As you can see
from the description, this is a structured process. I suggest
that when you actively approach a significant problem, you
conduct each one of the elements in the sequence, moving
on to the next only when completing the previous one.
How do we apply a process of reasoning to real-life
problems? We use thought to solve all of our problems.
However, most of our thoughts are random and fleeting. Our
mind tends to produce thoughts that are neither critical nor
useful.
According to the Paul-Elder framework, critical thinking
differs from other forms of thought.
The Paul-Elder framework suggests we pay attention to
specific thought elements. By focusing on these elements, we
can dig deeper and reach reasonable and practical
conclusions.
Purpose: All reasoning strives for something clear and
specific. Instead of fleeting observations, we are looking to
reach a productive and concrete end.
Problem-solving: The purpose of our critical thought should
be to resolve a problem. Critical thought is an involved and
complex process. It is best used to make our lives and the
world better by resolving a hindrance to progress.
Assumptions: We have concrete assumptions about the world.
If we have to reinvent the wheel every time we analyze a
phenomenon, it is hard to build a solid foundation of
thought. We have to be careful which assumptions we make,
but ultimately there are certain things we simply assume to
be true. Keep unexamined assumptions to a necessary
minimum. For example, let's say your boss asks you to
develop a plan to increase stockholders’ revenue. You want
to keep your job; therefore, you will assume that the
capitalist system functions and you wish to be a part of it.
Point of view: Humans are not even remotely neutral. We
derive many of our thought patterns from our culture,
biases, and self-interested viewpoints. Our reasoning
process is no exception. The important part is to be aware of
our biases.
Data: When we think critically, we back up our assumptions
and conclusions with data. Remember, reliable data is the
best antidote to our biases and wishful thinking.
Interpretation of data: We interpret our data and findings to
create a well-founded narrative. This is a careful balancing
act. Data and facts do not speak for themselves. Therefore,
we need to tell a purposeful story based on what we have
found (e.g., well-researched, non-fiction story). We can’t
make the facts say anything that doesn’t appear in the data,
and we cannot assume missing data confirms our biases.
Concepts and Language: We express this narrative in a
communicable manner that is readily understood by our
audience. We do not sacrifice the veracity of our facts to
communicate them.
Implications and consequences: In the first part of the
framework, we devised a purpose for our thought process.
Here we make sure that our efforts have fulfilled that
purpose. We take all of the hard work we put in and use it to
address the problem at hand 2.

Applying The Paul-Elder Framework

Bethany, a hard-working and fair-minded boss at a
marketing firm, was in charge of a very talented staff.
However, there has been disquiet recently.
Shawn is the best performer on Bethany’s team, but he does
not get along with his co-workers. Unfortunately, he is an
arrogant and obnoxious individual.
If the boss in our story were to follow the Paul-Elder
framework, what major elements will go into her decision?
Purpose: Bethany has a problem: her success has always
come from balancing productivity with her staff’s cohesion
and morale. She believes that Shawn’s behavior risks that
balance.
Assumptions: Bethany has her own unexamined but deeply
believed assumptions on how to succeed professionally. She
feels that teamwork and a pleasant and collegial working
atmosphere are critical for productivity. As a corollary to
this, she believes the encouragement of individual
achievement at the expense of group cohesion is immoral
and impractical.
Shawn’s self-centered approach has always concerned her
despite his achievements. Therefore, she was not remotely
surprised when problems emerged on that front. Due to her
assumptions and orientation, she believes the other team
members’ resentment is completely justified.
Point of view: Bethany maintains a highly professional
demeanor at all times and rarely reveals her biases. However,
she has them. Her emotional commitment to her team and
their welfare is what makes Bethany a great boss. She goes
the extra mile for her staff, and they repay her with excellent
work.
For the same reason, she has difficulty dealing with Shawn
rationally. He drives her nuts. When she tried to talk to him,
he told her that he would continue acting as he always does
because it gets results and he is irreplaceable. This made her
so angry; she almost fired him on the spot.
If she had done so, she would have made a crucial decision
without weighing the pros and cons. However, she managed
to control herself and continued to pursue a process of
reasoning.
Communication through language: Bethany imagined him as
harmful bacteria attacking the healthy body of her team.
When envisioned that way, the only solution in her mind was
to fire Shawn.
But as a smart boss, Bethany knew this approach was
irrational. So, she wrote down what problem she was
attempting to solve and why. Putting down her purpose in
precise and unambiguous language, she came up with two
primary goals: maintaining group morale and promoting
high productivity. By using precise language, Bethany
reminded herself that her goal was not to get rid of Shawn. It
was still an option, but it would be a means to an end.
Backing Arguments Up with Data: Bethany tried to construct
a written argument for firing Shawn. She firmly believed that
terminating him would make the group happier and more
cohesive. After all, before Shawn’s head got inflated,
everyone got along better. The atmosphere in the break room
was healthier. This was a fact, and she was confident in its
validity.
However, it was harder for Bethany to make an argument
that his dismissal would improve productivity. She decided
to test her assumptions and look at the raw data of her
team’s performance, and see what she could learn from
trends in productivity before and after Shawn changed his
attitude for the worse.
A thorough review of the numbers indicated that the bad
atmosphere had not lowered productivity. Not only had
Shawn’s productivity increased sharply in recent months,
but everyone else was doing better as well. This went against
Bethany’s preconceptions and made her feel very unpleasant
and aggravated.
Interpretation of data: The data Bethany had compiled did
not match her preconceptions. Yes, the cohesion of the group
had suffered as a result of Shawn’s behavior. But somehow,
productivity was up. Why?
Then it hit her. These numbers could only mean one thing:
Shawn’s annoying behavior motivated the other employees
to put him in his place. The ensuing sense of competition
had inspired everyone to work harder.
Bethany did not like this result, but that was the most
coherent story she could make out of these numbers.
Between Shawn’s exemplary numbers and the fierce
attempts of others in the group to compete with him,
productivity had increased. On a rational level, she could not
justify firing Shawn. At least not over productivity.
It turned out that she had been operating based on a fallacy.
Her deep personal commitment to team spirit and her belief
in the importance of workplace morale shaped her views on
productivity. Her firm belief was that if the team does not
work as a group, productivity and work quality will suffer.
This was a fair assumption. However, the facts do not back it
up.
Implications and Consequences: Bethany did not engage in
this taxing mental exercise for fun. She did it to improve her
team’s morale and productivity. So she took the data she had
amassed and her interpretation of it and fashioned it into a
plan.
She discovered that some competition between the members
of her team increased overall productivity. Therefore, she
abandoned her faulty premise that competition and a focus
on personal achievement were inherently destructive.
Meanwhile, she had used evidence to substantiate her
assumption that Shawn’s behavior disturbed the group’s
harmony. Therefore, she still needed to fix that problem. Her
logic told her that she had to find a way to foster her team’s
competitive instincts while maintaining her workers’
morale.
The data showed a mixed picture. It was clear that Shawn’s
behavior benefitted the group in some ways while harming it
in others. Therefore, the logical thing to do was to maximize
the benefit and decrease the harm caused by his presence 3.
Bethany developed a plan to designate tasks that
complimented each worker’s strength. Shawn was given a
new title and placed separately from the other workers.
Bethany gave Shawn tasks that matched his lone-wolf style.
Meanwhile, Bethany gave the other team members tasks
better suited for collaborative efforts.
The plan minimized interaction between Shawn and the
other workers. However, at the end of the month, all workers
would participate in a productivity evaluation meeting. This
would foster a useful spirit of competition without unduly
disrupting group harmony. By using critical thinking,
Bethany had resolved the problem without compromising
group productivity.

Bloom’s Taxonomy
As we saw in this example, critical thinking is a process and
not an event. But what exactly is that process, and how does
one stage flow into another? Since critical thinking is a
deliberate and structured process, the order in which we go
about it is important. Bloom’s Taxonomy is the most
commonly used blueprint of critical thought. In the 1940s, a
committee of educators tasked with promoting critical
thinking imagined this as a pyramid, with different forms of
thought building on each other. The result remains highly
influential today 4.

Figure 1. Bloom’s Taxonomy Pyramid illustrates the

connection between each step. Image generously shared by
the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching.
Figure 1 above shows the Bloom Taxonomy pyramid after its
revision in 2001. The two versions are mostly similar, but
there are some differences. Most notably, in the old version,
the evaluate step was the highest level of the pyramid.
However, the 2001 update established the create step as the
new highest category 5.
Bloom’s pyramid presents a practical path to innovation
through critical thinking. It reminds us of two important
facts. First, that genuine critical thought is hard work! There
are several steps we need to take, and each one can be
challenging. Second, if you do the hard work, you can create
something genuinely new and exciting 6.
Bloom’s taxonomy is a practical scheme with each step
building on the previous one. Therefore, we will put it to the
test on a real-life problem.
In 2004, the documentary “Super Size Me” was released.
The creator of the documentary ate nothing but McDonald’s
menu items three times a day. Viewers watched in horror as
his physical and mental health deteriorated daily.
This was a public image disaster for the world’s largest fast-
food restaurant chain. Unhealthy and obese customers sued
McDonald’s for damages, and sales plummeted.
As Americans became increasingly aware of the importance
of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, McDonald’s image for fast
and unhealthy food was becoming a hindrance. Many
consumers associated McDonald’s with obesity and heart
disease in their minds.
The company announced an effort at complete rebranding to
turn McDonald’s into “a more trusted and respectable
brand.”
Within a few years, McDonald’s turned around its image and
restored profits to its previous levels and beyond. How did
they do so?
The company announced an 18-month strategy to overhaul
the brand completely.
What steps did McDonald’s have to take to revitalize its
brand?
Remember: When engaging in problem-solving, the first
step is to remember relevant forms and sources of
information. These can include facts, concepts, terms, or
sources of information you know, such as books or websites.
In this stage, McDonald’s looked at the raw data to handle
the market’s current needs. This included running focus
groups with consumers.
They also gathered their sales data from the last few years,
but that would not be enough. McDonald’s even examined
some of their rivals’ relative success, which involved their
immediate fast-food competitors and other food and
beverage chains. This approach gave McDonald’s a better
understanding of the contemporary market. For example,
they examined the approaches of competitors such as
Chipotle, which had grown quickly.
Understand: Once you have the relevant materials, study
them until you feel you have a full understanding of the issue
at hand. Whether you are an expert on the topic or only have
a basic grasp of it, this is a necessary step. Do not move on
until you feel you can explain all the important facts,
concepts, and terms you have remembered. You cannot apply
the information when you don’t understand it.
One good metric for understanding is your ability to explain
a concept in the absolute simplest terms. As Albert Einstein,
the brilliant theoretical physicist, famously put it, “If you
can't explain it to a six-year-old, you don't understand it
yourself.”
As we have discussed previously, data does not speak for
itself. Looking over it, McDonald’s executives discovered two
trends in sales. Companies that stressed the health benefits
of their products tended to increase revenues. Also,
customers now reported that the atmosphere in the locations
had become increasingly important to them.
Unfortunately, the association of the McDonald's brand with
these fashionable elements was unsuccessful. The focus
groups showed that the brand brought to mind cheap,
unhealthy food, and their locations reminded people of
screaming children and exploited employees.
Apply: Once you understand the problem, look at the
knowledge you gathered while working through the two first
rungs of Bloom’s fine pyramid. Ask yourself the following
questions?

How does the knowledge apply to the question at

hand?
What is the most useful information for tackling this
problem? What has been the least valuable?
Is there knowledge you are missing, which could help
you understand the problem better? If you miss
significant information, you may want to go back to
the previous step before continuing.

Analyze: Now you are ready to apply analysis to the problem.

Break the problem into its parts. What are the major
elements of the problem? Define them carefully. Once you
have done this to your satisfaction, examine the links
between the components. How does one influence the other?
Why? What is motivating different actors to act in the way
they do? Make sure you have a full working understanding of
what the problem consists of and how it manifests.
To avoid distractions and noise, boil the logic behind your
terms to the lowest number of assumptions possible. When
we cannot determine between two explanations, it is better
to prefer the simpler explanation. This principle is known as
“Occam's Razor,” referring to the philosopher William of
Ockham, an English thinker known for “shaving away”
unnecessary elements in arguments 7.
At this point, McDonald's executives were aware that their
company’s image as a purveyor of unhealthy food was very
serious. The data suggested that chains and purveyors with a
reputation for providing healthy food were fairing far better
in the marketplace than those who do not.
Evaluate: You have done some good work to get to this point.
Your work may look gorgeous on paper, with aesthetically
pleasing diagrams and charts. When you have worked hard
on a project, it is easy to get emotionally attached to your
work. Avoid that trap.
Instead, ruthlessly subject it to criticism. Remember, if you
don’t, other people will. If there are any significant flaws in
your analysis, reality will unapologetically reveal them.
Look at your analysis carefully and evaluate it according to
the two metrics described below. If you find any flaws, now
is the appropriate time to fix them.
1. Do they make sense internally? Based on your research in
the earlier steps: does every definition stand up to scrutiny?
Are you sure about the connections you have made, or are
you guessing? How confident are you that your analysis is
accurate and makes sense?
2. Do they make sense externally? The relevant question here
is, are there sources of information external to your analysis
that could invalidate key claims? Are there important sources
of information you haven’t looked at? Is there information
you examined but did not take into account? Put yourself in
the shoes of an expert on the topic. Would they say you are
missing anything important?
McDonald’s executives now asked themselves why they had
such an insistent reputation for selling unhealthy products.
Returning to their consumer focus groups, they realized that
as the best known fast-food restaurant globally, all the
industry’s ills had tarnished them. Paradoxically, their iconic
symbols, the golden arches, and its red background had
become more infamous than famous.
Analyze: This is where you start to formulate a solution to
the problem. When we analyze, we attempt to arrive at an
approach superior to the current state of affairs.
We put our ideas into an actionable step-by-step plan. Make
sure every step is realistic and deliverable. Then, subject it to
the same tests you used to check the validity of your
analysis. Does it make sense internally? Will any external
circumstances change it?
Make sure your plan is realistic. Remember: despite the
somewhat misleading name, problem-solving does not
require eliminating the issue. It can just refer to a better way
to do things. The great French Philosopher Voltaire once
wrote, “perfection is the enemy of good.” Once you have
reached a good and useful plan which will improve things
significantly, examine it to look for room to improve. But at
some point, stop and put it into action. We must actively put
our plans to the test.
McDonald’s faced some serious dilemmas to improve its
image. Their colors and arches were world-famous. Yet, they
were driving customers away. Their Big Macs were
legendary, yet increasingly unpopular.
Realizing a full change of image required a serious
makeover, the executives at McDonald’s changed the entire
chain’s aesthetic appeal. The company replaced the old shiny
packing with recyclable packaging designed by students at
the Miami International University of Art and Design.
McDonald’s redecorated their locations in green and brown
earth tones. By doing so, the McDonald’s brass hoped to
change the image of the brand.
Synthesize: At this stage, we take all of the elements we have
arrived at and unite them into one plan. We make sure that
our conclusions stand and that our plan to address them is
valid and practical. We learn from mistakes we have made in
previous steps and prepare to put our plan into action.
It was not enough for McDonald’s to change the decor and
iconography of the corporation. They had to address the
menu itself for their image to change radically. The new
menu emphasized new items such as salads and designer
coffee. The new menu also highlighted each item’s calorie
value in a bid to increase dietary transparency.
The result transformed the somewhat cheap atmosphere of
old McDonald’s into a more pleasant and healthy-looking
location.
Create: At the end of the long process of planning, we
unleash our plan. The strands of our arguments and analysis
come together into an actionable plan. As we put the plan
into action, we watch to see how it fares in reality.
Sometimes we need to readjust even the best-laid plans.
Therefore, even when we put our plans into motion, we
should view them as “works in progress,” improving them,
we receive new data.
McDonald’s launched its new plan to great fanfare. They
invited reporters and critics to a chef catered gala dinner,
incorporating parts of their new menu. The next day they
opened their key remodeled locations.
The improvement to its image was substantial. Profits rose
as the plan softened the image of the chain.

Action Steps
Let's use these two models of critical thinking and apply
them to a real problem in your life. This will benefit you in
two ways. It will sharpen your understanding of the critical
thought process and, if you do the process well, help you
improve your day to day life.
Take a long and honest look at your health. Do you face any
health conditions? What are your vitals in terms of blood
pressure, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.?
Look at your daily habits. Are you getting enough sleep? How
is your diet? Do you get exercise, and if so, how often? How
is your mental health? Make a genuine account of your
normal daily schedule.

Applying The Frameworks To Your Health

Now that you have analyzed your health and lifestyle let’s
look at it again with the tools provided in this chapter.
Using the Paul-Elder Framework, analyze your daily
schedule. Be brutally honest. Don’t sugarcoat your mistakes.
Write down your answers:
Purpose: Is the improvement of your health a major goal in
your day to day life? If so, how does it shape your day? If not,
why not? Should that change?
Problem-solving: What are the biggest obstacles in
achieving robust health? How does your daily schedule help
you overcome them? Should or could you be doing more?
Assumptions: In your health approach, do you make
subconscious or conscious assumptions that you do not
challenge? Should you challenge them?
Look in particular at your assumptions on the role of
exercise, sleep, diet, medication, and work in your life. Are
they all well examined?
Point-of-view: Do you have strong opinions on health-
related matters? For example, are you a big fan of alternative
medicine, or do you rely on pharmacology to get results?
Were you raised to feel a certain way about food, drugs,
alcohol, exercise, work-life balance? Does that influence
your lifestyle and your health?
Data and corroborating information: Look at your habits
concerning your health problems. Analyze your daily routine.
Now research your specific health issues.
Look at your daily schedule. Now research the amount of
sleep recommended for an individual of your age. The
amount of exercise. Dietary advice. Write down what you
have found.
Creating inferences and giving meaning to data: Look at the
data you collected in your research. How does it reflect on
your assumptions? Does it hint that you should make
significant life changes? Does it change how you understand
your health and habits?
Write down the main directions in which the data you
collected is pointing you. Write down what new important
information you have obtained.
Communication and language: Write down what you have
learned about your health. Answer the following questions:

1. Is my lifestyle healthy?
2. Am I addressing my health problems?
3. What do I need to do daily to make my life healthier?

Write the answers as clearly as possible. Now read it to a

trusted loved one. Ask if they agree with your conclusions
and if what you wrote was clear.
Implications and consequences: Now, it is time to develop a
plan for a new daily schedule. Take the data you have
gathered and your interpretation of it and plan a daily
schedule which will:

1. Improve your health over time.

2. Be realistic enough for you to follow.

Now let’s look at the process you followed to analyze your

health using Bloom’s taxonomy. Follow the plan you created
for your daily routine for at least a month. Once you have
done so, use Bloom’s Taxonomy to check your process and to
compare the two frameworks to each other:
Remembering: When you started to analyze your health, how
did you approach the problem? What were your first
thoughts on how to approach the problem?
Understand: Once you had gathered the relevant information
and resources, did you put enough of a conscious effort into
understanding them? Did you understand them correctly?
What information did you misinterpret at this point?
Apply: When you started to develop an action plan, was it
based on the knowledge and resources you had gathered
previously? Did you ignore any important information? Did
you realize you were missing any information?
Analyze: Think of the moment you came up with your initial
plan designed to overcome the challenges you faced. How
well did you draw on the information you had gathered
previously? Were your analysis of the problem and its
solution the best you could muster based on the information
you had at the time? Or did you make mistakes in analyzing
the data you had at your fingertips?
Evaluate: When you tackled the problem, did you have a
plan, or did you improvise? Was it well constructed? Was it
too optimistic or pessimistic?
Create: Did you put the plan you had constructed into action?
Did you focus on some parts more than others? What went
wrong? Was it because there was a flaw in your planning, or
were obstacles you could not predict?
Now answer the following questions at length:

1. What was the strongest part of your problem-solving

process in this case?
2. What was the weakest part of your problem-solving
process?
3. Now that you are familiar with the Elder-Paul
framework and Bloom’s Taxonomy, what would you
 have done differently?
4. How do the two approaches differ in tackling
problems? Which will you use in the future and why?

Conclusion
We learned from the models presented here that we should
use critical thinking as a part of a wider plan whenever
possible. A good idea on its own is not enough. The Paul-
Elder framework and Bloom’s taxonomy provide us with
excellent guidelines for utilizing critical thinking in a
structured way.
Sometimes we have an inspired idea and want to reveal it to
the world. Sony sure did. But they did not plan their steps
well. Better market research would have revealed that
consumers desire longer tapes and care less about picture
quality. That is human.
There are always flaws in any plan, and we cannot predict all
important elements in advance. But if we plan correctly, we
can minimize the negative impact of surprises. By applying
the elements of reasoning, we also learn to think on our feet
when we are surprised.
Sony’s biggest mistake was its executives’ inability to alter
their assumptions as new data came in. As it became clear
that Betamax was failing, they did not change their strategy
and remained fixated on picture quality. They continued that
strategy for a good twenty-five years after it was apparent to
everyone that the model had failed.
There is no doubt the people working at Sony at the time
were very bright. However, they were too entrenched in their
approach and too prideful to admit mistakes.
 3

THE EVOLUTION OF A CRITICAL MIND: WHAT

SETS CRITICAL THINKERS APART

K ing Solomon would sit in judgment, as kings did in

those days, parceling out justice. One day two women
came before him and presented Solomon with a
complicated case. Both were mothers to newborn babies and
shared a single tent.
One night, a horrible tragedy occurred. One of the babies
died in their sleep. Now the two mothers claimed the
remaining child as their own. Unfortunately, there were no
reliable witnesses or useful evidence to consult. Therefore,
they asked the great king to determine to whom the living
baby belonged.
The king pondered this difficult case before suddenly
ordering, “bring me my sword!” The alarmed women asked
what the sword was for, and the king replied, “since we do
not know who the mother is, we shall cut the baby in half
and give each woman an equal share.”
One of the women accepted the judgment and said that no
one should have the living baby if she couldn’t have the
living baby. However, the other woman cried out, “Give the
baby to her, just don't kill him!" Solomon smiled widely and
ruled that the baby belonged to the woman who showed
selfless love to the living child.
The judgment is renowned. Many consider it an example of
profound wisdom. Why? After all, Solomon had ordered an
insane verdict. Splitting the baby would have assured its
death.
However, Solomon understood human nature. He knew that
one of the women before him was a despondent mother of a
recently lost baby, who had so much bitterness within her
that she was trying to deprive her friend of her child.
Meanwhile, the other woman was a loving mother to a living
child.
By suggesting cutting the baby in half, Solomon hoped to
bring out the bitterness in one of the women and the selfless
love in the other. The test he devised succeeded in doing
both and ultimately in solving the problem.
Though some may refer to Solomon’s judgment as an
example of unbiased judicial wisdom, it is the product of
significant emotional intelligence.
In his successful attempt at understanding the two mothers’
emotional inner world, the king displayed a key element of
critical thinking: empathy.
The ability to be a true and influential critical thinker
requires certain personality traits. The deepest critical
thinker is not necessarily the smartest person. Rather,
critical thinkers tend to be smart, talented individuals with
certain personality traits. These include open-mindedness,
humility, and empathy 1.
Portrait Of A Critical Mind
In this chapter, we will take a deep dive into the
characteristics of critical thinking individuals. As you might
expect, critical thinkers are analytical and careful thinkers.
However, they also possess emotional and ethical gifts,
which we do not always associate with reason and thought. A
genuine critical thinker exhibits a combination of traits.
Remember that even if you do not possess some of these
characteristics (and you certainly do have at least a few of
them), you can work on improving these aspects in your
thought process. The mind is like a muscle. If you exercise
your mind the right way, your critical thinking faculties can
improve by leaps and bounds.
In our preconceptions, we imagine capable thinkers as
people of great knowledge and intelligence. These are indeed
desirable qualities for a critical thinker. However, a critical
thinker is not necessarily smarter than a non-critical
thinker. Rather they couple their intelligence with systematic
thinking and emotional courage. Quite often, it requires the
willingness to stand up for unpopular ideas. Everyone has
had that nagging feeling that something about the common
wisdom just isn’t right. However, it is easier just to get
along. Everyone notices that commonly held beliefs can be
flawed. Critical thinkers differ in their willingness to explore
different options.
Some of the smartest people out there see the world through
their particular lens. They treat all information that runs
counter to their world-view as a nuisance. These limited but
influential thinkers use their intelligence to get what they
want.
Here are some of the main characteristics of critical thinkers
2.

Truth-Seeker
Critical thought involves the relentless pursuit of the truth.
That means gathering data and analyzing it to reveal the true
nature of things.
Critical thinkers value honesty from others. But most
importantly, they are honest with themselves. People very
commonly like to reassure themselves and others with little
white lies. But when we are making high-stakes action
plans, brutal honesty can save time and money. It is
important to remember, a plan based on inaccuracies is
highly likely to go awry.
For example, when we work on our plans, we should accept
criticism and examine it on its merits. Taking personal
offense will prevent us from taking valuable advice into
account. In addition, if we discourage the input of others,
they will not give it in the future. Again, this will lead to the
loss of helpful input.

Systematic
A systematic person will actively seek to work through their
actions carefully and methodically. This means before they
take a complex action, they will design and then execute a
detailed and in-depth plan of how they plan to achieve their
specified goal.
If you look at Bloom’s Taxonomy or the Paul-Elder
framework, you will see that they are actively divided into
logical parts. Together, those parts were intentionally
configured to make up a systematic rubric of critical
thinking. When we think critically, we must never skip a step
and only move on once every part of our plan has been
thoroughly completed.
No matter how good your intuition may be, there is no
substitute for seeking out all relevant knowledge.
One example of the active pursuit of systematic thinking by
critical thinkers pertains to obtaining background
knowledge. They systematically gather all of the relevant
information on the topic and analyze it carefully.
Once they have gathered the relevant information, critical
thinkers will follow a clear and logical path to resolving the
problem at hand.
Our previous reviews of the Elder-Paul framework and
Bloom’s taxonomy provide us with good examples of
following a systematic path towards resolving our problems.

Analytical
It is easy to get lost in all the details which go into problem-
solving. An analytical mind is capable of both locating
problems and solving them. A critical thinker will remain
focused on the most important components rather than get
lost in the details.
For example, an analytical mind can look through all of the
data and information gathered to develop a plan and find the
biggest obstacles. When predicting the biggest obstacles
facing a specific action plan, critical thinkers formulate
contingencies and determine how to overcome them.
Open-Minded
No amount of intelligence can make up for close-
mindedness. Most people are more likely to reject
information coming from a source they dislike. However, a
critical thinker will never dismiss information based only on
its source. They will do their best to evaluate its validity on
its own merits.
For example, many decision-makers dismiss the ideas of
their subordinates at work. The opinion of an individual
ranked less senior is less likely to be accepted. However,
sometimes individuals with less seniority have fresher ideas
and can shake up stale and outdated methods.
Instead of dismissing ideas that we dislike, we should
develop the capacity to treat them as fairly as possible.

Self-Confident
If critical thinking leads to meaningful action, it must also
involve the courage to defend and promote unpopular ideas.
Therefore, an influential critical thinker is willing to
confidently support true and logical opinions in the face of
significant social opposition. This is one of the most
challenging and risky elements in wielding critical thinking
meaningfully.
A critical thinker must develop the intellectual self-
confidence to avoid two potential emotional pitfalls
associated with self-doubt. Some people who lack self-
confidence are afraid to make plans, thinking they will not
be of high quality. Others are unwilling to admit that they
may have made a mistake. A critical thinker must avoid both.
They must be willing to make their ideas known and accept
criticism.

Inquisitive
A critical thinker is not lazy. We often parrot the “party line”
out of sheer laziness. After all, if we follow the common
wisdom, we do not have to analyze our assumptions’ logic.
To develop new ideas, we must be willing to put in the work
to challenge existing orthodoxy. But that is just the start. We
need to work even harder to establish alternatives. Many
attempts at rethinking our assumptions will lead to dead
ends.
At times we fear taking intellectual risks because we may
face opposition or embarrassment. However, we need to be
willing to make mistakes. There are no shortcuts. Courage
and perseverance are essential to the cultivation of critical
thinking.
For example, we may find ourselves faced with two plans:
one which will bring a worse result but attract less criticism
and one which is more efficient but more controversial.
Choosing the path of less resistance may seem wise, but it is
a betrayal of our commitment to the truth.

Cognitive And Emotional Mature

The process of honest evaluation of facts involves humility.
Critical thinkers realize that new information can and should
undermine long-held assumptions. They are brave enough
to follow through, despite the mental discomfort and social
risk associated with challenging prevailing norms.
It may sound like a paradox, but a critical thinker must
develop humility and courage. The two complement each
other. It takes courage to admit that you are bad at
something or made the wrong decision.
It also takes humility to admit that our emotions can get in
the way of accurate analysis. In particular, rage and panic
cloud our ability to reason. Putting aside a decision when we
are in the wrong emotional frame of mind shows humility.
Making a rash decision does not.
For example, parents know they should avoid disciplining
their children when angry. Rather they should always be in
control of their actions. Punishment should only be applied
when it will benefit them.
However, when we are angry, it becomes difficult to
discipline our children while taking their long-term benefits
into account. When we feel rage, our main driving impulse is
to get rid of that feeling. Our rational minds know that if we
discipline our children too harshly, it will not benefit their
well-being. Therefore, when we apply critical thinking, we
catch ourselves before it's too late. We can make similarly
bad decisions unless we admit to ourselves: yes, I am angry.
No, I should not be making decisions.
A critical thinker is humble enough to confess they are not
experts on every issue, nor can they be. You should be willing
to listen openly to the ideas of others, even (or especially) if
they challenge your conceptions 3.
Charitability: To avoid the “straw man” fallacy, it is
important to examine an argument fairly. When presenting
arguments we disagree with, we often intentionally portray
them as absurd.
When you are trying to be charitable to an argument, you
disagree with, execute the following thought exercise. Do not
imagine how you will “win” an argument with them.
Instead, imagine you need to ask the person making the
argument if you understood their viewpoint accurately. What
would that person say? Would they think your presentation
of their thinking was fair and accurate? Think of the reasons
people you disagree with look at the world differently from
you. Doing so requires empathy: the ability to put yourself in
their shoes.
Humility: We view humility as not a lack of confidence.
Instead, it is an honest understanding that our knowledge
and comprehension are limited. True humility is the
willingness to cheerfully admit that our self-worth does not
depend on always being right.
A genuine critical thinker knows they will be wrong about
things. Often. They also possess the cognitive maturity to re-
examine their assumptions and get it right the second time.

Foresight
No one can read the future, but the process of critical
thinking can alleviate a great deal of doubt and uncertainty
around future developments. After gathering all the relevant
data and analyzing it, a critical thinker should make a
reasonable estimation of the most likely developments and
plan accordingly.
Without at least some foresight, we are unable to plan for the
future. Risk analysis is key when solving-problems. A critical
thinker will have contingencies worked out for all the most
likely eventualities.
We can cultivate foresight by developing an understanding of
how others think. In the cut-throat business world, many
see empathy as a sign of weakness because of the association
with an inability to stand up for themselves.
This is a misunderstanding of the concept. In the context of
critical thinking, empathy refers to your ability to
understand how others think and why.
The great military strategist Sun Tzu advised, “know your
opponent and know yourself, in a hundred battles you will
never be in peril.” The key to defeating your enemy is to
understand their aspirations and hopes. If you know what
another person is trying to achieve, it is far easier to prevent
them from reaching it.
Do not confuse empathy with sympathy. Sympathy involves
identifying with another individual or group to the point that
you can feel what they do. A deep sympathy may indeed
impinge on your critical thinking by forming an emotional
bias. Instead, you should cultivate the ability to understand
what another is feeling and why.
We have a natural tendency to make negative assumptions
about the thought process of others. We often believe that
the reasoning behind an argument we disagree with is
inferior to our efforts. We assume our rival is ill-informed or
does not have all of the facts. A critical thinker has
intellectual integrity.
Another common assumption is that others are making their
arguments in bad faith. We may find ourselves thinking,
perhaps this person is trying to undermine my position at
work and therefore disagrees with me.
Next time you listen to a politician you profoundly disagree
with, notice how you respond. Do you feel your breath
quicken and the beginning of a slight headache? Do you feel
a vague angry feeling in the pit of your stomach? You may
ask yourself, how could any reasonable person hold these
views.
Just listening to these views makes you uncomfortable. You
will almost certainly have an urge to change the channel.
Next time you turn on the news, don’t change the channel.
Instead, do the following exercise. What do you think of the
politician espousing these views? Make a list of the traits you
associate with this person. Your answer will almost certainly
contain slights on their intelligence or good faith. Often you
will not think highly of either.
This is your brain protecting its sense of certainty by
shutting out different viewpoints.
Intellectual integrity is the ability to treat the arguments of
others fairly. Other people may indeed be ill-informed or
biased in their analysis. However, if we are honest, our
analysis is also not wholly pure.
Our own conscious and unconscious biases play a significant
role in shaping our thoughts and opinions. We also have
significant gaps in our information and knowledge, just like
everyone else. No one we know is an objective fountain of
untainted wisdom and expertise.
When we practice true intellectual integrity, we put aside our
biases about the other person's intellectual or moral
inferiority. Instead, we judge the argument on its own
merits.

Action Steps
The Supreme Court has hundreds of decisions on
controversial and important topics. The judges at this
institution use critical thinking to decide the most important
issues of the day.
Pick a notable Supreme Court decision on a topic that
interests you. The official website includes all Supreme Court
decisions from 2014 to the current day:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/slipopinion/20
The judgments have a series of justices either concurring
with or dissenting from the court’s final decisions. Analyze
the arguments each justice uses following the traits of
critical thinkers. Rate each justice from 1-10 on this scale.
Try not to let your previous opinions on the issue you have
selected influence your rating. You should rely just on the
quality of the argument made by each justice.
Make sure to do some research on the case before you read
the opinions. For example, read the Wikipedia page on the
case and some news reports on it. This is an important
exercise because research is a crucial part of critical
thinking!
Truth-Seeking: Did the justice seem more interested in
promoting a narrow agenda or seeking the genuine and
objective truth about the issue?
Open-Minded: How did each justice treat the information
which countered their opinion and world view? Were they
fair or dismissive? Was there important information
mentioned by justices on the opposing side of the decision
they neglected to mention? Why do you think that is?
Analytical: How well did each justice analyze the application
of the law to the case? How much attention did they give to
the implications of the ruling? Did their analysis ring true to
you, or did it seem to further a specific agenda?
Systematic: Did they apply the elements of the law and their
logical reasoning evenly and using the same system
throughout their judgment? Did they look at all the relevant
elements or pick and choose to make their point stronger?
Self-confident: Are the justices hesitant or forceful in how
they present their views? Is their confidence in the
rightfulness of their opinion genuine or just an act? How
willing are they to admit that they may be wrong or that
some information contradicts their opinions?
Inquisitive: Do a little background checking on the justices
and their legal specialties and backgrounds. How willing are
they to step out of their comfort zones? How important is it
to seek out new information that will shed new light on the
case, regardless of their preconceptions?
Cognitively mature: How aware are the justices of the
complexity of the situation? Do they avoid the urge to
simplify the case to make a ruling easier? How much wisdom
and experience is behind their decision and reasoning?
Now, look at yourself. Who did you agree with before you
read the opinions? Did reading it change your mind in any
way? Why? Most importantly, ask yourself: were you as
receptive to opinions you disagreed with as you were to
those you agreed with?
Remember, developing critical thinking aims to reach the
point where we evaluate all information fairly, regardless of
the source. This can be challenging. As you can see, even the
Supreme Court justices have trouble with that.
But they should keep trying, and so should you!
Conclusion
When King Solomon sat in judgment, he did not look down
at the two women before him. He put himself in their shoes
and asked, “what would I do in that situation?” His cognitive
maturity gave him the foresight to predict how the situation
would play out.
Critical thinkers do not sit cold and aloof while judging the
world. They are connected to their environment and
understand it. They actively seek out new information and
are not afraid to be challenged. They then use the
information and insights they have gained to understand
how the world works.
 4

BARRIERS TO CRITICAL THINKING

A n old air force maxim said, “if you’re not catching flak,
you’re not over the target.” Experience taught the
pilots that flying over a high-value target attracts
enemy fire. With the limited means of target identification
available at the time, the anti-aircraft fire intensity was a
good indicator that the pilot was on the right track.
There was another element to this as well. It was considered
manly to tough and bomb through enemy fire. The worst
thing a bomber crew could do was avoid a tough target and
try to dump the bombs elsewhere. Nothing could harm your
reputation as an airman more than that.
On August 1, 1943, 177 allied bombers took off from Benghazi
in Libya. Their mission was to bomb Nazi operated oil
refineries in Romania. One of the formations involved was
the 376 th Bombardment Group of the United States Air Force.
The Group took a wrong turn and ended up over Bucharest,
the capital of Romania. As they approached the city, they
faced enemy flak fire. However, Commander Keith Compton
saw conspicuously civilian looking buildings below him. He
had to make a snap decision. Remembering the maxim, he
decided to order the payloads dropped.
Just then, another squadron broke radio silence and warned
of the mistake. Had they failed to intervene, they could have
been responsible for the deaths of countless innocent lives.
Commander Compton almost made a terrible mistake due to
his preconceived beliefs.
The brave Commander almost fell victim to a common
barrier to critical thinking: a prior unexamined belief.
As we will see in this chapter, beliefs, biases, intuition and
certain emotions can be a barrier to critical thinking.
However, with self-awareness, we can overcome these
obstacles. Pay careful attention here, so you know what to
avoid!

Beliefs
The costly mistake Commander Compton nearly made is an
example of affirming the consequent. This logical fallacy
occurs in two stages. First, a person believes that an outcome
is likely to occur under specific circumstances. Second, when
that outcome materializes, the same person assumes those
preconceived circumstances were the cause of it 1.
However, this is often a fallacy. A completely separate
explanation may cause the outcome. The circumstances that
led to the outcome in one instance may not apply in another.
In its most primitive form, the fallacy of affirming the
consequent looks like this: Paris is in Europe. Therefore, if I
am in Europe, I am in Paris. Fallacies this extreme are quite
rare 2.
Why do we make such costly mistakes? In a complex
environment, we are unable to process all relevant
information in real-time. Hence, we rely on simplifications
to make quick decisions. In so doing, we rely heavily on
unexamined beliefs we have accepted earlier in life 3.
This tendency is completely human. However, when stakes
are high, we cannot accept preconceived cultural
assumptions. In these cases, identifying and examining our
ingrained assumptions can be the difference between life
and death.
Critical thinkers show a willingness to examine ingrained
ideals thoroughly and objectively. Therefore, the ability to
question even our most cherished cultural ideals is at the
heart of critical thinking. It is uncomfortable to think that
the ideas we take for granted are dulling our thinking. But
that does not mean it isn’t true.
This does not mean that we necessarily abandon the cultural
notions and traditions we are comfortable with. Instead, we
will now have the courage to see how they stand up to
rational criticism. We may come out of the process with
renewed confidence in our beliefs because they have stood
the test.
In other cases, new evidence may change our minds. Another
option is to conclude that we maintain our faith or certain
ideas for cultural reasons rather than rational ones. That is
fine, as long as we are aware of it and consider that when
making decisions. The point is to be open to any outcome
which is supported by the evidence.
Whatever the result is, applying critical analysis is beneficial
to the depth of our faith. After examining our principles, we
will enjoy renewed confidence that our beliefs represent the
truth as we understand it.
Consider what your cultural beliefs are. What did you get
from your parents, school, workplace? Are there
assumptions behind them? Do they make sense? Have you
ever started to question them before but then stopped
yourself? Have these beliefs and assumptions ever held you
back from achieving your potential?
Reexamining your deepest held beliefs can be a painful
process. However, if you are honest with yourself, figuring
this out will make a world of difference. Your rational
decision-making process will improve greatly as a result.

Biases
A bias is when an individual has either a strong preference or
aversion to something, regardless of its merits. It is an
unfair way of looking at the world, but one which we all
practice often.
We do not generate or accept ideas to satisfy intellectual
curiosity. We do so to satisfy our emotional needs. Studies
show that our brain would do anything to avoid the suffering
that accompanies doubt. Therefore, our brain actively seeks
out ideas that will bring order and certainty into our lives.
We develop our thought patterns as a means of dealing with
uncertainty. Anytime we are confronted with an
unprecedented situation, we may experience anxiety and
stress. Therefore, from childhood and onward, our mind
constantly seeks out certainty.
We think of our early years as a time of great joy. However,
anxiety is an integral part of our formative years. After all, it
is a stage where so much of what children encounter is
unprecedented and frightening.
A young child is hungry for trusted sources of information to
alleviate their anxiety. Thus, children hungrily consume
input from parents and teachers. Information from these
sources enjoys priority since it comes from a position of
authority. Therefore, we base our understanding of how the
world works on our experiences in that formative period.
Our mind develops a habit of seeking out certainty instead of
truth. This follows us into adulthood: we cling to trusted but
unexamined information and values. We remain hesitant to
give up these answers, as that would increase the level of
uncertainty in our lives 4. Therefore, we often follow a truth-
seeking critical thought process. Although clinging to our
biases can be reassuring, it clouds our judgment and makes
it more likely that we will make costly mistakes.

Intuition
Intuition is an attempt to gain knowledge without in-depth
reasoning. It has often been regarded as a flawed manner of
thinking by philosophers. However, psychological and
cognitive studies of human thought patterns have revealed
that this is the default manner in which our brain functions.
Usually, when we decide, we combine limited elements of
reasonable thought with a significant amount of intuition.
This thinking mode allows for successful short-term goals
without using the full energy required to process critical
thought.
Heuristics are how we turn our intuition into thoughts and
action plans. Research shows that the vast majority of our
estimations and solutions to problems are based on them 5.
Let’s see how these work in a real-life situation. Very often,
we will employ a “trial and error” approach. Imagine you
have little experience with wine but find yourself spending
time in France. Everyone seems to order wine at dinner, and
you don’t want to feel left out. You look at the menu and
recognize the names. That doesn’t help you much. However,
you are too self-conscious to ask your hosts what to order.
What do you do when the waiter asks for the order?
Maybe you will order a cabernet because you like the name.
It is quite possible that you love it and order it next time,
thereby solving your wine order problem. At least for now.
Maybe you hate it, and next time you will try a merlot. You
had absolutely no idea if cabernet was the right choice, but
you were willing to make a mistake and try to do better next
time. This form of heuristic is called “trial and error.”
Perhaps rather than go into your wine ordering adventure
blind, you try to remember if you know anything at all about
wine. You recall you heard somewhere that red wine pairs
well with meat, while white works with seafood. Having
ordered Chateaubriand, you order a random red wine. This
has a better chance of success than the “trial and error”
method since this rule is generally accurate.
Using this type of heuristic known as a “rule of thumb,” you
at least can avoid ordering a wine that tastes disgusting with
your food. However, that does not mean you will like the
wine.
A critical thinking approach to ordering the best wine would,
in theory, provide us with better results. It would involve
researching which wine goes best with a specific dish. What
vintages are on offer? What is on the menu? Does the offer
price represent good value for money? Does the refrigerator
properly chill white wine? And many other factors.
Would following this process be worth it for ordering wine?
Almost definitely not. The stakes are low. At worst, we drink
wine we don’t like or get silently judged by our hosts. To
many people being adventurous is fun. We have limited time
and brainpower to spend on every decision, and heuristics
are usually good enough. Also, imagine what the people
around you would think if they knew you were taking wine
selection that seriously. There are social costs to the critical
thinking process.
But it's more than that. As long as we believe in them, quick
answers–whether correct or not–immediately alleviate the
pain caused by uncertainty. The long and uncertain process
of questioning our assumptions is counterintuitive, as it does
not provide quick answers. Worse, it may result in
questioning long-held beliefs that have protected us from
uncertainty for years. By exposing us to the real uncertainty
around us, critical thinking can increase anxiety in the short
term. This is why heuristics make up the vast majority of our
decisions. This is not a bad thing in all instances.
However, heuristics may work too well but not to our
advantage. We get used to expending little effort into making
decisions, even when they are crucially important. But
simplified thinking of this sort leads to all kinds of fallacies.
One form of this is the composition fallacy. This occurs when
we attribute one member of the group’s characteristics to
encompass every individual associated with that group.
Let’s look at how this works and imagine the following
example: at a party, we meet a person from two towns over.
This individual spends the entire party being obnoxious and
rude to everyone. Since we have never been to that town, our
main association with it is now unpleasant. However, when
we visit that beautiful town, we meet countless lovely people.
This is a reminder that we should not be quick to generalize.
A similar common example of illogical thinking is the
association fallacy. When we fall victim to this fallacy, we
consider a blameless individual to be “guilty by association.”
This is when we consider someone who has ties to a
wrongdoer to be guilty, through no fault of their own.
Another fallacy is the ad hominem attack. In this fallacy, we
focus on discrediting the source of the argument rather than
its validity. When we practice an ad-hominem attack, we
find reasons to doubt the source based on information that is
unrelated to the argument we are engaged with.
Once we have discredited the source of the argument by
attacking it on irrelevant grounds, we may feel that we have
rendered their argument invalid. But we have not. No source
is perfect and even the most discredited source is capable of
making strong arguments on occasion. We must rise above
the temptation of focusing on the source, and instead train
our faculties on the argument.
In conclusion, heuristics are mental shortcuts. They are
useful in certain circumstances. If we are engaged in low
stakes decisions, such as where to have dinner tonight or
which brand of instant coffee to purchase, heuristics are a
perfectly acceptable way to make the decision. We do not
always have the time or the energy to employ the full process
of critical thinking.
However, when an important problem arises at work or in
your private life, avoid the temptation of relying on
heuristics. Instead, begin the systematic and active
application of critical thinking to the problem. When dealing
with important issues, you should never settle for anything
less.

Emotions
We tend to think of critical thinking as a rational exercise,
one which can only be hindered by our emotions. This is only
partially accurate.
It is true that in some instances, our emotions can be a
hindrance to critical thinking. As discussed previously, this
mostly relates to what we think of as negative emotions.
Anger is incompatible with critical thought. When we are
angry, we tend to lash out to relieve ourselves from
uncomfortable emotions.
The trouble is that we do not weigh the consequences of our
actions. When we act out of anger, we end up in a worse
situation than before.
But some emotions make us think more carefully and apply
more effort to analysis and solutions. For example, if we
have a passion for a subject or care deeply about a goal, that
energy can be channeled into critical thinking. Just make
sure to take a deep breath before beginning the process of
working on an issue you care about deeply. Make sure to
follow a reliable process such as those presented in the Paul-
Elder framework and the Bloom taxonomy. Let your passion
feed your interest but do not allow it to dictate your process.
Emotions can also help us frame our problems morally and
usefully. For example, the United Nations founded the World
Food Program to fight world hunger. The compassion many
well-meaning people felt for the malnourished around the
world generated the interest and effort necessary to get the
program off the ground.
The World Food Program actively and decisively utilized
critical thinking to launch this effort and render it effective.
Having a limited budget, the United Nations needed to find
cheap and reliable sources of food and to reach out and
locate the hungriest and neediest individuals.
The logistical planning eagerly pursued in order to reach
some of the most devastated parts of the world is mind-
boggling. As a result of these persistent efforts, the
organization has fed 97 million people in 88 countries. It
aims to reduce world hunger to zero by 2030 6.
The effect of emotions on critical thinking is complex. The
right emotions can bring out our best problem-solving
instincts. In all honesty, emotions can cloud our judgment
and hinder our reasoning process. However, positive
emotions can help us frame our critical thinking process by
reminding us of what is important: making the world a
better place. Meanwhile, negative emotions usually cloud our
judgment and make us pursue the wrong objectives, such as
satiating our insecurities or our need for revenge.
The good news is that it is easy to differentiate between
positive and negative emotional influences. All of those
emotions that many people actively consider negative are
hindrances. Anger, jealousy, self-righteousness, and pride
are obstacles to critical thought. Empathy, compassion, and
generosity help us think and make us think of others instead
of ourselves.
On the other hand, some emotions get in the way and
muddle our thinking. Have you ever tried to make an
important decision when you were angry? How did that work
out for you? Similarly, we do not want to dismiss ideas and
evidence because we dislike the source. Selfishness and
jealousy can constrain us from doing what is good for the
people around us.
There are two good rules of thumb here.
First rule: if your emotions are going to be involved in the
process (and they very often should be), make sure they are
your noble emotions. Empathy, patience, and tolerance are
incredible emotions and very helpful in engendering critical
thought. Anger, pettiness, and jealousy are undesirable at
the best of times and only hinder rational thought.
Second rule: Emotions (only the good ones!) can be essential
in defining problems and setting out their solutions. They
are far less useful in determining the process you follow
once the goals and issues are determined. For example, do
not allow emotions to determine how you weigh the evidence
and which data to take seriously.
We can’t and shouldn’t stop feeling. It is what makes us
human, and our best emotions make life worth living. Just
remember to let the bad ones pass before you start
reasoning.

Action Steps
We will now take some steps to examine the role that these
obstacles have played in your decision-making so far. By
doing so, we can craft the past path towards future
improvement.
Think of three important decisions you have made in the
following three fields: your love life, career, and finances.
Write down your answers honestly:
Bias:

1. Did you examine all of the options available to you, or

did you dismiss options without further examination?
 2. Did you dismiss viable options due to bias, or were
they all dismissed for rational reasons?
3. If bias played a role, what was your bias?
4. Did your bias have negative or positive consequences?
5. How will you overcome this bias and similar bias in
future decisions?

Intuition:

1. When you made your decision, was it primarily

rational or intuitive?
2. What was your intuition telling you?
3. Has relying on your intuition had negative or positive
consequences?
4. Was the decision too important to be made based on
intuition?
5. How will you figure out in the future whether a
decision is also important for an intuition-based
approach?

Beliefs:

1. Make a list of beliefs you consider important to your

identity and not shared by everyone around you.
2. Look at each belief; did they influence any of the three
decisions?
3. Was the influence of your beliefs positive or negative?
4. Were you aware of the influence of your beliefs on
your decision-making at the time?
5. How will you remain aware of the influence of your
beliefs on decisions you make in the future?

Emotions:
 1. What emotions influenced your decision-making
process?
2. Which would you qualify as useful and which do you
believe served as hindrances?
3. How did your emotions influence the outcome?
4. What did your positive emotions (such as empathy)
do in terms of influencing the process?
5. What influence did your negative emotions (such as
anger) have on your critical thought?

Write down your answers. Next time you have an important

decision to make, consult these questions and your answers
before deciding. When you have concluded writing down
your answers, make sure to go over those answers yet again.
How did your awareness of these barriers influence your
decision-making? Remember, we all face barriers and
obstacles to critical thinking. However, when we are aware of
them, we take away most of their power.

Conclusion
When we face a problem, resolving it through critical
thinking is not our first instinct. We prefer to spend less time
resolving the problem, avoiding questioning our beliefs, and
trusting our intuition. The truth is, for most decisions we
make in our lives, this process is good enough. We do not
need to employ Bloom’s Taxonomy from start to finish to
put in our lunch order.
We should employ the time-consuming process of critical
thinking for the important decisions in life and our most
complicated career-related problems. We can’t use it for
every small decision, nor should we. But when it comes to
those decisions, we must avoid relying primarily on
intuition, beliefs, and biases. As Captain Compton
discovered, it can be a matter of life or death.
 5

READY, SET, GO: APPLYING CRITICAL

THINKING TO YOUR PERSONAL AND
PROFESSIONAL LIFE

W e have looked at how critical thought works in theory.

But what about in practice? How do we apply these
principles in our daily lives? No matter the setting we
are in, life throws us some unexpected obstacles.
What happens when we put our best ideas to the test of
reality? What if things don’t go to plan? When our critical
thinking process comes off the page, we find we have to deal
with real people. They react in unpredictable ways that can
confound our best-laid plans.
Think of the plight of Coca Cola during the “Coke Wars” with
Pepsi. Their sales had gone down in the early 1980s, due to
the success of their rivals. In response, they changed the
product. Renaming their top-selling drink “New Coke” and
sweetened it to appeal to the growing teenage market.
It did not work. The loyal Coca Cola customers were
outraged. Tens of thousands of calls and letters complaining
about the new taste flooded headquarters in Atlanta. To add
insult to injury, teenagers continued to prefer Pepsi.
Coca Cola had lost its old customers and failed to gain new
ones. An organization called the Old Cola Drinkers of
America popped out and received hundreds of thousands of
dollars in contributions.
Coca Cola marketing executives soon realized that the
original recipe had never been the problem. It remained
beloved throughout the country. Instead, sales had been
flagging due to poor marketing. There had been no need for
the new formula to begin with.
A mere 79 days after introducing the new formula, the
company reinstated the old recipe, having renamed it Coca
Cola Classic. The Coke executives gave the founder of Old
Cola Drinkers of America the first big case of the new-old
drink. The response to the return of the old taste was so
enthusiastic that one executive commented wryly, “You
would have thought we'd cured cancer."
To capture the teenage market, the company launched a new
campaign. It featured a bizarre pixelated computer figure in
suit and tie, known as Max Headroom, who would alternate
comments with computer modulated sound effects. This
worked spectacularly and increased sales in that
demographic. From then on, the company launched
successful campaigns targeted at teenagers. Meanwhile, the
company did not waver from its tried and true formula.
We learn from this that it is not enough to have a good
theoretical plan based. We need to tailor it to the real world.
We need to be realistic and understand how to put our ideas
into practice and convince others to help us.
This chapter will look at methods for applying critical
thinking principles to different areas of our lives. We have to
adjust our plans to the lay of the land. Don’t make the same
mistake Coca Cola made. Look at your specific environment
and the people around you, and make plans that will stand
the test of reality.

Applying Critical Thinking

Now you are ready to produce results. This is where the
rubber meets the road, and developments come at you fast
and furious. But that doesn’t mean you can afford to stop
reasoning.
After reading the previous chapters, we should understand
the fundamentals of critical thought. We should have some
idea of what a logical and illogical argument looks like.
Having looked at Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Paul-Elder
framework, we know how to solve problems and make better
decisions. We should apply this knowledge to all facets of our
lives. Our family life, careers, education, friendships, and
romantic lives can benefit from clear and logical thinking.
In this chapter, we will look at how the unpredictability of
life can threaten our best-laid plans. But remember, with
some foresight and reasonable responses, the confident
critical thinker can respond well to any crisis.
As you put the plan into action, you will run into some
inevitable surprises. Treat these surprises not as setbacks
but rather as the introduction of new relevant data.
When things do not go according to plan, do not react
immediately. This is how we make mistakes. Take a walk
outside. Meditate if you are into that. Then go back to the
planning stage. What does the new data mean for the validity
of your plan? Adjust it accordingly. Think of your plan as a
living-breathing organism rather than a completed work set
in stone.
Critical Thinking In Real Life Situations
Critical thinking is the ability to think through connected
ideas thoroughly and independently based solely on reason
and evidence. It is the focused and disciplined act of turning
our mental abilities towards the resolution of real-world
problems.
As one would expect, the people who practice critical
thinking are intelligent and knowledgeable. They are also
systematic and analytical in their problem-solving approach.
They are also cognitively mature and empathetic. Above all,
they seek the truth.
Critical thinkers are open-minded and inquisitive and do not
allow bias to affect the objective analysis. On the emotional
side, they are self-confident and cognitively mature enough
to understand their own emotions and others’ emotions. The
process of critical thought provides those who wield it with a
great deal of foresight into real-life developments.
When we use these tools, we become critical thinkers
ourselves. As a result, we become more adept at detecting
illogical reasoning and fallacies in our thoughts and in the
ideas put forth by others. We are now less likely to make bad
arguments or rely on untrustworthy data. Finally, we become
better decision-makers. Perhaps most importantly, we can
make the world around us better by solving consequential
problems.
But this is all theoretical. How do we utilize our critical
thinking skills in real-life situations? Here is a non-
exhaustive list of examples.

The Internet
Gathering data and information is a crucial element of
critical thinking. This can be trickier than it sounds.
In our ideal models of critical thinking, we gather
trustworthy information and process it objectively. However,
in reality, how do we know which information is accurate,
and what is misleading? Unreliable sources of information
sometimes dupe even experts. What chance does the
majority of casual researchers have?
When we think of doing research, we shouldn’t necessarily
imagine the kind of impressive library you find in an Ivy
League school or Harry Potter. The simple truth is, most
research today is conducted on Google. When asked how they
do research, less than 2% of undergraduate students
mentioned non-internet sources.
In today's world, we rely on the internet for an increasingly
large amount of information. Just Googling a topic will
provide you with a great deal of information, some written
by well-known professors and others by internet trolls.
Unfortunately, a great deal of what we will find is not
information. It is disinformation.
How can we tell the difference? Here are some useful
benchmarks.

Who Is The Website Attributed To?

Not attributed or attributed to someone without known
credentials: If you do not know who wrote the entry you are
reading or what they know about the topic, be cautious. The
individual could be highly reliable, completely ignorant, or
have a very strong bias in one direction or another.
Attributed to an interested party: Individuals or
organizations with strong credentials potentially provided
this information. However, they may strongly invest in a
particular point of view. Even if the source you are using is
recognizable or respected, examine their reputation for bias
before relying on the information.
These caveats apply to government sources, popular media,
think tanks, and highly informed blogs. Use these sources
but with caution. They are often more useful in telling us
what the prevailing opinions are rather than providing
factual information.
Scientific Sources: No source is perfect, but those run by
universities and scientific foundations are more reliable than
most. Journal articles must go through peer-review to be
published. This means other experts and scientists critically
examine the source’s claims and find any problems or
inaccuracies in it. It is best to always use these sources,
particularly if you are working on an important project.
An important rule of thumb with any information source,
particularly with the internet, is to cross sources. If you want
to make sure your information is reliable, make sure it
appears in more than one reliable source 1.

Classroom
Researchers have tied the development of critical thinking to
educational development. For generations, students
memorized answers, poems, and the multiplication table and
got good grades.
Tests were standardized, and teachers taught students by
rote. This made teachers, assessors, and students’ lives
relatively easy because no one had to overthink. However,
that was also the problem.
This approach encouraged young minds to acquire and
maintain knowledge. However, it did not encourage them to
think. But during the Twentieth Century, it had become
increasingly clear that traditional teaching methods did not
prepare students for real life.
As America moved to an information and services-based
economy, workers had to deal with unpredictable problems
daily. Just as importantly, as citizens in a democracy, they
would need to analyze information critically to elect or be
elected for office.
By the end of the Century, teachers agreed that one of their
major responsibilities was to encourage critical thinking.
Just about every curriculum published these days mentions
the encouragement of critical thinking as a primary
objective.
Yet this does not seem to have made a great deal of
difference in the capabilities of students. Why is teaching
critical thinking so difficult? Is it possible to teach and learn
these skills?
The answer is a resounding yes. The truth is, no one needs to
learn critical thinking. We are inquisitive creatures by
nature. Think of all the inventions human beings have
created and all the obstacles they have overcome to bring the
science and technology we depend on into the world. Each
breakthrough represents the human instinct for solving
problems by applying critical thinking.
But our minds can be lazy. Plato, one of Socrates’ students,
once wrote, “a need or problem encourages creative efforts
to meet the need or solve the problem.” We usually shorten
this to “necessity is the mother of invention.” When
circumstances thrust us into insecurity there is no end to
human ingenuity and inventiveness. Our capacity for
cognitive laziness when we are unmotivated is similarly
limitless.
The focus in teaching or learning critical thinking should not
be on teaching the fundamentals of problem-solving. After
all, reciting Bloom’s Taxonomy by rote is just more
memorization.
Students need to be encouraged to use their existing critical
learning faculties.
Methods of encouraging critical thinking in the classroom:
1) Project-based learning: The best way to engage students
in critical thinking is by giving them projects to work on. We
should not design these projects with a single solution in
mind. Rather they should be open-ended so that students
may deal with unpredictable problems as they arise. Projects
motivate students because they develop a sense of ownership
over the result.
2) Question Generation: Encourage students to ask their
questions on the topic. One of the most important elements
in developing critical thinking skills is learning to question.
Yet, we usually are provided with questions to answer.
Asking the students to come up with the questions
themselves has two advantages. It helps them develop a
knack for questioning. By coming up with their approaches,
students also focus on the elements they are interested in
and feel more engaged. This encourages natural curiosity.
Studies show that the ability to generate your questions
requires a higher level of understanding than answering
questions or summarizing material.
A highly successful in the class game uses the model of
Jeopardy! Gameshow. Once students have studied a topic,
they can construct a table of questions in this format, which,
as we all know, divides questions into categories and orders
them according to levels of difficulty 2.

Workplace
There was a time when a person was hired to a specific job
and could expect to work in the same company doing more
or less the same thing for their entire careers. Today, the
economy is far more dynamic. Therefore, we change jobs far
more often, and the work we have often does not fit neatly
into our job descriptions.
This means we have to think on our feet to prepare for
unexpected challenges at work. This means a workforce with
increased critical thinking capacity will likely perform better
in the contemporary economy.
Though some individuals work alone and enjoy greater
independence in applying critical thinking, most companies
and industries require a good deal of teamwork. Therefore,
developing critical thinking in the workplace is a team sport.
If so, how do we encourage critical thinking in our working
unit?
1) Hire individuals with a predilection for critical thinking:
The most obvious way to encourage this approach is by
hiring individuals who practice critical thought in their work
and respect reasoned thought in others’ work. Therefore,
you may wish to include open-ended problems in the hiring
process.
This will help you weed out workers without critical thinking
skills.
2) Encourage a culture of critical thought: You may already
have a great deal of unexploited potential for critical
thinking at your workplace. However, if individuals are
encouraged to stay in their lane and do their job according to
the narrowest parameters, it will not come to the fore.
Rigid hierarchy is the enemy of a free-thinking
environment. When there is too much regard for hierarchy,
workers will follow whatever their superiors say. We call this
unhealthy phenomenon “groupthink” 3.
When you have the wrong kind of working environment,
employees do not feel safe accepting criticism or criticizing
each other. Without trust, individuals can get defensive and
suspect malicious intent.
One of the best ways to deal with this problem is to create a
“safe zone” meeting. Everyone in the group can criticize
others regardless of their rank or personal relationship. The
onus is on the superiors, in particular, to encourage those
below them to feel comfortable to point out mistakes and
differences of opinion.
After completing a project, organize a “lessons learned”
meeting to analyze mistakes made and highlight
opportunities for future improvement.
3) Stress the process of problem-solving rather than just the
solution: Our superiors judge our work performance based
on our ability to solve problems quickly and efficiently.
Therefore, it is natural that when we confront a professional
problem, our first instinct is to prove we can solve it
immediately. This often comes at the expense of a full
understanding of the implications of the problem. It also
encourages “quick fix” solutions rather than creative or in-
depth ones.
Rather than jump to a solution, have the team follow the
process of critical thinking oriented problem-solving. One of
the best ways is to allow the work team to appreciate the
problem and its aspects fully. A thorough gathering of data
should follow this.
A solution designed after the execution of these preliminary
steps will likely be better thought out.
These tips for the promotion of critical thinking in the
workplace are top-down ones. But what do you do if you are
trying to incorporate critical thinking skills into your work
but are having a hard time getting others on board?
Once we have formulated incisive and well-constructed
thoughts and arguments, we need to convey them to others.
This is a related but very different art form. Unfortunately, it
is often the most fallacy ridden type of appeal which is most
convincing to audiences. There has always been tension
between rhetoric and philosophy. The former focuses on
winning over a crowd regardless of the truth. The latter is
the art of finding the truth, whether it is convincing or not.
How do we sell our argument?
1) Know your audience: To achieve the result you want, who
do you need to convince? What sort of arguments work on
that individual?
People tend to think of critical thinking skills as very rational
and logical. However, what if the person you need to
convince does not respond well to that? If your target is
more emotional, take that into account. Some target
audiences may be very committed to traditional ways of
getting things done. In that case, an argument attacking the
“old ways” may be a bad idea.
Appealing to an audience does not mean you alter the
essence of your argument. You have reached a superior-
conclusion through a process of critical thinking. If altering
your argument will bring about inferior results, do not do it.
Instead, market your superior product to the proper
audience.
2) Clarity: Your argument will not convince even the most
receptive crowd if what you are saying is not understood. If
your target audience is hostile, they will pounce on any
vague elements.
Before conveying your argument to anyone else, make sure it
is clear in your head. Some of your terms and the
connections between them may appear vague to you or
others. Run your argument by a trusted third-party before
engaging with the target audience.
Ask them to repeat your argument to you. If they did not
understand a key element, the chances are that your
audience won’t either. Concentrate critical thinking skills
like a laser on those weak aspects. Redefine or restructure
your argument as needed until it is clear in your mind.
3) Anticipate counterarguments: Even when dealing with a
friendly and receptive audience, you may face some backlash
or probing questions. Anticipation is doubly important when
facing indifferent or hostile listeners. When others express
their objections or reservations, make sure you have an
answer ready.
You must do this in two stages. First, build a strong
alternative to the counterarguments in your initial
presentation of the argument. Try to neutralize objections in
your initial presentation. Do so by addressing and then
neutering likely criticisms. This may not always work.
Therefore, have answers prepared for direct challenges to
your ideas.
Do not create a strawman of the other person's
counterarguments. Remember, your goal is not to convince a
bystander who is right. You wish to convince the audience
you are addressing that you have the correct answer. It is
always tempting to present the rival argument as weaker
than it is. Our instinct is to make the other side appear as
unconvincing as possible, and sometimes as completely
ridiculous, to help us “win.”
In attempting to convince others through critical thinking,
this is a losing strategy. In terms of the standards of critical
thought, this is a form of cheating. When making a “straw
man” argument, we are not evaluating which position is the
strongest. Instead, we are engaged in a competition of
“spin.”
At the core of the critical thought is a commitment to a
genuine effort to find the best solution to a problem. By
genuinely listening to and understanding counterarguments,
we may discover flaws in our reasoning. Though this can be
an unpleasant experience, it ultimately leads to better
outcomes in thought and deed. By being unfair to
counterarguments, we are discounting our commitment to
truth to build up our ego or reputation.
Aside from the moral argument, there is also a practical win
against building a “strawman.” When you intentionally
misrepresent the arguments of others, they will notice. This
may change your target audience’s focus from working with
you towards a common goal of working against you. Your
main goal in facing counter-arguments from your target
audience is to assuage their concerns. Keep in mind: the goal
is to convince them to join you in realizing your idea. It is
not to defeat and humiliate your target audience.

Home
We tend to think of home as an arena for warm emotions
rather than cold critical thinking. But as we have already
discussed, critical thinking can be emotionally motivated
and must involve emotional intelligence. Therefore, we can
and should use our intellectual abilities to promote our
healthy emotional needs and desires.
As we have learned, critical thinking facilitates superior
problem solving and is an essential tool for high-stakes
problem-solving. Some of the most important problems you
will ever face are domestic ones. For example:

Which home should I buy?

What college should I send my children to?
Should I send my elderly parents to a retirement
community or care for them myself?
Should I quit my well-paying job because I am
unhappy?
Should I divorce my spouse?

These may be some of the most high-stakes decisions you

will ever make. However, we may suffer the most bias in
making decisions related to our family. Yet, we often make
these decisions in a disorganized way.
This means critical thinking is an indispensable tool for
decision-making at home.
We can also benefit from critical thinking in smaller
decisions, such as where to go on holiday and whether to
renovate the home.
Finally, if you have children, you have the opportunity to
instill the habit of critical thinking into them from an early
age.
If so, there are very good reasons to instill an atmosphere of
critical thinking at home. Here are some tips on how to do
so:
Adopt Transparency: Children often ask their parents why
they have to do something. Sometimes our spouse will ask
the same thing. Very often, our instinct is to say, “because I
said so!” However, studies show that children respond far
better intellectually when we clearly explain the rationale
behind our actions. This helps them understand that action
and thoughts occur within a process and context.
There is another benefit to explaining why we organized
things as we have. It forces us to question our logic.
Sometimes, we get mad when challenged on our methods
because we do things out of habit and rigidity. All of this
leads to resentment, confusion, and suboptimal methods.

Chores
Explain to everyone why you have arranged the chores and
other procedures in the current manner. Listen patiently if
anyone, including the children, has comments for
improvement and adopt those worthwhile.
Once everyone has agreed, do the following:
 1. Explain to everyone clearly what their chores are and
why they have to do them.
2. Give the children step-by-step instructions on how to
do their chores.
3. Allow the children some choice in what chores they
prefer.

When everyone in the family understands the division of

chores, everyone operates together to make the home more
efficient and comfortable.

Family Vacation Planning

Let’s face it, when we have children, we often have to make
some serious compromises when it is time to take a vacation.
When they are very young, they will want to go to
Disneyworld and later on they may not want to come with us
at all.
There is no way to make everyone happy, but these decisions
can create an educational opportunity to impart critical
thinking skills to our children. We can also improve our
skills in the process.
1) Discuss the possible length of the vacation and the budget
to everyone in the family old enough to decide.
2) Ask everyone to come up with their top-three vacation
destinations, as long as they are within budget. Every
suggestion must come with a list of pros and cons. Agree
that there will be a fair vote on the options. One suggestion
by each member will advance to the final round.
3) Have each family member make a presentation to
convince the others why their suggestion for a family
vacation is the best. Then vote on the final destination.
4) Have a family session on what to pack. Everyone in the
family can suggest what to bring in order. Then decide who
will pack what and carry what.
5) Decide upon activities together in a similar manner to that
suggested in step two. Every person in the family should
enjoy at least one activity they are highly interested in. Allow
everyone in the family a say while maintaining your final
word. If you do so, everyone in the family will feel like they
are part of the decision. They will also feel like they are part
of the decision-making process. The process will help the
kids understand how to make collaborative decisions and
what considerations are taken into account when engaging
in critical thinking. It will also keep you and your spouse
accountable and guarantee you are making decisions for the
right reasons.

Action Steps
Above you found concrete action steps for integrating critical
thinking into your day-to-day life. However, these examples
do not cover all of the important areas of your life.
Look at the examples above, and see if you can come up with
action steps of your own for the important parts of your life
which were not covered here.
Think of coming up with exercises to improve the following
elements of your life:

Your love life

Your cooking skills
Your hobbies
Important friendships
 Maintaining relations with relatives outside your
nuclear family

Write them down and engage in them. You can also share
them with others also involved in those activities and get
their feedback.
If there is one lesson you can get from this chapter, you can
apply critical thinking to any important elements in your
life. You won’t regret it!

Conclusion
In this chapter, we learned that after we have made our
beautiful, critically-thought-out plans, we have to bring
them to fruition in the real world. Whether at work, home, in
the classroom, or online, we will run into obstacles. People
will stand in our way. Our sources may turn out to be
unreliable, we may have to convince skeptical people, and we
may face unpleasant surprises along the way.
However, if we have done our homework and have produced
a genuinely solid plan based on critical thinking, we should
be ok. When you run into obstacles, don’t panic. Don’t do
what Coca Cola did and ditch your product at the first sign of
trouble. Dust yourself off and adapt your plan to the
circumstances.
 6

SIMPLE AND FUN MENTAL EXERCISES TO

DEVELOP AND PRACTICE CRITICAL THINKING

W e have discussed how to think critically. But how do

we bring these skills to bear in our everyday life?
English author Malcolm Gladwell famously wrote that
to achieve greatness in any endeavor, we must reach 10,000
hours of "deliberate practice." But don’t worry, there is no
need to spend endless hours on boring exercises. After all,
we are not aiming for greatness. Yet! Instead, we are aiming
for competence.
Is it even possible to spend a considerable amount of time on
critical thinking practice while maintaining our busy
schedules? Absolutely. We do so by integrating the practice
into our daily lives.
We are already halfway there. Acquiring the habit of thinking
critically does not require reinventing yourself. It simply
means reinforcing the best tendencies your mind already
exhibits. It also involves diminishing the influence of our
lazy and destructive thinking habits.
Life provides us with endless dilemmas and problems daily.
Every weekday morning, we may face the dilemma, should I
buy a coffee, and if so, which one. More consequential
decisions also arise on a fairly regular basis. For example,
should I ask my boss for a raise? Life provides us with the
exercises we need regularly.
We are already exercising critical thinking in resolving these
problems. We always at least briefly consider our options and
the advantages and disadvantages of different decisions.

Ill-Defined Problems
What we don’t do right now is think the possibilities through
systematically. A proven method of developing critical
thinking skills is by working through problems with no clear
solution.
There are great advantages to working through problems of
this sort. Life constantly provides us with ill-defined
problems to work through. What is often missing is the
inclination to treat day-to-day problems as opportunities to
exercise critical thinking.
When we use critical thinking for our everyday problems, we
accomplish two amazing things at once. Our brains become
sharper and more critical. But more importantly, we make
better decisions.
Not all of our decisions will be the right ones. No matter how
hard we try, we may be missing crucial information
necessary to make the right decision. Or sometimes you
make the best decision possible under certain conditions and
suffer bad luck. However, the proportion of correct decisions
you make will increase. This means your quality of life will
improve over time.
Research has shown that critical thinking exercises and
games are a useful way of getting in the habit of using our
brains differently. The exercises suggested here are a good
starting point because they seek to deepen inquiry to connect
with our habits and interests. Hopefully, these can help
facilitate the incorporation of critical thinking into your
daily lives.

Examples Of An Open-Ended Exercise

Travel Report
Are you traveling to another part of the country or the world?
Is your business expanding into another area? Or, perhaps
you are just interested in a specific part of the world? Let’s
use that relevance or interest to learn about that part of the
world.
1) Generate a question about this part of the world that has
always interested you. It could relate to the cuisine, politics,
culture, arts, or any other feature. Make sure it is a question
that cannot be answered by a simple yes or no.
Example: Say you are traveling to China. Have you ever
wondered what the differences are between the Chinese food
you get at a restaurant in the United States and what people
eat in China? You may wonder: what are the major regional
cuisines in the country?
2) Gather materials to answer your question. Make sure to
consult reliable information that is relevant to the question
you asked. Try to see if you can cross information on more
than one reliable source to make sure that it is true.
Example: Use internet sources. Take a book on Chinese food
out of the library. Watch a couple of documentaries. See if
they are in general agreement about what the major regional
cuisines are. See what the main dishes are within each
regional cuisine.
3) Analyze the data. Do the sources you have disagree? What
are the disagreements? Check when the different sources
were written or produced and by whom. Now decide which
source you think is more reliable and why.
Example: Maybe some sources disagree on the name of a
regional cuisine or whether or not a specific local cuisine is
important. Maybe they disagree on what the main dishes are
in that area. How do you decide which information is more
reliable? Perhaps some of your sources are more up to date,
or the person behind it spent more time in China or has a
more extensive understanding of food and culture. Choosing
to rely on the right sources is very important.
4) Use the data you gathered to draw a map or make a
relevant graph. A visualization of the data helps us gain a
deeper understanding of its context and wider meaning.
Example: Take a map of all of China and divide it according to
local cuisine. Be as accurate as you can in dividing the
country up. Another option is to make a graph of the most
popular foods in the country divided by region. The exact
content of the visualization matters less than the decisions
that go into the representation and the deeper
understanding of visual stimulation.
5) Create a narrative based on your research. Take an
element in your research that particularly interested you and
tell the full story about it. Try to make the story as
interesting and appealing as possible.
Example: When you went through the sources, was there a
story or piece of information stuck with you? Perhaps there
was an individual, region, or dish with a fascinating origin?
What was so interesting about it? Look further into that
story and develop it. Put together the narrative to interest
even people who are not interested in Chinese cuisine.

TV Show Analysis
Are you about to start binge-watching a TV show? Of course,
you are. Many people think of TV as a waste of time. But a
show with a strong plot and interesting characters excites
our minds to think critically. We often wonder, what
motivated the character to act that way? Why was this
character killed off? Was it because of plot-related reasons
or production reasons? What will happen next? What would I
have done if I was in that position?
If we focus on these questions, they can be an avenue to very
useful exercises in critical thinking. Next time you start a
new show, use it as an opportunity to engage in the
following critical thinking exercise.
1) After watching 2-3 episodes, write down a list of the
show’s main characters. Give a general sketch of the
characteristics of each one. What motivates them? Why do
they act the way they do? Every time the writers add a new
and important character, update your list.
2) At the end of every episode, write down how the
characters behaved in that episode. Compare it to your initial
analysis of the characters' motivations. Was the behavior of
the character predictable? Did it surprise you? When a
character surprises you, ask yourself: why? Was the writing
inconsistent, did the character change, or was there always
more to the character than met the eye?
3) When you reach the end of each season, think about each
character’s social implications. Does the character represent
any wider social issues of class, race, politics, ethics, or any
other category you can think of? Is the representation
intentional? Is the representation fair? Does it come at the
expense of the story, or does it serve the narrative?
4) Once you finish the show, compare your initial
impressions of the characters with what you thought of them
first. Was your initial assessment of their motivation
accurate? Are you surprised at how their story turned out or
was it expected? Is there social significance to the
characters’ fate, or was the writer focused on the narrative?
These exercises are a fun way to develop some of the main
elements of critical thinking. You can learn to structure
research questions, gather data, create visual and verbal
narratives, even while taking part in seemingly silly
activities such as these.

News Review
We have never had more sources of news available to us.
Social media has exposed us to a variety of information or
disinformation disguised as news. However, a great deal of it
is simply untrustworthy. Some of it is based on fact but very
biased in one direction or another. Another problem is that
facts and opinions are often presented interchangeably as
reliable news.
It is important to differentiate between fact, opinion, and
disinformation. With this exercise, we can further our ability
to do so while improving our critical thinking skills.
The news stories will include at least one of the following
elements:
1) Facts: these are bits of true information and can be proven
based on specific information or data.
2) Opinion: a point of view based on a conception of how the
world works and how it should work. Meanwhile, an opinion
is a point of view based on facts but ultimately cannot be
proven right or wrong.
3) Disinformation: bits of information masquerading as facts,
which you can disprove based on specific information or
data.

Exercise: Next time you find yourself very interested in an

event making headlines, do the following.
1) Gather five articles on the topic. One from a news source
you use regularly. Two from sources you dislike and two
from sources you do not know or have no opinion on.
2) Read one of the articles carefully and rate each one from 1
to 10 along with the following metrics: how accurate are the
stories? How interesting are they to read? How agreeable do
you find the positions?
3) List how many important and relevant facts are in each
story. Write them down and cross-reference the facts. Are
there facts that appear in all the stories? Are there facts that
appear in most stories? Are there facts that only appear in
one?
4) Now, make a list of each important fact regardless of the
source. Give each fact a grade (A being 100% accurate and F
being a shameless lie) based on the following metrics:

Can this fact be proven without a doubt?

 If it can be, is it verified and based on data? What is
the source of the data? Is it reliable?
Is there a clear bias in the presentation of facts?
Is it presented misleadingly? Are there important
elements missing that you may have seen in some of
the other stories?
Are there opinions masquerading as facts?
Are there bits of “information” masquerading as
facts? Are there bits of information mentioned here
which other stories convincingly debunk?

5) Now assign the facts back to the articles you found them
in. Which articles are based mostly on facts graded B and
above? Which have a bunch of falsehoods?
6) Now compare the article’s factuality with the ratings you
gave each article in step 2. How do they compare? Did any
sources surprise you in their accuracy? Did any surprise you
with their inaccuracy?
You may be surprised to see that some of the more trusted
sources are inaccurate in certain ways and vice versa.
This exercise serves as a reminder that we evaluate all
information fairly. Some information sources are more
trustworthy than others, but all information should be
verified and analyzed critically.

Action Steps
I have actively filled this chapter with practical and
(hopefully) fun action steps you can take to improve your
critical thinking. Remember, you should not just read this
last chapter. You should practice it! You can increase your
critical thinking skills by completing these exercises
carefully and thoroughly. They are all designed for you to use
repeatedly, so redo them if you can!
You may find repetitive tasks annoying, but there are good
reasons for you to do so. Studies have shown that explaining
the concept of critical thinking to individuals is important.
However, it does little on its own.
To truly internalize the concept, it is crucial to engage in
critical thinking regularly. Learning how to think critically in
principle without acting on it is a bit like reading about going
to the gym. Sure, it can prepare you somewhat for the
experience, but it does precious little to get us in shape.

Conclusion
This chapter provided you with a blueprint of fun exercises
we designed to help improve your critical thinking. If you
feel like you have benefited from these exercises, make up
your own! You know what interests you better than we do, so
you are guaranteed to come up with even better exercises.
If you use critical thinking every time you read the news or
watch TV, it won’t be long before you reach those 10,000
hours of expertise. And you will get to catch up on your
favorite shows while you do it.
 AFTERWORD

In his later days, Nikola Tesla earned a reputation as a

complete madman. Some of his ideas do sound incredibly
far-fetched. He had a plan to harness all human energy from
outer space. Another plan he was working on was to
construct a massive ring worldwide, allowing you to travel
around the planet in 24 hours.
It also didn’t help that he was celibate, measured the volume
of all the food he ate, and did not practice basic hygiene.
However, only today are we beginning to appreciate the full
magnitude of his brilliance. He invented and perfected the
science behind the mass use of electricity. Indeed, he was
fired by Thomas Edison for refusing to work through his
preferred electrical system. His later writings predicted wi-fi
internet, among other things. When Tesla died, he had 300
patents to his name. He was also greatly maligned and
penniless.
Though people at the time may have thought he was bizarre,
Tesla redefined science in his time by questioning
everything. He went with the well-reasoned and researched
truth; social consequences be damned.
We designed this book to help you think critically and plan
better solutions for your problems. However, this is not a
theoretical book. We also intended it to help you apply these
solutions in real-life situations.
We have tried to focus on bringing out that inner Tesla in all
of us. As critical thinkers, we question the world around us
and gather evidence to back up all of our claims. We then
create well-reasoned solutions to the problems around us
and use the foresight we have gained in the process to
predict future problems. Throughout, we adapt our plans to
changing circumstances on the ground.
However, we also wish to avoid Tesla’s ultimate fate. As we
discussed later in this book, we must actively adapt our plans
and solutions to appeal to those around us. To this end, we
have discussed how to cultivate critical thought in different
arenas and “sell” our products to other individuals.
Now you are ready to use these skills in all of the areas of
your life. Remember to use these skills judiciously. Life is a
marathon and not a sprint. Not every small decision requires
the application of the full critical thought process. If you use
it too often, you will also develop fatigue.
However, make sure to apply it to every important decision
you make. If properly applied, it will save you from so many
preventable mistakes. It will also make your life and the lives
of those around you better. If you solve your problems like
Tesla but market your solutions like Coca Cola, you will get
far.
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3. The Culprit Of Bad Reasoning: Our Logical Errors And Biases

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4. Demystifying The So-Called Formal Logical Errors

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5. The Informal Logical Errors We Experience Everyday

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6. Making The Change: How Can We Become Rational Thinkers?

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1. How To Think Like A Thinker

1 Paul, R. W. (2005, Summer). The State of Critical Thinking Today. New
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5 Lovell, O., Sweller's Cognitive Load Theory in Action, John Catt (23 Oct. 2020)
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7 Kahneman, D., Thinking, Fast and Slow. Penguin, 1st Edition (10 May 2012)
8 Haig, M., Notes on a Nervous Planet. Canongate Books Ltd; Main edition (5 July
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9 Babin, J. and Manson, R., Critical Thinking: The Beginners User Manual to Improve
Your Communication and Self Confidence Skills Everyday. The Tools and The Concepts
for Problem Solving and Decision Making. (March 9, 2019)
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2015)
12 Botello, J and Roulet, T., ‘The Imposter Syndrome, or The Misrepresentation
of Self In Academic Life’. Journal of Management Studies, vol 56, issue 4, June
2019, p854-861 https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12344
13 https://www.inc.com/larry-alton/7-mental-exercises-to-make-you-a-
better-critical-thinker.html (Jan 2021)

2. What Habits Are All About

1 Qin S., Herman, E., van Marle, H., Luo, J., Fernández, G. (2009) ‘Acute
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3 Clear, J. Atomic Habits. Random house business, 1st Edition (18th Oct 2018)
4 Anselme, P., Robinson, M., Berridge, K., ‘Reward uncertainty enhances incentive
salience attribution as sign-tracking’. Behavioural Brain Research, Volume 238, 1
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5 Clear, J. Atomic Habits. Random house business, 1st Edition (18th Oct 2018)
6 Scott, S.J., ‘Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes or Less’,
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2 May 2014.
7 Muniz-Pardos, B., Sutehall, S., Angeloudis, K. et al. ‘Recent Improvements in
Marathon Run Times Are Likely Technological, Not Physiological’. Sports Med (2021).
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14 Gibson, S., Gunn, P., ‘What's for breakfast? Nutritional implications of breakfast
habits: insights from the NDNS dietary records’, Nutrition Bulletin, British Nutrition
Foundation, Volume 36, Issue1, March 2011, Pages 78-86 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.
1467-3010.2010.01873.x
15 Masento, N., Golightly, M., Field, D., Butler, L., & Van Reekum, C. (2014).
‘Effects of hydration status on cognitive performance and mood’. British Journal of
Nutrition, 111(10), 1841-1852. http://doi:10.1017/S0007114513004455
16 Wójcik, M., Boreński, G., Poleszak, J., Szabat, P., Szabat, M., Milanowska, J.,
‘Meditation and its benefits’, Journal of Health, Education and Sport, Volume 9, No.
9 p. 466-476, sep. 2019. http://www.ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/
view/7424
17 Kumar, A., and Jhajharia, B., ‘Effect of morning exercise on immunity’,
International Journal of Physiology, Nutrition and Physical Education 2018; 3(1),
p1987-1989. ISSN: 2456-0057
18 Viadero, D., ‘Exercise Seen as Priming Pump for Students’ Academic Strides’ http://
www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/02/13/23exercise_ep.h27.html?tmp=
1797071541 18/02/21
19 Patterson, C., Critical Thinking Beginner's Guide: Learn How Reasoning by Logic
Improves Effective Problem Solving. The Tools to Think Smarter, Level up Intuition to
Reach Your Potential and Grow Your Mindfulness Paperback – January 1, 2020
20 Wilson, J., Critical Thinking: A Beginner's Guide to Critical Thinking, Better Decision
Making and Problem Solving. Paperback – February 9, 2017

3. Turning Critical Thinking Into A Habit

1 Stanovich, K. E., Cunningham, A. E., & West, R. F. . ‘Literacy experiences and the
shaping of cognition’. In S. G. Paris & H. M. Wellman (Eds.), Global prospects for
education: Development, culture, and schooling (p. 253–288). American
Psychological Association(1998). https://doi.org/10.1037/10294-009
2 Murnane, Richard, et al. Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century:
Introducing the Issue. The Future of Children, vol. 22, no. 2, 2012, pp. 3–15. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/23317408.
3 McCutchen, D., Teske, P., & Bankston, C. ‘Writing and cognition: Implications of
the cognitive architecture for learning to write and writing to learn’. In C. Bazerman
(Ed.), Handbook of research on writing: History, society, school, individual, text
(2008) p. 451–470. Taylor & Francis Group/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
4 https://www.process.st/systems-vs-goals/#:~:text=Systems%20are%
20almost%20the%20antithesis,how%20you%20achieve%20your%20goals.
(21/02/2021)
5 https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7wmjw/how-to-make-a-life-changing-
decision (21/02/2021)
6 De Bono, E., ‘Six Thinking Hats’, 3rd Edition, Penguin Life (28 Jan. 2016)
7 Bechdel, Allison. ‘Dykes to Watch Out For’. Firebrand Books (October 1, 1986).
ISBN 978-0932379177
8 Power, Nina (2009). One-dimensional woman. Zero Books. pp. 39 et seq. ISBN
978-1846942419.
9 https://howtosavetheworld.ca/2010/03/23/the-value-of-conversation/
(22/02/2021)
10 https://conversationstartersworld.com/250-conversation-starters/
11 Hayes, C., Magana, P., ‘Critical Thinking Hacks 2 In 1: Why You Should Be Skeptical
Of People You Disagree With But Even More Skeptical With People You Agree With’
Independently published (10 Nov. 2019)
12 Dyer, W., ‘Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking
Habits’ Hay House, 4th Edition (June 2009)

4. Make It Stick Today, Tomorrow, And Next Year

1 Kondo, M., ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish
clutter forever’, Vermilion, 1st Edition, 3 April 2014
2 Bray. G., ‘The organized Mum Method: Transform your home in 30 minutes a day’,
Piatkus, 5 Sept. 2019
3 Schlam, Tanya R et al. “Preschoolers' delay of gratification predicts their body mass
30 years later.” The Journal of pediatrics vol. 162,1 (2013): 90-3. http://doi:10.
1016/j.jpeds.2012.06.049
4 Koomen R, Grueneisen S, Herrmann E., ‘Children Delay Gratification for
Cooperative Ends’. Psychological Science. 2020;31(2):139-148. http://doi:10.1177/
0956797619894205
5 Tangney, J.P., Baumeister, R.F. and Boone, A.L., ‘High Self‐Control Predicts Good
Adjustment, Less Pathology, Better Grades, and Interpersonal Success’. Journal of
Personality, 72: 271-324 (2004) https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00263.x
6 Burkus, D., ‘Friend of a Friend . . .: Understanding the Hidden Networks That Can
Transform Your Life and Your Career’, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 1, 2018
7 Christakis, N, Fowler, J., ‘The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32
Years’, N Engl J Med 2007; 357:370-379 doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa066082
8 Christakis, N, Fowler, J., ‘The Collective Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social
Network’, N Engl J Med 2008; 358:2249-2258 doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa0706154
9 Fowler James H, Christakis Nicholas A., ‘Dynamic spread of happiness in a large
social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study’
BMJ 2008; 337 :a2338
10 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/grounding-techniques
(03/03/2021)

5. Building A Better Brain - Push Those Habits Higher

1 Rosenshine, B., ‘Principles of Instruction; Research-based Strategies Every Teacher
Should Know’, American Educator, Spring 2012, p12-39
2 Delic, Haris & Bećirović, Senad. (2016). ‘Socratic Method as an Approach to
Teaching’. European Researcher. 111. 511-517. 10.13187/er.2016.111.511.
3 https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/critical-reading-online
4 http://www.bonzapuzzles.com/bwp/
5 https://elevateapp.com/
6 https://www.lumosity.com/en/
7 https://www.logiskstudio.com/
8 http://i-love-hue.com/
9 https://www.peak.net/#
10 http://www.happy-neuron.com/brain-games#memory
11 https://www.braingle.com/

6. Critical Thinking Habit Aids: Trackers, Calendars, Apps And More

1 https://www.hellodayplanner.com/
2 https://www.uniqueplanners.co.uk/
3 Clear, J. Atomic Habits. Random house business, 1st Edition (18th Oct 2018)
4 https://monday.com/lp/projectmanagement/bundle/?utm_source=mb&
utm_campaign=natural_intelligence&utm_medium=UppGkKSmsy
5 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pocketuniverse.ike&hl=
en_GB&gl=US
6 https://clickup.com/
7 https://habitica.com/static/home
8 https://momentum.cc/
9 https://streaksapp.com/
10 https://www.stickk.com/
11 https://chains.cc/
CONQUER LOGICAL FALLACIES

28 NUGGETS OF KNOWLEDGE TO NURTURE YOUR

REASONING SKILLS
 INTRODUCTION

Men are apt to mistake the strength of their feeling for

the strength of their argument. The heated mind
resents the chill touch and relentless scrutiny of logic.
— WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE

A young man and a beautiful maiden fell in love with each

other, but, alas, she was a princess and he, a commoner. The
king heard of this affair and, livid with rage, had the man
captured and brought before him.
“You have committed an unforgivable crime and shall be
executed,” said the king. “But because I am a righteous and
merciful king, I will allow you one kindness, and that is to
choose the manner of your death. You are to make one
statement. If you tell the truth, you shall be sent to the
gallows to die by hanging. If you tell a lie, you will be burned
at the stake. Go ahead, then. Make your statement.”
The young man thought briefly, then said: “I will be burned
at the stake.” The king, hearing this, thought deeply, then
set the man free.
Many of you readers by now will have a feeling of déjà vu. Of
course, you had already heard this story or some variation of
it sometime before. It is a version of the liar’s paradox. In the
story above, the young man was released by the king because
his statement put the king in a quandary. If his statement
was ruled a lie, he would be burned at the stake, turning his
statement into the truth. But if it were the truth and he was
sent to the gallows, he would have told a lie because he said
he would be burned at the stake. Therefore, the righteous
king, therefore, had to let him go or risk putting a man to
death against the terms of his own proclamation.
The liar’s paradox is a popular logical puzzle, but many who
have already heard it before are again confused upon hearing
it again. They could not recall the answer to this familiar
story, because they would have forgotten the logical
connections made before. Why? Because our human nature
makes us forget what we have learned if we learned the
lesson only once. Learning does not take hold if we fail to
address the lesson again and to practice it repeatedly,
frequently, and in different contexts.
You may be reading this book because you were intrigued by
its reference to “Our Irrational Side.” We are rational beings
and make decisions consistent with reason and logic, but we
often find ourselves caught in the repercussions of irrational
actions and decisions.
- Students will forego preparing for an examination knowing
full well the consequence is a failing grade. Still, they
convince themselves with the fallacy that they could still
pass the test by cramming or cheating.
- Employers know the opportunity cost in turning away
potentially outstanding applicants because of a first
impression bias, yet they repeat the habit.
- Consumers make purchases that they had no intention of
making because they were swayed by celebrities and
influencers posing as authorities. All of us have been there
and had subsequently experienced buyers’ remorse.
It is not easy to constantly think and act logically. We are the
product of different cultures, experiences, educational
backgrounds, and upbringing. We are each equipped with
different sets of values and beliefs that combine our
upbringing and social environment. Yet, logic is objective,
scientific, coldly discerning. Sound reasoning often leads to
one solution, the right solution.
Sound reasoning has its benefits. A right-thinking student
will hit the books before an exam. Employers will recruit the
best applicants based on merit after careful deliberation. And
consumers will realize that models, actors, and television
personalities cannot replace real engineers, physicians, and
similar experts.
This book aims to help everyday people make sound
everyday decisions. It discusses:

Why people repeatedly make logical mistakes.

What logical principles and tools can help us reason
better.
What formal and informal logical fallacies we
frequently encounter, and how we can address them.
What biases we are most prone to have, and how we
can minimize them.
What steps we can take to think logically as a habit.

The book provides a pragmatic description of the

fundamental logical concepts and the most frequently
encountered fallacies and biases that impact our daily
decisions.
The author has a doctorate and has taught in college and
graduate school for 40 years. Outside the academe, she has
had field experience in business management, engineering,
law, finance, and marketing. She has been married for 35
years and has raised three children, now professionals in
their own right. Her wealth of experience and academic
foundation enable this book’s grounded approach through
straightforward explanations and everyday examples.
This book is designed for the average readers who want to
apply logic to their everyday lives, to tame “the heated
mind” enough to relish “the chill touch and relentless
scrutiny of logic.” It is a journey towards mastering the skill
of sound reasoning.
Are you ready to take the journey with us?

Dianna Gene P. Aquino

 1

TO UNDERSTAND REASONING IS TO FIRST

UNDERSTAND LOGIC

A man walks into a bar and says to his favorite bartender.

“Jim, give me a stiff one. I can’t stand going home to
my wife this early. All she does is nag, nag, nag without
making any sense, and I can’t get a word in.”
Jim says, “Bob, Letty’s just bored. I got my Emma to attend
evening classes on embroidery, and now she’s too busy with
her cross-stitching to get on my case.” Bob thought that was
a great idea.
One month later, Bob walks in and says, “Jim, this is the last
time I’m listening to you. I took your advice and encouraged
Letty to attend community college. She enrolled in a course
on introductory logic. Now she still nags at me, and I still
can’t get a word in. She’s making too much sense!”
Bob’s experience shines a light on the best reason one can
have to study logic: to persuade others with our reasoning.
Reasoning is a journey of the mind. Humans are rational
beings. Therefore, we all reason. We all perceive the same
things in our environment, yet we interpret them in
different ways. Some interpretations make more sense than
others, depending on the way we reason.
Logic is simply the process of making sense. It is the science
of correct reasoning, and some would call it a discipline of
the mind 1. Some of us reason more logically than others
because we can make sound inferences from the evidence we
have. With study, observation, and practice, we can acquire
that mental discipline to use logic to persuade and convince
others effectively.

The Four Laws Of Logic

There are three classical laws of logic: the law of identity, the
law of excluded middle, and the law of noncontradiction. In
1818, the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer
introduced the fourth law, the law of sufficient reason.
The law of identity: Everything that is, exists.
The law explains that everything is identical to itself. A term
used in logical discourse can refer to one and only one thing.
When a term means more than one thing within the same
discussion, the violation introduces a fallacy known as
equivocation.
An example of equivocation is: “Jack eats what is right, and
Jill eats what is left.” Right means “correct” in the first half
of the sentence and is implied to mean a direction in the
second half. Similarly, left has a double meaning, the
direction opposite to right, and the “remainder” (leftover).
The law of excluded middle: Each and every thing either is or
is not.
A proposition is either true or not true. If there are two
contradictory propositions, either the first is true and the
second not true, or the second is true, and the first is not
true. “Arthur is a faithful husband,” and “Arthur had an
affair while he was married.” Having an affair is the
definition of being unfaithful. Therefore, either it is true that
Arthur is faithful and the affair did not happen, or Arthur
had an extramarital affair, negating his faithfulness to his
wife.
The law of non-contradiction: Nothing can simultaneously
be and not be.
Contradictory propositions cannot be true at the same time
and in the same sense. This is similar to the law of identity. A
German shepherd cannot be a Yorkshire terrier nor a Shih-
tzu (i.e., non-German shepherd). A high-rise building
cannot be a bungalow (i.e., a non-high rise). But care must
be taken to ensure that the propositions are truly mutually
exclusionary. Benjamin Franklin is a statesman, but he is
also a scientist. A scientist is not necessarily a non-
statesman because being a statesman does not exclude being
a scientist, and vice-versa. When two propositions can co-
exist, they are not contradictory and do not violate the law of
non-contradiction.
The law of sufficient reason: Of everything that is, it can be
found why it is.
Of the four logical principles, this is the most controversial.
It is also the most complicated, so that we will explain it
with an example. Suppose Joe wanted to buy a motorcycle to
get around in. A man he hardly knew approached him and
said that a friend of his brother-in-law’s officemate
mentioned Joe’s interest. The stranger will sell Joe his
brand-new motorcycle for $500 if Joe makes payment in
three hours.
Joe immediately jumps at the offer and says, “It’s a deal!”
But as a logical person, your first thought would be, “Why?”
This is the gist of the fourth law. For every unexplained fact,
a rational mind will seek the reason behind it. Just any
reason will not do; it must be sufficient. In the example, the
explanation must answer questions like: Why did the
stranger want to sell it so quickly? Why at such a low price?
What might be wrong with the unit? Was it contraband? Was
it stolen? How did the stranger even know Joe?

Concepts Important In Logic

An appreciation of logic requires an understanding of the
following concepts.
Claim – Also known as a statement or proposition, a claim
asserts the truth or existence of something, whether true or
false. When one or two premises support a claim, it becomes
a conclusion.
A simple claim is an unsupported statement.

The winner of the Miss Universe beauty contest is the

most beautiful woman in the universe.

A supported statement becomes a conclusion.

All the known women in the universe are those who

live on Earth. All of these women competed in the
Miss Universe pageant. Therefore, the winner of the
Miss Universe beauty pageant is the most beautiful
woman in the universe.

Inference – Inference refers to drawing conclusions from a

set of information or premises and moving towards their
logical consequence according to one of the recognized
forms of reasoning.
The following is an example of drawing an inference through
deductive reasoning.

You asked me where I was last night, what I was

doing, and who I was with. I infer from your line of
questioning that you consider me a suspect.

Argument - An argument is a claim used to persuade or

convince people regarding the truth about an issue. It has
three basic elements – an issue, a premise (or premises),
and a conclusion (or conclusions) 2.
While proponents use arguments to convince others, not all
arguments are validly structured, and not all premises and
conclusions are true. Critical thinking is required to
recognize and construct a valid and sound argument, such as
the following.

Issue: How is gold traded?

Premise 1: All precious metals are traded in the
international exchanges.
Premise 2: Gold is a precious metal.
Conclusion: Gold is traded in the international
exchanges.

Two elements necessary in reaching sound, logical

conclusions are truth and honesty in reasoning. This is not
easy to achieve because we tend to cloud our judgments with
bias, misconceptions, and a lack of sincerity to seek out the
truth. Even with the best intentions, it is sometimes difficult
to dissect between truth and falsity, or honesty and
insincerity, even in one’s mind.

Action Steps
Try the following exercise in critical thinking, devised by
Ransom Patterson, editor-in-chief of College Info Geek 3.
(1) Ask basic questions. Many insignificant issues may
confound a problem. The first step is to eliminate the
irrelevant matters that complicate the issues. Identify the
basic issue and focus on its solution.
(2) Question basic assumptions. Assumptions are things
people accept as true even without proof. Under closer
scrutiny, some assumptions may be proven false or
inapplicable. Learn to identify them and weigh their
relevance to the problem.
(3) Be aware of your mental processes. Human thought
happens at such speed that the brain sometimes makes
mental shortcuts (heuristics) to make sense of our
surroundings. Cognitive biases and personal prejudices
sometimes hijack our thinking process, so it is important to
guard against them.
(4) Try reversing things. A new perspective may emerge if
one reverses what appears to be true at first. The bus may
have hit the pedestrian, but the pedestrian may have
intentionally stepped in front of the bus. The idea is to test
the possibility of more than one explanation.
(5) Evaluate the existing evidence. Try to find corroboration
from other sources. Exhaust all possible evidence, and the
conclusion that reconciles all of them is the right conclusion.
If the evidence conclusively eliminates alternatives, then the
remaining alternative is the right conclusion.
These five mental exercises may seem easy, but making
them a habit will take time, patience, and practice.
Developing the inclination to think critically is the first step
to using logic effectively. The next step is to structure those
thoughts precisely to deliver your message convincingly.

Moving On
This brief overview of logic barely scratches the surface of
this most interesting topic, but it is certainly enough to give
Bob goosebumps thinking about getting into an argument
with his wife. Mastery of logic is a powerful weapon for
winning arguments, but more so for making sound
decisions. Bob would consider it a boon to study logic like
Letty. And so would you. Let’s forge on to the reasoning
through arguments in the next chapter.

Key Takeaways

The four laws of logic are the laws of identity,

excluded middle, non-contradiction and sufficient
reason.
A claim asserts the truth of something.
Inference is drawing conclusions from premises.
An argument is a claim supported by proof
 2

REASON THROUGH ARGUMENTS

C harles, my youngest child, had a fondness for the

Marvel superhero Iron Man and his alter-ego, Tony
Stark. I did not know how much credibility he attributed
to the comic book character until after watching the
Avengers movie. In the movie, Thor hit Iron Man with a
super bolt of lightning. This gave him enough energy to hit
the God of Thunder back with “400% capacity” of the Iron
Man suit. 400%? As an electronics engineer, I thought this
was ridiculous. “Charlie,” I said, “400% power capacity
would have fried those circuits and melted his suit to a
crisp.”
My little boy looked at me with incredulity. “Mom, Tony
Stark said so. It must be true!”
I told my husband about this exchange, saying, “My son
believes a fictional character more than me!” My husband, a
mechanical engineer, calmly replied, “Like somebody who
didn’t believe me when I said her car couldn’t run on ethanol
without undergoing conversion, just because her favorite
Hollywood star said it could. Remember how that turned
out?”
Touché, I thought. Robert Downey Jr.’s script claiming a
technical impossibility is as reliable as a celluloid celebrity’s
advocacy concerning my car’s appropriate fuel. The
similarity in our thinking boils down to the same argument.

First premise: Everything A says is true.

Second premise: A made a statement.
Conclusion: The statement must be true.

The argument would make sense assuming both premises

were true. It is a valid argument. But the first premise turned
out to be false. Thus, the reasoning was not sound, and the
conclusion was false, too.

Reasoning And Argumentation

Arguments aim to convince or persuade. An argument lays
down a claim and supports it with reasons. We also discussed
reasoning as something all people do and logical reasoning,
which not all people do. Logical reasoning is a systematic
process. The structured expression of logical reasoning is
what is called argumentation. Scholars often refer to
arguments as “the language of logic.”
Reasoning is different from argumentation; the first is the
thought process, the second is how the thought process is
expressed under logical principles. Argumentation expresses
in a structured set of statements the reasons supporting a
claim. Arguments have two elements: one or more premises
and a conclusion.
All arguments include reasoning, but not all reasoning is
argumentative. Some reasons are merely informative.
Reasons intended for argumentation are those that aim to
strengthen or weaken the acceptability of a certain claim.
The probative goal is what distinguishes an argument from
other forms of statements 1.
For an argument to be convincing, it is not enough for the
conclusions and premises to be true. The premises should
also provide compelling reasons to accept the conclusion.
The grounds provided by the premises should be well-
connected to the conclusion. How the argument lays out its
premises and conclusion traces the logical reasoning that
our minds journey through.

A man’s home is his castle. (True)

The king lives in a castle. (True)
The king is a man. (True)

In the above example, there are two premises and a

conclusion. The premises are true, as well as the conclusion,
and there is nothing inherently wrong with each statement.
However, the premises do not convincingly lead to the
conclusion – the conclusion stands as true even without the
premises. The argument is not compelling because it fails to
make a strong logical link between the premises and the
conclusion.

Validity And Soundness

The validity of an argument is completely determined only
by its structure, not its content. An argument may be valid
even if it is not sound. An argument is valid if it takes a form
that makes it impossible for the premises to be true, but the
conclusion is false. Take the following argument:

People born in 1990 are called millennials. (true)

George Washington was born in 1990. (false)
 Therefore, George Washington is a millennial. (false)

If the preceding false premise is corrected and the structure

is maintained, we have:

People born in 1990 are called millennials. (true)

Emma Watson was born in 1990. (true)
Therefore, Emma Watson is a millennial. (true)

It is possible for a valid argument to have a false conclusion

as long as at least one premise is false 2.
The distinction between validity and soundness can be
complicated but intriguing. Let’s go through them with some
examples.
(1)In a valid argument, when all the premises are true, the
conclusion is always true.

All cats are mammals. (true)

Lions are cats. (true)
Therefore, lions are mammals. (true)

(2)Even if a premise is false, the conclusion can still be true

and the argument is valid but unsound.

Whales live in the ocean. (true)

Hammerhead sharks are whales. (false)
Therefore, hammerhead sharks live in the ocean.
(true)

To test this argument’s validity, let us change the second

premise to make it true while retaining the argument’s
structure. So, it becomes:
 Whales live in the ocean. (true)
Dolphins are whales. (true)
Therefore, dolphins live in the ocean. (true)

Following the same structure, another argument with true

premises can be:

Professional ballet dancers are graceful and poised.

(true)
Olga Smirnova is a professional ballet dancer. (true)
Olga Smirnova is graceful and poised. (true)

This is, therefore, a valid and sound argument.

(3)Likewise, even when both premises are true, the
conclusion can still be false, leading to an invalid argument.

Surfing is popular with tourists in Australia. (true)

The Koala bear is popular with tourists in Australia.
(true)
The Koala bear is surfing. (false)

Notice that unlike the example in (2) above, the pattern is at

fault in the last argument, not only the reasoning. Therefore,
it is an invalid as well as unsound argument.
As previously shown in the example in (2), a valid argument
can also have a true conclusion even if one premise is false.
The important thing to remember is that when the premises
are true, and the reasoning is correct, the conclusion is true,
and the argument is sound and valid.
There is another distinction between arguments, and these
are the simple and the complex. Simple arguments have one
or more premises and a conclusion. The earlier examples are
all simple arguments.
On the other hand, a complex argument has a set of
arguments whose premises and/or conclusions overlap.
Complex arguments have several intermediate conclusions
and one final conclusion. Consider the following argument:

Our survey showed that the proposed product is

viewed positively by the market, so it enjoys high
demand. However, the technology needed to produce
it is experimental, which will be too costly to produce.
The product must have a high demand and low cost to
be adopted. Otherwise, it shall undergo further
development.

The argument is difficult to analyze in its original form, so

we break it down into its basic form, where P stands for the
premise, IC for the intermediate conclusion, and FC for final
conclusion.

Pa1: The product scored positive market views.

Pa2: Positive market views indicate high demand.
ICa: The product has a high demand.
Pb1: The technology needed is experimental.
Pb2: Experimental technology is too costly.
ICb: The technology needed is too costly.
Pc1: The product has high demand but high cost.
Pc2: The product must have high demand and low
cost to be adopted.
ICc: The product cannot be adopted
Pd: If the product cannot be adopted, it will be further
developed.
FC: The product will be further developed.
We more frequently encounter complex arguments than
simple arguments. Discussions or debates are complicated by
many related issues that often require extended reasoning 3.

Deduction And Induction

There are two types of reasoning, deductive and inductive.
Deductive reasoning is a fundamental form of logical
inference that begins with a general theory narrowed down
by information and reasoning to reach a specific conclusion.
The scientific method uses this type of reasoning; it begins
with a hypothesis, qualifies it with observations, and ends
with a logical proof of the initial hypothesis 4. “All planets in
the solar system revolve around the sun. The Earth is a
planet in the solar system. Therefore, the Earth revolves
around the sun.”
Inductive reasoning proceeds in the reverse direction. It
begins with the specific observations and infers a general
conclusion from them. Inductive reasoning requires a larger
amount of empirical data than deductive reasoning. Patterns
of relationships emerge from these data, and a general
theory is formulated 5.
Inductive reasoning more often employs statistical
probabilities. “I took out one candy from a pack of Skittles
and found out it was red. I took out four candies more from
the same pack, and they all turned out red. Therefore, it is
likely that my pack of Skittles contains all red candies.”
There are two types of arguments that correspond to the
types of reasoning. These are deductive and inductive
arguments. The premises in the deductive form provide a
conclusive proof of the claim. In the inductive form, the
premises express the likelihood, but not the certainty, of the
conclusion. Compare the following arguments:
Deductive argument:

Left-handed people write better with their left hand.

Arnold is left-handed.
Arnold writes better with his left hand.

Inductive argument:

Many left-handed people use left-handed scissors.

Arnold is left-handed.
Arnold uses left-handed scissors.

The difference between a deductive and inductive argument

lies in the intention of the arguer 6. In deductive arguments,
the arguer guarantees that the conclusion is true by giving
true premises. In inductive arguments, the arguer believes
that the truth of the promises only gives good reason to
believe that the conclusion is probably (but not definitely)
true.
In the case of valid deductive arguments, the conclusion will
always be true if all the premises are true. But in the case of
inductive arguments, it is possible to have sound reasoning
and still be wrong. This is because there is some doubt as to
whether at least one of the premises is true.
Another difference between the two is that deductive
arguments assert the claim that the truth of its premises
guarantees the truth of its conclusion. If all the premises are
true, then the conclusion must be true. In contrast, an
inductive argument allows for some probability that the
conclusion may be more likely true than not true, without
guarantee either way.
Deductive arguments are either valid or invalid. The same
terms cannot refer to inductive arguments; instead, they are
either strong or weak 7. Strong inductive arguments, like
valid deductive arguments, do not need to have all true
premises. Still, if both premises are true, then it is likely that
the conclusion has a strong probability of being true.
Cogency for inductive arguments is similar to soundness for
deductive arguments, where both premises are true. All weak
inductive arguments are uncogent, just as all invalid
deductive arguments are unsound.
The terms used to describe deductive and inductive
arguments are broken down and compared in the following
diagram.
Source: DeMichele, T. (2017) 8

Why We Argue
Why are we drawn to quarreling or trying to win an
argument rather than seeking the truth? The question
admits of many conflicting issues. The first is the elusive
nature of truth. If truth were absolute, then it would be
readily perceived and accepted. Then there would be little
need for debate. If an absolute truth exists, it is one that
observations can scientifically prove through the five senses.
But there lies the crux of all problems – there is no simple
answer, as there is no simple truth.

[C]ollectively, we keep acting as though there are

simple answers. We continually read about the search
for the one method that will allow us to cut through
the confusion, the one piece of data that tells us the
“truth,” or the final experiment that will “prove” the
hypothesis. But almost all scientists will agree that
these are fool’s errands—that science is [a] method
for producing incrementally more useful
approximations to reality, not a path to absolute
truth. – Gavin Schmidt 9

With its methods and standards for exactitude, if science,

considering the search for an absolute truth as “a fool’s
errand,” then how much less could logic lead to the
discovery of “the truth”? The search for the truth is one
long, sustained debate. Even with the best of intentions,
“seeking the truth” leads to many false paths. The only way
to test these theories is to subject it to the crucible of debate,
the tool of which is by winning the argument.
But bona fide intentions are not always assured. Often the
goal becomes to win the argument at the expense of the
truth because the truth is anyway relative. Cohen 10 of the
New York Times sees this as the “need to triumph in the
debating arena.” The compulsion to decimate the opponent
replaces the quest to seek the truth.
The Argumentative Theory of Reasoning, a theory developed
by French cognitive social scientists to explain how
rationality becomes a weapon. Mercier and Sperber
11theorize that humans are dependent on communication

and vulnerable to misinformation. “Skilled arguers are not

after the truth but after arguments supporting their views”
(p.57). Thus reasoning resorts to distorting facts and
enabling mistaken beliefs to persist with winning as the
motivation.
The same uncertainties about the truth underlie why we
make guesses in place of observations. Observations are
perceptions of the environment gathered by our five senses.
We all observe the same things, but the mental
interpretations of what we perceive differ depending on our
age, experience, education, cultural and social orientation,
and a host of other factors. Making an educated guess is part
of our sense-making impulse. Our logic drives us to
hypothesize in a manner that makes sense of our world in
the face of new stimuli. Guessing is part of our normal
logical process, and it is not wrong if it seeks subsequent
validation through facts.

Action Steps
To better understand what an argument is, let us conduct a
quick exercise formulated by Prof. Bradley H. Dowden of
California State University 12. Of the following four passages,
identify which contains an argument based on its technical
definition. Try to think about the exercise and exert some
honest effort in arriving at an answer before checking out
the solution that follows.
a. I hate you. Get out of here!
b. I’m sure Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t die during the
1960s because it says right here in the encyclopedia that he
was assassinated in Memphis in 1998.
c. The Republican Party began back in the 1950s as a U.S.
political party. Abraham Lincoln was their first candidate to
win the presidency.
d. I don’t believe you when you say Martin Luther King Jr.
could have been elected president if he hadn’t been
assassinated.
What selection contains an argument, and what type of
argument is it? (Try to exert your best effort to answer
before proceeding to the solution at the end of the chapter.)

Moving On
Our children may swear allegiance to their superheroes, but
their parents have no excuse to lapse into poor reasoning
habits. Structuring our thinking along the lines of an
argument clarifies the premises and their logical link to the
conclusion we want to advance. It helps weed out the logical
errors we often make, such as those we shall discuss in the
next chapter.

Key Takeaways
 Reasoning is a thought process, while argumentation
is organizing thoughts in a logical structure.
A valid argument complies with the logical structure.
Invalid arguments may be sound or unsound. Invalid
arguments are always unsound.
Arguments may be deductive or inductive.

Solution To The Activity:

Selection (a) is an argument in its common usage, but not in
the logical sense. Selection (c) is a simple description of the
Republican Party, without a logical relation between the two
statements. Selection (d) is a mere statement of a belief. In
(b), there is only one premise, and although arguments
usually have two or more premises, one alone is acceptable
13.

The answer to the exercise is (b). Many of us would not have

identified this as an argument because it alleges a falsity,
i.e., that Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1998.
However, even if an argument contains some bad
information, it is nevertheless still an argument as long as
there is a reason (a premise) and a conclusion that is
logically related to the reason. In this case. The argument is a
valid unsound deductive argument. In its classic form, it
would be:
Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1998. (false)
The year 1998 is not in the 1960s. (true)
Therefore, Martin Luther King did not die in the 1960s.
(false)
 3

THE CULPRIT OF BAD REASONING: OUR

LOGICAL ERRORS AND BIASES

She wore tight corsets to give her a teeny waist - I

helped her lace them up - but they had the effect of
causing her to faint. Mom called it the vapors and said
it was a sign of her high breeding and delicate nature. I
thought it was a sign that the corset made it hard to
breathe. 1

— JEANNETTE WALLS, HALF BROKE HORSES (2009)

I f there ever were a symbol of torture in the name of

beauty, it would be the corset. Not only during the
Victorian period but in any period in history. Why any
woman would go to such suffering to appear to have a
whistle bait waist just does not seem logical, justifying
Walls’ common-sense observation in that selection. But in
her mother’s eyes, it’s more than just a ploy to get men’s
admiring attention. Corsets, to her mind, were a sign of
noble pedigree and social stature. Walls and her mother
exhibited different biases toward a lady’s undergarment that
symbolized both privilege and pathos, depending on their
perspective.
Bias, Stereotyping, Prejudice, And Discrimination
Psychologists draw a fine distinction among four words we
use interchangeably: bias, stereotyping, prejudice, and
discrimination. These elements are the cause of logical
errors we make almost daily 2.
Stereotyping involves generalizing a characteristic over an
entire group of people: “Canadians are polite while New
Yorkers are rude.” Employers who subscribe to this
stereotype may give unfair attention to their employees’
nationality or residency; this is called bias. When bias creates
a positive attitude towards Canadians and a negative attitude
towards New Yorkers, it becomes prejudice. Finally, if the
employer hires Canadians over New Yorkers based on that
prejudice, then the act is called discrimination.
Bias in a person’s attitude leads to prejudice, which comes
from the root words “pre” (before) and “judge” (decide). To
prejudge is to render a conclusion before proper reasoning. It
shortcuts reason and jumps to an assumption, a
prejudgment, and therefore a wrong conclusion. In an
argument, introducing a bias in the premises results in an
error in the conclusion. An unsound argument, or a fallacy,
is therefore created.
By its nature, a fallacy is not a moral thing, but the extent to
which it may be good or evil depends upon the purpose it
serves.
For instance, the police may use fallacies to convince a
criminal to reveal facts he may know about a crime. “The
superintendent may lighten your sentence if you reveal
where the stolen goods are.” This is a fallacy to the extent
that the superintendent may not have the power to lighten
the criminal’s sentence. If it leads the criminal to reveal
where a crime’s evidence is, then the fallacy has been used
for good.
However, the fallacy is bad if it intends to lead to a false
outcome. “The superintendent will charge your son for
conspiracy if you do not plead guilty.” The fallacy here is
that charges against the son will proceed unless the father
pleads guilty, which amounts to coercion.
The key to good judgment, therefore, is to distinguish a
fallacy from a sound argument. Not all fallacies have serious
consequences; some are so commonplace that we encounter
them daily. Parents may think that their daughter is more
intelligent than their son because she gets higher math
grades than him. This is fallacious because there are many
kinds of intelligence. The son may be better at sports. Thus,
he may have a higher bodily-kinesthetic intelligence while
his sister has a higher logical-mathematical intelligence.
They are thus equally intelligent in different ways.
Fallacies show a logical argument’s deficiency because a
logical connection between the premises and the conclusion
remains unrevealed. The parents who mistakenly conclude
that one child is more intelligent than the other are not
aware that other measures determine intelligence. The
suspect was not aware of the limitations in the
superintendent’s powers to lighten his sentence or charge
his son without evidence. The premises stating these specific
concerns are not present. Therefore, the parents and the
suspect arrived at conclusions based on incomplete
arguments.
It is difficult to detect a fallacy in real-world situations
because cultural stereotypes, cultural biases, and past
experiences tend to trick our minds into making irrelevant or
invalid assumptions. The assumption fills the missing
premise, the incomplete argument appears whole, and the
invalid conclusion appears valid.

Action Steps
There are many methods of detecting formal fallacies. Three
basic steps could quickly identify the type of common fallacy
that tricks our minds into jumping to the wrong conclusion
3.

(1) Identify the wrong premises (the “bad proofs”). These

can be outright misstatements or implied comparisons, or
examples that are irrelevant to the conclusion. Celebrity
brandings are a common type of fallacy. “Rihanna uses the
Fenty Beauty brand of makeup. If I use it, I will look as
beautiful as her,” implies a false comparison between the
consumer and the celebrity. The omitted premise is “I am
not Rihanna,” therefore, what is good for Rihanna is not
necessarily good for me.
(2) Identify the wrong alternative outcomes. The often-
implied choices may not be the only ones possible, and
awareness of other alternatives may prevent us from making
the wrong decision. “Robert is handsome and rich, but he’s a
playboy. Tommy doesn’t have a bad record, but he doesn’t
have a job either. Whom should I marry?” The answer does
not have to be Robert or Tommy because it can be “neither
one.”
(3) Identify logical disconnects between premises and
conclusion. Even if the proofs or evidence are true, they may
not be entirely relevant to the conclusion or issue. “My
parents died before the age of 65, and I have the same health
conditions as they did. Therefore, I will also die before I
reach 65 years.” While it may be true that your parents died
in middle age, and you may indeed have inherited their
health problems, there is no logical certainty linking these
premises and the certainty of your death. You may be living a
healthier lifestyle, and the causes of their passing may not be
due exclusively to your shared health conditions.

Moving On
Some people may think of a corset as a beauty aid; others see
it as an Iron Maiden Lite. Having different frames of mind is
unavoidable. People have biases that manifest as logical
errors when least expected. Logical errors are fallacies,
which we will learn more about in the next chapter.

Key takeaways

Logical errors are rooted in personal biases.

Biases in the premises of an argument result in
unsound arguments or fallacies.
Fallacies interfere in the logical connection between
premises and conclusions.
Finding fallacies involves identifying the false
premise, the erroneous conclusion, or the logical
disconnection between the premise and conclusion.
 4

DEMYSTIFYING THE SO-CALLED FORMAL

LOGICAL ERRORS

By and large, the truth is not merely a fierce battle with

ignorance and fallacy, but, first and foremost, a combat
with our own preconceived ideas and aprioristic
conceptions. 1

— ERIK PEVERNAGIE, LIFE QUOTES AND PAINTINGS (2007)

W hat is the truth? This is the question at the center of

all philosophical inquiry, and there is no easy answer.
We craft the way we see the world, and it is only
through the rules of logic that we pierce through our
misconceptions to perceive what truth is.
Our minds often interpret our surroundings through
heuristics – rules of thumb, an educated guess, or trial-and-
error – that shortcut the logical process. These result in
recurring errors in reasoning we call fallacies. They are of
five basic types.

1. Affirming The Consequent (Modus Ponens)

This error in reasoning is a logical fallacy known as
affirming the consequent. Based on the result or consequent,
the most readily apparent cause is assumed to be true
without considering other possible causes 2. It is of the form:
“If P, then Q. Q. Therefore, P.”

If you were careless in driving, then the car would be

dented.
The car is dented.
Therefore, you were careless in driving.

Many husbands and wives have quarreled over this

argument. The fallacy lies in drawing a definite conclusion
about the cause from the effect. When several causes are
possible, our mind often focuses on the most obvious when
some other explanation is possible. The dented car may have
been struck by a moving object, such as another car, without
the fault of the driver accused of carelessness.

If John throws a ball in the house, then a window gets

broken.
A window is broken.
Therefore, John threw a ball in the house.

The broker window could have resulted from many things

other than John throwing a ball. The handyman could have
miscalculated and swung a ladder into the window. Or it is
also likely that Jill was the thrower and not John. Children,
workers, or other subordinate persons often get unfairly
blamed for mishaps, only to be later proven innocent to the
chagrin of the accuser.
Could there be exceptions to the rule that the pattern
redounds to a fallacy? What if the consequent can have only
one cause?

If there is a deadly build-up of toxic gas in the mine,

it will kill the canary.
The canary died.
Therefore, there is a build-up of toxic gas in the
mine.

From 1911 to 1986, miners used canaries in coal mines to

detect carbon monoxide and other noxious gases. Strictly
speaking, the canary can die of many other causes such as
age or illness. It would have made sense, though, for the
miners to bring young, healthy canaries with them to reduce
the probability of other causes. Happily, for canaries, digital
detectors replaced them in 1985 3. Their case shows that
where a consequence can only result from one cause,
affirming the consequent ceases to be a fallacy.

2. Denying The Antecedent (Modus Tollens)

This fallacy is also known as the fallacy of the inverse, or
inverse error. Denying the antecedent is a formal fallacy
wherein the inverse from the original statement is inferred.
This is invalid because denying the antecedent does not
necessarily imply denying the consequent 4. Its form is: “If
P, then Q. If not P, then not Q.”

If Mario is a professional golfer, then he is a good

sportsman.
But Mario is not a professional golfer.
Therefore, he is not a good sportsman.
This argument’s error is concluding that Mario is not a good
sportsman solely because he is not a professional golfer. Not
all good sportsmen are professionals since some engage in
sports as a hobby, not a career. Mario may not even be good
at golf, but he may be good at other sports – tennis, boxing,
video sports – making him a good sportsman.

If you take a teaspoon of virgin coconut oil every day,

then you will remain healthy.
You do not take virgin coconut oil.
Then you will not remain healthy.

Staying healthy can result from many things, such as healthy

exercise, sufficient rest, and having a healthy diet. While
virgin coconut oil can contribute to one’s health, not taking
it does not necessarily become unhealthy.
Again, be careful in determining whether or not ruling out
the antecedent really does result in ruling out the
consequent. Take the following example.

If Zoe graduates from high school this year, then she

could go to college next year.
Zoe did not graduate from high school this year.
Therefore, Zoe cannot go to college next year.

While this argument follows the pattern for modus tollens,

the antecedent (graduating from high school) is a necessary
requisite for the consequent (studying in college the
following year). Lack of a high school diploma will not
qualify Zoe for entrance into college.

3. Affirming A Disjunct
Another name of this fallacy is the false exclusionary
disjunct. A disjunct refers to one of the terms of a disjunctive
proposition that excludes one term from another. The fallacy
of affirming a disjunct involved affirming one of two things
disjoined, then denying the other term. The error is
assuming that since one disjunct is false, the other should be
true. The word OR is inclusive, allowing for one or both of
the disjuncts to be true 5. This fallacy has the form: “A or B.
A. Therefore, not B.”

To get a scholarship, one should be either bright or

good in sports.
Andrew got a sports scholarship.
Therefore, Andrew is not bright.

The first premise enumerates two ways of getting a

scholarship. Andrew was good at sports, and so he earned a
sports scholarship. While it was true that he did not earn an
academic scholarship, this does not mean he was not bright.
Being good in sports does not exclude being bright.

Celia would love either a puppy or a kitten.

Celia loved the puppy she got.
That means she would not love a kitten.

Implicit in this example is the affection Celia has for animals

in general and that she would love a puppy or a kitten,
whichever she received. Celia received a puppy which she
loved dearly. However, it is not right to say that she would
not love a kitten if she received it – or both pets if she
received both.
The disjunction is an “either-or” statement that implies the
need for a choice. However, there are two types of
disjunctions. The inclusive or weak disjunction allows for
choosing one or both (either/or) of the alternatives. The
exclusive or strong disjunction allows a single choice, and
the selection of one alternative necessarily excludes the
other.

In the movie, Chris will play either Thor or Loki.

Chris will play Thor.
Therefore, Chris will not play Loki.

An exclusive or strong disjunction does not produce a fallacy

under affirming a disjunct, because in this case, the
affirming one disjunct denies the other. Whether a
disjunction is inclusive or exclusive is implied by the nature
of the disjunctive situation. Celia can love two pets, but Chris
cannot play two major roles in the same movie (assuming it
is a conventional movie and not employing digital special
effects).

4. Denying A Conjunct
If a disjunct is a term disjoined from another, then a
conjunct is a term joined to another as being in the same
class. The fallacy consists of declaring, in the second
premise, that one of the conjuncts is false, then concluding
the other is true. The error lies in assuming that negating
one of the conjuncts necessarily affirms the other when it is
logically possible to negate both 6. There are two forms for
this fallacy

Form 1: Not both p and q. Not p. Therefore q.

Form 2: Not both p and q. Not q. Therefore, p.
An example for this fallacy is:

Anthony is not both Catholic and atheist.

Anthony is not Catholic.
Therefore, he is an atheist.

Indeed, Catholics (a group of people who believe in God) are

not atheists (people who do not believe in God), and vice-
versa. But there are other groups who are not Catholic and
still believe in God, so they are not atheists. Anthony could
be a member of another Christian denomination or a
Buddhist, Muslim, or Hindu. He may believe in God but be
unaffiliated. There are alternatives other than being atheist.

In the tournament, members of the same family

cannot join both the basketball and football games.
The Joneses did not join the basketball games.
Therefore, the Joneses will join the football games.

This argument’s fallaciousness lies in the possibility that the

Joneses need not choose from the two contests. They may
join another game, or even no game at all. The conjunction
does not exclude this possibility.
By way of contrast, the validating forms for this conjunctive
argument cure the logical error and dispel the fallacy. They
are of the alternative forms (AF):

AF 1: Not both p and q. P. Therefore, not q.

AF 2: Not both p and q. Q. Therefore, not p.

So, the validating form for our conjunctive arguments would

be:
 Anthony is not both Catholic and atheist.
Anthony is a Catholic.
Therefore, he is not an atheist.

In the tournament, members of the same family

cannot join both the basketball and football games.
The Joneses joined the basketball game.
Therefore, the Joneses will not join the football game.

The conjunctive argument and denying a conjunct have

similar forms, so they are often confused for each other.
Their difference lies in the second premise, which is negative
in denying a conjunct and affirmative in the conjunctive
argument. Denying a conjunct is fallacious and therefore not
valid, while the conjunctive argument is valid and therefore
not fallacious.

5. The Fallacy Of The Undistributed Middle (Non Distributio Medii)

This fallacy is a syllogistic fallacy because it is the form of a
categorical syllogism.

All A is B.
All B is C.
Therefore, all A is C.

The structure has two distinct but related premises, followed

by a conclusion that embodies the deductive argument. The
middle term is that term included in both syllogisms. Note
that the basic syllogistic structure comprises a valid
argument because as long as its prepositions are true, then it
is logically sound.
When the use of the middle term in the argument includes
all the members of that class, then the middle term is said to
be distributed. If the term refers to only some of the
members of the class, then it is undistributed. The rule of
logic requires that the middle term should be distributed in
at least one of the two premises for the syllogism to hold 7.
The fallacy of the undistributed middle is where the middle
term (the common term in both premises) is not distributed
in either premise. It has the form: “All Z is B. All Y is B.
Therefore, all Y is Z.” B, the middle term, is undistributed in
both premises. The following is an example of this form of
fallacy.

All insects are animals.

All mammals are animals.
Therefore, all mammals are insects.

The middle term, animals, includes both insects and

mammals as well as many other groups. The logical error is
obvious: insects and mammals are different categories that
exclude each other, even if they are both animals.

All vampires are bloodsuckers.

All female mosquitoes are bloodsuckers.
Therefore, all vampires are female mosquitoes.

The absurdity of Count Dracula transforming into an

annoying egg-laying insect rather than a bat highlights the
fallacy of this statement.
A real-world scenario where the fallacy of the undistributed
middle is logically invalid is in litigation 8. A question arose
in a legal case as to whether a “riverboat” must be registered
as a “motorboat.” The argument of the Bureau of Motor
Vehicles was:

Riverboats are watercraft.

Motorboats are watercraft.
Therefore, riverboats are motorboats and are subject
to registration requirements.

The middle term in the syllogism is watercraft. The court

ruled against this argument, and riverboats were adjudged
exempt from registration.

Action Steps
Formal fallacies involve a weakness in the form or technical
structure of an argument, rather than whether or not the
conclusion is true. Five formal fallacies are listed below. Try
to identify each of them. Make your best effort before finding
the answers at the end of this chapter
1. All drivers are licensed, just as all physicians are licensed.
That means all drivers are physicians!
2. If Elmer bought a new car, he would attract a lot of
beautiful women. But he bought a used car, which is why
women are not attracted to him.
3. Sally can play either the piano or the violin. She chose to
play the piano, therefore she cannot play the violin.
4. You would lose the contest if you did not prepare well. You
lost the contest, which only means that you did not prepare
well.
5. My pet is not both a cat or a dog. My pet is not a cat.
Therefore, it is a dog.
Moving On
Pevernagie calls the truth a battle within ourselves against
our preconceived ideas. The truth is hard to accept,
especially when it challenges our most precious convictions
that are, nevertheless, wrong. Among our preconceived
logical errors, formal errors are more readily found because
they are signalled by faulty argument structures. Informal
errors are more subtle and difficult to detect. We will learn
about informal errors in the next chapter.

Key Takeaways

Formal logical errors are faults in the structure of an

argument.
Affirming the consequent should not lead to
affirming the antecedent.
Denying the antecedent should not lead to denying
the consequent.
Affirming one disjunct should not deny the other
disjunct.
Denying one conjunct should not automatically affirm
the other conjunct.
The middle term should be distributed in one of the
premises.

Solution To The Exercise:

1.Undistributed middle
2.Denying the antecedent
3.Affirming a disjunct
4.Affirming the consequent
5.Denying a conjunct.
 5

THE INFORMAL LOGICAL ERRORS WE

EXPERIENCE EVERYDAY

“M ommy, what is sex?”

Parents are bound to get this question from their
children at some point, but I never thought I would hear it
from my five-year-old son, Cedric, on the first day of
kindergarten class. Making a mental note to accost his
teacher when I had the chance, I sat Cedric on my knee,
heaved a sigh, and launched the birds-and-the-bees talk
meant for adolescents.
When I finished, he had a puzzled look. “O…K…” then he
raised the card he was holding. “But how do I put all of that
on this I.D.? The teacher said we should fill it up. I already
put my name and age. But sex just has a small box. What
should I write?”
“Oh. OH!... Just write ‘M,’ son!”
The little boy forgot about our talk just as quickly as he filled
his card out, which is a relief. At times like these, I scold
myself and promise to never repeat the same mistake. Yet,
no matter how we might resolve to better discipline our
minds, it is impossible to avoid the hundred-and-one lapses
we make each day. It cannot be helped; our words crawl at a
snail’s pace while our ideas fly with eagles’ wings.

Informal Fallacies
In Chapter 4, we encountered formal fallacies. They are the
logical thinking errors that involve mistakes in the pattern of
arguments and the relationships between premises and
conclusions. However, some fallacies do not involve the
formal structure but rather are logical errors we make
everyday that involve unsound reasoning.
Informal fallacies are not limited to words and sentences but
instead are more of logical misadventures. The logical
mistakes that make up fallacies sometimes result from ill
intent, inconsistency, irrelevance and insufficiency. More
often, they emerge from simple misconceptions and force of
habit. We frequently find ourselves committing mistakes in
reasoning and judgment that turn out to be predictable
because we have made them before.

Why Do We Tend To Make Predictable Logical Mistakes?

Funder 1 touches on the social nature of logical errors and

why we tend to repeat them when faced with real-world
situations even though we are already aware of them. In his
seminal study, Funder distinguished “error” from
“mistake,” describing the error as an incorrect judgment of
an experimental stimulus (i.e., a situation studied in
isolation) and mistake as an incorrect judgment of a real-
world stimulus.
We tend to treat errors as “shortcomings” of judgment,
equivalent to the degree to which people can “reason well”
or “make good decisions.” It is a deviation from a model, an
ideal, of how a judgment should be made. The mistake is
done unintentionally.

Every Black Friday, Sasha goes on an irrational buying

binge. She fights for her place in line and rushes to
grab the fast-moving merchandise, only to end up
buying things she doesn’t even need or want. Every
year, Sasha resolves to avoid the next Black Friday
rush, but every year finds her back.

Sasha knows that it defies reason to buy things she does not
need just because they are on sale, but many people are like
Sasha. She is caught up in the mad dash, doing what
everybody else is doing but not really thinking. Commercial
retailers exploit consumers’ irrational buying impulses as
part of their marketing strategy. Thus, a logical error
becomes a recurring mistake driven by real-world
conditions.
There are other reasons why we repeat the same logical
errors. One is the degree to which we recall our past
successes and failures, but recall does not improve the
likelihood of not committing the error. People find it difficult
to recall mistakes they have made because it is more difficult
to remember many mistakes than just one or two. Trying to
recall only makes the mental process slower and more
deliberate and may lead to making even more mistakes 2.
Child: “Dad, may I go to Cecile’s party?”
Dad: “Go ask your mother.”
Child: “She said to ask you.”
Dad: “Okay then, just be sure to get home on time.”
And so the child leaves.
Mom: “Where’s Bernadette?”
Dad: “She went to her classmate’s party. I allowed her.”
Mom: “Why? I didn’t give my permission. I grounded her for
not doing her homework.”
Silence.
Mom: “She pulled a fast one on you again, huh?”
Dad: “I never learn.”
Dad is not entirely at fault because his daughter could have
asked his permission many times in the past to circumvent
her mother. Sometimes it was right to give permission, and
sometimes it was not. Trying to recall all those times his
wife probably agreed with him and the other times she did
not could make mental recall slower and more difficult.
Emotions also play a role in our judgment or decision-
making process. How we feel shapes our decision-making
process, such that logically correct decisions are avoided if
they trigger negative feelings and vice-versa 3.
Ingrid: “I never learn. This is the fifth time I caught him
with another girl. Every time he begs for forgiveness, saying
he will change his ways. And every time I believe him.”
Stella: “So this time you kicked him out?”
Ingrid: “I can’t. What if this is the last time and he really
changes?”
These theories about social contexts, emotions, and slow
recall have broad application in our psychological make-up
and give us some insight into how our minds work. It
explains why we often commit the same logical mistakes as
those we had already known to be errors.

Fallacies We Commonly Encounter

Ever heard of gremlins? Early English folklore described
them as mischievous little creatures with spiky backs, large
eyes, sharp teeth, and claws. They cause aircraft and other
machines to malfunction in a way that mystifies mechanics.
They appeared in the 1984 American movie 4, where the
repugnant creatures popped out from a cute little fluffy pet
called mogwai. Everybody said, “How could such ugly
monsters come from such a cute thing?”
Informal fallacies are much like gremlins. Disguised as
sound reasons, they are actually naughty creatures that
cause malfunctions in our thought processes. While our
rational brain is off-guard, sneaky black swans, red
herrings, straw men, slippery slopes, and a host of other
well-concealed tricks and traps hijack our reasoning to
create confusion and mischief. Before we know it, we end up
with faulty conclusions and decisions that bring
embarrassment and regret.
We are often unaware of the informal logical errors we make
even as we are making them. They are mostly inadvertent,
but sometimes we even resort to them intentionally to win
an argument by confusing our opponent or to justify an
unsound decision. Informal fallacies are more difficult to
identify than formal fallacies because, unlike formal
fallacies, the logical mistake does not reduce to a readily
identifiable thought pattern.
There are more than a hundred informal logical errors, but
we will discuss those most commonly encountered.
Identifying them and understanding how they constitute
unsound reasoning will help us avoid making erroneous
decisions when we encounter them.

1. Hasty Generalization
A generalization is a statement about a group stating that all,
some, or a proportion of the group’s members, possess a
particular attribute. A simple generalization could be, “Cows
give milk.” This is a commonly accepted truth, but it would
have been more accurate to say, “Some cows give milk,”
because cows that do not become pregnant and give birth do
not produce milk. The average milk-giving cycle for cows is
three years 5. Generalizations are the general rule, accepted
as true despite some exceptions.
Hasty generalizations are fallacies of missing evidence. In
this type of fallacy, the conclusion is arrived at based on
insufficient or biased evidence, and therefore is not logically
justified. Sometimes, the conclusion is based on vaguely-
recalled anecdotes. It is also called “the fallacy of insufficient
samples.”

The ocean voyage was marred by mishaps and

unfortunate events, ever since the cook Damien
joined them at the last port of call. They therefore
suspected that Damien was the Jonah onboard.

Practically all sailors believe that their voyage over the

perilous waters depends on luck due to the uncertainty of
their journey. Superstitions catch on as a “general rule” even
if there is little evidence to substantiate them. So rational
decision-makers should set them aside, even if so-called
anecdotal evidence seems particularly persuasive.
In quantified research, the conclusion may involve findings
anchored on an unrepresentative or misspecified sample
instead of a sample that is more aligned with the overall
population.

The findings of the study suggested that the student

population of the university consisted of 80% women.
Members of the survey sample came from three
programs: nursing, women’s and gender degrees, and
elementary education.

If the researchers drew the samples from groups where one

attribute (in this case, gender) is dominant, it does not
necessarily introduce a problem IF the conclusion is
attributed only to those groups. However, if results from a
skewed sample are generalized over a wider population, then
the conclusion is misleading. To obtain a reliable conclusion
for the entire university in the situation above, the sample
should include enrollees in engineering, military science, the
seminary, or other programs where males may dominate, or
programs where both genders are present to the same
degree. The trick, of course, is to garner a sample sufficient
to represent the target population.
A hasty generalization may also make a general conclusion
out of a particular situation or a single piece of supporting
evidence; this is “the fallacy of the lonely fact” 6.

While the professor was proctoring an exam, the

college clerk came and spoke to him briefly at the
classroom doorway. When he turned back to the class,
he saw two students whispering and giggling. He
 presumed that the class took advantage of his brief
distraction and cheated behind his back. He stopped
the exam and gave the entire class a failing grade.

However, even if the sample size were large, the bias is

obvious that it makes the conclusion unconvincing.
Sometimes the conclusion is made over an entire group of
people based on observations made over a few of their
members. It may result in judgments that may seem
unethical or even slanderous.

A group of hikers were trekking across a hill

considered sacred ground by the indigenous people.
The site was so popular among tourists that the
natives became wary of visitors to the area. When the
hikers rested, one of them, unbeknownst to his
companions, etched “U.S.A.” on the trunk of a
hundred-year-old tree. The native residents
discovered the offending mark, and upon their
petition the local government banned all American
tourists from entering the area.

In this case, the act of one member of a group was taken to

represent the act of all. The consequence of a single act was
imposed upon all Americans because of the letters “U.S.A.”
etched on a tree. The situation becomes more absurd with
the possibility that the offender might not even be from the
U.S.A., which makes the generalization all the more
irrational.

Addressing The Fallacy:

It is important not to rush to judgment. Begin by finding
other data on the same issue, then weighing whether these
are sufficient to overturn the generalization made.

2. Appeal To Authority
In reasoning, we try to find solid ground, outside of our own
thinking, to anchor our premises. Whether they be persons,
institutions, or classical texts, authorities are powerful
sources of corroboration or contradiction of our
assumptions. But reliance on the authority, if not properly
established, can become a fallacy that traps the unwary.
In appeals to a person of authority, the argument is that
something must be true because an alleged expert on the
matter claimed it as true. This is also called an appeal to false
authority.

Will advised us to bring flowers when visiting our

daughter’s German mother-in-law for the first time.
Will visited Germany once, and he was married and
divorced five times, so he must know a lot about
German mothers-in-law.
Ramon always uses Axe Body Spray. If it is good
enough for Ben Affleck, then it is good enough for
Ramon.
Madame Esperanza, the fortune teller, announced
that the planets’ alignment this year will bring either
good fortune or bad luck, depending on your zodiac
sign.

The three authorities in these examples are Will (not a

German), Ben Affleck, the actor, and Madame Esperanza, the
fortune teller. Obviously, their claims to authority are not
strong. Will relies on stock knowledge, Ben Affleck is a paid
endorser, and Madame Esperanza dabbles in mysteries that
defy explanation and credulity. It is easy to see why they
would be false authorities.
But what if Will’s single visit to Germany was for ten years,
Ben Affleck’s global fan club members agree that he does
smell nice, and Madame Esperanza is the national president
of Psychics of America who happened to validate her
predictions based on their knowledge of the mystic arts?
Suppose all sides agree that the person cited as an advocate
is truly a reliable authority on the subject of discussion. In
that case, this argument is not a fallacy for the parties
concerned, but an inductive argument – i.e., an argument
that is neither valid nor invalid, sound nor unsound.
It may be weak or strong, cogent or uncogent. Still, to the
eyes and ears of their believers, it is an argument that admits
of some probability because it comes from an authority they
collectively recognize.

According to the feng shui expert, it is bad luck to

align the front door and the back door of a dwelling or
business establishment without any obstruction
between them. The flow of good energy that comes in
the front door will quickly escape through the back
door without first moving through the home or
workplace.
The Farmer’ Almanac, which sells four million copies
each year 7, stated that there would be sunny and cool
weather from November 5 thru 10, but from February
12 to 19, there will be heavy snow in some places close
to the eastern seaboard.
It is not a secret that all traditional Chinese individuals and
establishments consult a feng shui expert before making
major decisions. It is also undeniable that the Farmer’s
Almanac, established in 1792 8, continues to provide online
advice to all farmers and gardeners 9. A subsequent section
will discuss parallels between these types of arguments and
appeals to faith.
There are two special cases of appeal to authority fallacies.

2.1 Citing An Authority Out-Of-Context

Decisions are better if one can rely on the actual words of a
known authority. But at times, the message conveyed is
wrong because the words are incomplete, out of context, or
misrepresented.
Doctor: “Lina, you should cut down on carbohydrates.”
Lina: “But Doc, you said I could have one cup of carbs per
meal.”
Doctor: “Uh, uh, listen, Lina. One cup of carbs per day.”
Monica’s teacher told her class, “I won’t give you written
assignments this weekend, but when you go home, read the
chapter because we will have a long examination on
Monday.” When Monica’s mother asked, “Don’t you have
homework to do, Monica?” The youngster replied, “No,
Mom. The teacher said we don’t need to do homework this
weekend.”
Quoting or citing an authority out of context is done to make
it appear that the authority is backing a position favorable to
the arguer. In truth, the true position of the authority is
neutral or opposite to the misrepresentation.
The fallacious statement is actually close to the authority’s
true statement and only differs slightly. Sometimes, the
difference may be due to a misunderstanding (i.e., “per
meal” is understood as “per day”) or a lack of understanding
(i.e., Monica does not have a written assignment, but she has
a reading assignment).

Addressing the fallacy:

Often, we fail to discern a statement out of context just from
the statement itself unless some background research is
done on the authority supposedly making it.
If the authority is a celebrity, what were her past opinions on
the matter, and are they consistent with the present alleged
statement?
If we personally know the authority cited, the best is to ask if
she really stated it as reported. Monica’s mother could call
the teacher or probably another parent to verify if what
Monica said was true.

2.2 Appeal To Faith

When an argument bases its claim on faith, then take care in
analyzing the argument. There are claims citing the
authority of a written religious text of wide acceptance such
as the Bible, Torah, or Koran, or a person such as the Pope,
Mohammed, or minister of established reputation. In such
instances, where all parties agree on the authority, it should
not be regarded as a fallacy but as an inductive argument 10.
However, there are times when the authority relied upon is a
belief, a norm handed down by tradition, or some other
amorphous thing. The premise redounds to an accepted
dogma or divine truth that defies proof. This can be tricky
because, for believers, faith goes beyond logic or reason.

The angel of God appeared to me and told me to

establish a chapel at the mountaintop. If you have
faith, you will see that I tell the truth.

The truth of the angel’s appearance to the speaker is not

what makes this a fallacy, but his declaration that those with
faith will believe him. The reality is that some people of faith
will not believe in him because they may decide that he
lacked credibility. The claim seeks its validation in faith,
possibly because there is no other way to prove it.
However, we should beware that the mere mention of faith
or belief as the basis for a claim does not immediately
redound to a fallacy. The following are instances when a
faith-rationale was first dismissed as fallacious and then
subsequently validated by gaining general acceptance and
recognition.

The fifth commandment says, “Thou shalt not kill.”

Therefore, even in a war, I will not hold a rifle or a
knife to kill my enemy.

In World War II, Desmond Doss signed up with the U.S.

infantry as a conscientious objector – he would not hold a
rifle even during training. A devout Seventh-day Adventist
he believed that taking a life even in a war is against God’s
will. For his stubbornness, he was frequently ridiculed and
reviled. Subsequently, he served as a medic and served with
distinction, saving the lives of more than 100 men. Soon
after, he received the Medal of Honor for his actions 11. His
extraordinary conviction became the subject of a recent
biographical motion picture, Hacksaw Ridge 12.

The Hindu faith venerates rats as holy, and rodents

have occupied a sacred place in Indian history. Rats
should, therefore, never be exterminated.

Rodents are considered the source of disease and pestilence,

for which modern-day sensibilities require their eradication.
However, in India, they are venerated and have been for
centuries, as seen in archaeological sites in that country 13.
To this day, the Temple of Rats stands in the State of
Rajasthan in India to honor the Hindu deity Karni Mata.

Islam considers charging interest for a loan as an

unjust and immoral practice. Therefore, banks cannot
condone interest payments.

Modern banking is founded on the concept of the time value

of money and that the use of monies loaned out must earn
interest. However, followers of Islam are forbidden by
Shariah law to charge or pay Riba (interest) because this is
an uncharitable and usurious practice 14. This is
irreconcilable with Western practice. However, with the rise
of Islamic banking, interest-free banking products have
been made available even through the traditional banking
system.

Thirteen is considered an unlucky number. That is

why many high-rise buildings do not designate the
13th floor.
Originally, (and sometimes still) dismissed as superstitious
with no basis in logic, there exists an aversion for the
unlucky number 13. In the construction of high-rise
buildings and particularly hotels, however, the tradition has
caught on not to have a thirteenth floor, or if one existed, to
not have it accessible by elevator. Building designers,
construction companies, and elevator companies have,
therefore, adopted the practice of not including the 13th floor
if clients specify it. Hotel guests and building tenants refuse
to stay or rent spaces on the thirteenth floor, thereby
institutionalizing the practice 15.

Addressing The Fallacy:

Be cautious in immediately identifying faith- or belief-based
reasons as fallacious. Suppose all parties involved agree that
the value or belief is irrelevant, in that case, the argument
reduces to a Red Herring (another fallacy), and the premise
alleging the value becomes an irrelevant issue.
If some parties believe in the veracity of the value or belief,
and others do not, then it would be foolish to debate what
conflicting sides already consider undebatable. The most
sensible recourse is mutual respect and to agree to disagree.
Why is it important to look into people’s belief patterns
when evaluating appeals to authority or faith? Human beings
are complex creatures in whom logic and belief or faith play
powerful roles in decision-making.
At all times, we should keep in mind that the decisions we
make affect or involve other people, those with whom we
may or may not share the same set of beliefs or values. This
is particularly true in our current global business setting and
international collaborations.
Therefore, when your Chinese business partner suggests that
the new restaurant should face east because the feng shui
expert said so, think twice before calling his reasoning
irrelevant.

3. Appeal To Emotions
This fallacy is also known as manipulative appeals to pathos,
manipulation of emotions, or “playing to the gallery.” The
“gallery” refers to the members of the general public who
are naïve or gullible and who are easily swayed by emotional
narratives. Arguments that play to the emotions are far from
rational; people resort to when there are no good reasons to
support the claim. Unsurprisingly, appeals to emotion
comprise commercial advertisements.

Fine dining restaurants and hotels advertise their

Valentine’s Day packages by showing a handsome
couple apparently in love and enjoying an elegant
candle-lit dinner in one of these establishments.
Charities and foundations advertise for sponsorships
and donations by highlighting the plight of poor
families or the pitiful conditions of children in need.

There are specific types of emotions that a fallacy can appeal

to. There are five appeals to emotion frequently used.

3.1 Appeal to Pity

“Please include me in the graduation ceremonies,

Dean Smith, please! My family is here, including my
relatives from abroad, because they thought I had
 passed! And they’re all dressed up! Would you break
their hearts?”

Dean Smith should not allow an unworthy student to

graduate because this violates the rules. If he gives way to
pity, he acts with official authority and publicly conveys a
degree on an unworthy student, further compromising the
school.

3.2 Appeal To Fear

Ordering online can be dangerous. Roy ordered online

using his credit card, and in two days, he found out
that all his accounts were hacked! Better go and
purchase the product personally so you can pay cash.

Ordering online can be safe with the proper precautions by

using third-party payor services. There are advantages to
making in-person purchases, but these are rational
considerations that have nothing to do with the fear of credit
fraud.

Children, you’d better finish everything on your plate.

When you die, your soul will come back to pick up
every grain of rice you ever left behind.

Sometimes the fear inspired comes as a fateful consequence

for defying the unwritten law. This is particularly effective in
scaring children into following since they do not question
the logical soundness of it.
3.3 Assigning Guilt by Association

Members of the jury, the accused, is a Hong Kong

national and may well be part of the 14-K Triad, the
largest drug trafficking syndicate in the world whose
roots also are in Hong Kong.

Not all Hong Kong nationals are Triad members, just as not
all Mexicans are MS-13 members, and not all Japanese are
members of the Yakuza. Real guilt should attach because of
real culpability, not imagined ones.

3.4 Appeal To Group Loyalty

Juliet, as a member of the Alpha-Gamma-Phi

sorority, you are forbidden from striking a friendship
with Romeo because he belongs to the Sigma-Theta-
Omega fraternity, our long-time adversaries.

Juliet is free to befriend Romeo if she wants to, except if she

is a minor and there are real concerns to forbid her from
such friendships (such as a rap sheet in Romeo’s name).
Group loyalty should not constrain discretion about one’s
personal affairs.

3.5 Appeal To Shame

Alejandro, you are the son of the chief justice and the
grandchild of the author of our nation’s civil code. But
you flunked your first year of law school! What will
your father’s colleagues think? His law fraternity?
Alejandro can tell his parents he’s not interested in
becoming a lawyer and instead pursues his passion for music
and the arts.
The five arguments above can be quite convincing for people
who decide based on their knee-jerk reactions when faced
with problems. Deep emotional involvement in a dilemma
can persuade one to decide in favor of quickly easing the
personal discomfort he or she is facing, even if the decision
is not well thought out.

Addressing The Fallacy:

Looking past the short-term reactions by thinking the
problem through can prevent future regrets. When faced
with an argument that triggers deep emotional reactions, the
best is to refrain from deciding at the moment to provide
time for calm and reflection.
Also, remember that fallacy notwithstanding, the claim may
still be true if backed by reason, so keep an open mind. What
is important is that the decision should not be solely based
on emotion, without thinking of the long-term
repercussions that may lead to regrets later. Decide based on
logic rather than impulse

4. Appeal To Ignorance
Some arguments base their claim on the absence of any
evidence that disproves it. When an argument reasons that
something is either true or false based on a lack of evidence,
this appeals to ignorance 16. It is fallacious because a non-
proof affirms nothing, therefore concluding that it affirms
something is an absurdity.
Take the following frequently-encountered argument.

Can anybody vouch for where you were on the night

of the crime? If you do not have an alibi, then you are
guilty.

In cop shows, too much emphasis is sometimes placed on

the alibi of a suspect. If he cannot prove by objective
testimony that he was somewhere else, the crime
investigators regard him as guilty. But such is not the case,
not even under the law enforcement procedures that movies
try to imitate. We have been conditioned to believe that we
may be found guilty of a crime because we may not have an
alibi. Without positive proof beyond a reasonable doubt, one
cannot be convicted based on mere suspicion.

Your teacher suspects that you cheated in the last

exam. Prove to us that you did not cheat, or you will
be suspended.

It is impossible to prove a negative proposition. What you

can do is prove the impossibility that you cheated – such as
not having taken the test at all.

There is no proof that intelligent life exists on other

planets. Therefore, the earth is the only planet where
there is intelligent life.

The absence of proof simply means that access to possible

evidence is lacking. This is the same dilemma as the tree
falling in the middle of a forest when there is nobody around
to hear it. The fact that nobody was around to hear the crash
does not mean there was no noise.

There is no scientific proof of an afterlife. Therefore,

there is no life after death.

Proof comes in many forms, depending on the orientation of

the parties involved in the discussion. Scientific proof refers
to the positivist approach that requires evidence observed by
the five senses and analyzed through the scientific method.
However, the interpretivist or constructivist approach allows
for proof using observers’ subjective interpretation or
construction of their experiences. A conclusion arrived at
through the use of one method of proof may not be the same
conclusion reached by another method, therefore, it is
important to consider how the listener interprets the
evidence.

DNA testing is not available in this remote country, so

Sally cannot prove that John is the father of her child.
Therefore, John is not the father of Sally’s child.

This proof specifies one of several methods, although it is

the most accurate and conclusive. However, the inability to
carry out a DNA test is not justification for ruling out
paternity nor. Neither is it, of course, the justification for
ruling in its favor. The matter is simply inconclusive.
The appeal to ignorance works as a fallacy only if the
absence of proof still admits that other possible conclusions
may exist. The possibility of multiple outcomes is an
important element of appeal to ignorance. But if the
possibilities are finite and all are ruled out except one, then
the remaining possibility must be true. This is a case where
the absence of proof is proof of the claim.

Josie said she would be waiting for me at the

Starbucks near her school. But there are two
Starbucks stores near her school, one at 1st Street and
the other at Main Street. Josie is not in the Main
Street Starbucks, so she must be waiting for me at 1st.
Street.

Josie has confirmed her presence at one of two places, and

she is not present at one of them. Then it is conclusive that
Josie is at the other place.

The pea is under one of three shells. The shells at the

left and the right are empty. Therefore, the pea is
under the shell in the middle.

The shell game is a popular sleight-of-hand trick to fool

people into thinking that an object can be only under one of
three shells. The truth is the trick is played by the illusionist
deftly concealing the pea in his or her hand rather than
placing it under the shells. This makes the possibilities four
instead of three, and the pea’s absence in the two outer
shells reduces the choice to two – under the middle shell or
in hand. For certainty to prevail in an appeal to ignorance
exception, there must be good faith and full disclosure of all
the alternative possibilities. Otherwise, the fallacy holds.

There are only four men on this island, but Paul,

George, and Ringo are all infertile. Therefore, John is
the father of Sally’s child!
Implicit in this example is that Sally has not left the island.
Therefore, only four men could have fathered her child. By
ruling out the three, one can safely conclude that John is the
father even without a DNA test.

If there is no evidence proving his guilt, then he must

be declared innocent.

In logic, the absence of evidence that a suspect committed

the crime does not prove guilt or innocence. However, the
presumption of innocence is mandatory by operation of law.
It is a legal convention that ensures a person is not put in a
position of uncertainty; therefore, he is either innocent or
guilty based on the availability of evidence.

The crime alleged is armed insurrection. But there is

no proof that the people were armed. Therefore, there
is no crime.

The presumption of innocence under the law is conclusive

unless evidence arises to the contrary. In criminal law, the
necessary elements of the crime are identified, and the
burden of proof is placed on the party making the allegation.
If the evidence fails to prove all the necessary elements of
the crime, then it is as if there is no evidence, and the
accused is presumed innocent of the crime charged.

Addressing The Fallacy

Before declaring that an appeal to ignorance is fallacious, we
should ensure that the absence of proof exhausts all other
possibilities or that a legal presumption does not exist that
dictates the conclusion when evidence is not present. If
alternatives are possible other than the claim the argument
makes, we need not fall for arguments based on the absence
of proof.

5. Black Swan Fallacy

This is a fallacy arising from the tendency of people to
ignore evidence that runs counter to their presumptions and
beliefs. Its name derives from the generally held belief that
all swans are white, therefore, if a bird is a swan, then that
bird must be white. That general belief proved false,
however. A Dutch explorer named Willem de Vlamingh
chanced upon black swans in Australia during a rescue
mission, for which reason the black swan was incorporated
in the flag of Western Australia 17. His discovery also
disproved the presumption that all swans are white.
There is a presumption that everyone takes to be true in a
black swan fallacy, but that turns out later to be false. This
presumption was the basis for a decision that the arguer
thinks he or she is making with certainty because of the
certainty of the presumption (i.e., the white swan).
Overturning the presumption, therefore, also overturns the
soundness of the conclusion.

Tropical countries do not have winters.

Winters are needed to train athletes in winter sports.
Tropical countries could not train athletes in winter
sports.

Most people would presume that countries in tropical

regions are unable to compete in winter games because of
their balmy climate. In 1992, the first ice skating rink in Asia
was built in the Philippines. In 2014, Michael Martinez
became the first skater who grew up and trained in
Southeast Asia to qualify for the Winter Olympics. The
fallacy, therefore, lies in the presumption that countries
without winters could not train local athletes to compete in
any winter sports.

Our Australian trip was scheduled for July, so I

brought all my summer clothes, swimwear, tanning
lotion, and beach towels. Wrong decision: Winter in
Australia spans June to August.

The argument mentions July, which, in the U.S., is

summertime. Some American might presume the seasons
are the same in another country without realizing that they
are actually reversed for southern-hemisphere states
The arguments above deal with the common erroneous
mental images that many people have about people or
things. The mistaken associations are due more to a mindset
brought by common usage rather than prejudice.
The Black Swan fallacy can also refer to the belief that
something a person has never witnessed cannot exist.
Philosophers point to the Black Swan discovery as a
metaphor for discovering that something a person thought
impossible is possible 18.
Take the two following real-life stories about things thought
to be impossible turning out to be quite possible.

Arnold’s grandmother asked him if he wanted to go

on a trip with them. She said, “If you decide to come,
you will lose your birthday this year.” Arnold thought
it was impossible to lose his birthday, so he decided to
 join his grandparents on the trip. They left Los
Angeles on January 9th and arrived in Manila on
January 11th. They lost one day, January 10th,
crossing the International Date Line – and that’s how
Arnold lost his birthday for that year.
Juan courted Anita for six long years. In the seventh
year, he asked her, “Anita, when will you agree to
marry me?” Anita replied, “When the crow turns
white,” which is women-speak for “Never.” But Juan
would not be deterred. The next day, he gave Anita a
computer printout of a crow with entirely white
plumage. Apparently, 1% of the Corvus
Brachyrhynchos, or American Crows, are afflicted
with “albinism.” Touched by his persistence (and
because she always kept her promises), Anita married
Juan before the year’s end.

While these stories’ outcomes were not seriously

detrimental, so-called “impossible” conditions may be
written into contracts.

The co-parties agree to the finality of the merger in

ten years unless a regime change takes place in
Cambodia, where they will establish the joint venture.

A contracting party may feel confident that a coup d’etat has

little to no chance of happening in ten years, only to be
caught by it happening in the tenth year.

Addressing The Fallacy

How could one avoid the pitfalls of the black swan fallacy?
Nothing short of vigilance regarding the implications of
words and phrases that stand out in the argument. By its
very name, a “black swan” is something believed to be
impossible because nobody has ever seen it 19. Therefore,
unless it is encountered then there is no way of knowing that
it is possible.
The best way is to thoroughly research assertions,
conditions, and stipulations that suggest a remote
possibility. Where possible, rule out expressions that appear
to be idiomatic or figurative (such as “unless the crow turns
white”). Instead, couch the argument in plain language.
When conditional language is necessary (as in a contract),
anchor the conditions in known rather than unknown events.
It will eliminate many future unwelcome surprises.

6. Begging The Question

This fallacy occurs when at least one of the premises of the
argument assumes that the conclusion is true instead of
reinforcing or proving it. In effect, the claim is assumed to
be true even without proof. Another term for the fallacy is
“Arguing in a Circle” 20.
The name “begging the question,” which literally means “a
question that begs to be answered,” is perplexing because
there is no question at all that begs to be answered. The
fallacy assumes the conclusion and does not leave any doubt
about it. It’s Latin translation is petitio principii (“petitio”
meaning petition, appeal to or beg, “principii” meaning the
principle, or issue in question) 21. The transition suggests
that “begging the question” happened to be a direct
translation of the Latin term, which did not really convey the
essence of the fallacy.
Take the following examples of the circular fallacy.

In the year 2000, the world will end as we know it,

because at 12:01 a.m. on that day, all power will turn
off, planes will fall from the sky, phone lines will go
dead, and we will return to the Dark Ages.

The foregone conclusion in the argument above the sinister

Y2K will definitely take place, and as proof, the premises list
all the tragedies that will occur because of it. The premises
do not explain the reasons or causes supporting the claim
that a worldwide disaster will take place at the turn of the
millennium. To set the argument straight, it could have
explained that all computers upon which all automated
information processing relies will reset to the double zero
“00” due to faulty programming. It was a false analysis, but
at least it cited a possible cause, not an effect, of Y2K.

Golf is a popular sport because many people enjoy

playing it.

Any sport gains popularity because it is loved and enjoyed by

many people. It is the definition of “popular.” Therefore, the
premise of the above argument merely restates the
conclusion. This is singular reasoning.

The government should legalize cannabis for

recreational purposes because many people find
pleasure in indulging in its use.

The argument is a play on the word “recreational,” which, in

its legal sense, is the contrast of “medicinal” or used for
therapeutic purposes. Arguing that cannabis should be
accepted for recreation because many people enjoying it is a
mere restatement of the nature of its use. A sound argument
would explain why the law should eliminate recreational
marijuana from the list of narcotics prohibited by law, such
as the discovery that such use of the substance does not
harm human health.
Begging the question does not require any question at all,
differentiating it from the complex question fallacy. There
are two questions involved in the latter, where the answer to
a given question presumes an answer given to a previous
question. There is no circular reasoning in this latter fallacy,
but an implied answer to a hidden question.

Inspector to suspect: “So when did you last beat up

your wife?”

In this complex question, an affirmative answer to a hidden

question, “Did you beat up your wife?” was presumed,
without giving the suspect a chance to deny it. Actually,
police interrogation tactics sometimes use this ploy to trick
the suspect into a confession by making him believe that his
crime has already been proven.

Addressing The Fallacy

It takes a quick mind to detect circular fallacies. Try to
identify which in the argument is the evidence for the claim.
If it is very similar to or something that the claim already
includes, then you have a circular fallacy. Ask for more
evidence, additional examples, or proof that chronologically
precedes the claim. If the arguer can supply none, you know
that there is no sound premise, and therefore the argument
is fallacious.

7. Black-Or-White Fallacy
As the name implies, this fallacy forces a choice between
only one or the other extreme choice (either black or white)
when there are other alternatives (gray areas) to choose
from. The fallacy is forcing a choice between only two
alternatives.
A black or white fallacy is deceptive because it tricks the
listeners into thinking that only two choices are possible,
and the absence of merit in one makes acceptance of the
other extreme the only solution. The arguer presents the
quality that contrasts the two choices as the only important
criterion for decision-making.

Chloe’s mother disapproved of her desire to enroll in

a fine arts course. “Being an artist does not guarantee
a good income. Better choose medicine as your career
because doctors earn well!”

Many high school seniors who are about to select their

college programs face this decision. Realistically, the choice
does not have to be between Chloe’s or her mom’s. Chloe’s
interest is in the arts; her mom’s interest is for her to have a
well-paying career. Chloe could choose to meet both
interests by enrolling in an advertising arts program. A
career in the advertising arts is both artistically inclined and
financially rewarding.

Would you rather choose to marry for love or money?

This is a classic non-dilemma. Old movies frequently have
the heroine choosing between a dashing, young indigent and
a cold, aloof millionaire. In real life, one can choose to
develop a caring, loving relationship with a person you can
build a comfortable life.

When investing in a restaurant business, it is better to

put up a fine-dining restaurant rather than a fast-
food outlet.

Making business decisions requires an open and creative

mind. There are numerous business models in this industry
other than fine-dining and fast-food, such as bistros,
buffets, diners, etc. Innovations are adopted that combine
the best characteristics of those existing. What appears to be
an either-or decision requires thinking out of the box.

If my son loved me, he would do as I ask and join the

priesthood. But he did not do as I asked. Therefore, he
doesn't love me!

A thinly-veiled manipulative tactic by some of the people we

most care about sometimes equates a personal choice with a
show of familial love. The choice of vocation or calling
cannot signify proof of love or loyalty. The very choice on
this basis negates the nature of the choice as a vocation.
Personal choice and family love cannot be juxtaposed against
each other. A son can still love his parents whatever vocation
he chooses.
In each of these examples, there is always another
alternative, although there is an implicit false premise that
only the two choices exist – the black and the white – and
that they are mutually exclusive.
Addressing The Fallacy
The fallacy can be easily detected by the either-or premise
laid. When faced with this argument, examine closely
whether the choices truly exclude each other and if there are
no other alternatives available. This will open one’s eyes to
many other possible decisions.
The Black-and-White fallacy involves two extremes and the
gray area in between. It is often confused with the next
fallacy, and we will explain how they differ.

8. Middle Ground
When someone argues that the so-called “middle ground”
between two extremes is correct simply because it is
somewhere between the extremes. The claim about the
middle ground is best is not based on the superior merit of
that middle alternative over the extremes. Rather, it is a
compromise between them with possibly less merit. It is
offered as the best choice under the presumption that
advocates of the extreme alternatives may find it acceptable
for all.

Vincent likes Annie, who dances ballet in the theatre.

But Vincent’s mom wants to match him with Delia,
the owner of a local restaurant. To settle the matter,
Vincent’s dad introduced him to Angela, a dancer at a
bar-and-grill.

Vincent’s dad erroneously presumes that Vincent likes Anna

because she dances, and his mom prefers Delia because she
works in the restaurant business. He is oblivious to the type
of dance or the nature of the restaurant job. He does not
think that the best choice may actually be Annie, who
Vincent may like for her many other qualities.

Andrew is a Republican who felt he could not tolerate

a Democrat governor. His wife, Priscila, is a Democrat
who felt she could not tolerate a Republican governor.
To keep the peace, they decided to vote for the
Independent candidate.

The best choice for governor should be the candidate most

qualified to discharge the office’s duties; this should be the
premise when deciding the elected official. Therefore,
choosing based on the party does not guarantee the best
choice. It is possible that one of the other major party
candidates would have made a better choice.

Bruno used to drink ten bottles of beer a day. After ten

years of this, he got sick and required angioplasty to
open up an artery. The doctor gave him strict orders
not to drink a single drop ever again because it was
bad for his health. When Bruno got home, he thought
to himself, “I’m afraid to die, but I can’t go without
beer!” So, he decided to drink just five bottles a day.

In many medical cases, doctors will allow patients some

leeway in alcohol consumption, but they will recommend
complete abstinence in serious cases. Strict orders from a
doctor allow for no compromise for the good of the patient.
Bruno did not understand that the middle position in this
case – from the doctor’s advice not to drink a single drop to
his former ten bottle consumption daily – or five bottles a
day, is an unacceptable decision.
The Middle Ground fallacy and Black-and-White fallacy are
similar as far as they both involve either choosing one of the
extremes or a compromise between them. The difference is
that in the black-and-white fallacy, the middle choice may
be the best, while in the Middle Ground fallacy, one of the
extremes is likely the better choice

Addressing The Fallacy

The middle ground fallacy is also easy to spot because the
proposition involves a compromise between two alternative
extreme positions. The compromise is patently inadequate or
inappropriate to address the issue raised. The decision was
made for no other reason than that the choice was the
middle ground. To address this fallacy, analyze the choices
on their merits, and any compromise made should consider
the merits.

9. False Cause
The false cause fallacy exists in arguments where the logical
connection between the premises and the conclusion is an
imaginary link. There are three types of false-cause fallacies
based on three types of erroneous logical connections.

9.1 Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (“After This, Therefore Because Of
This”)

After every thunderstorm, the grass in the golf course

looks greener, therefore, thunderstorms cause the
grass to be greener.
It is not actually the thunderstorms per se that make the
grass greener, but the grass was watered. Turning on the
sprinkler systems will typically have the same outcome.

She throws up after every public speech she makes;

therefore making speeches cause her to throw up.

It is not the speech that makes her throw up, but the stress
she feels that makes her feel nauseous after every public
presentation. She may benefit from some professional advice
or public speaking classes to0, or undertake some mental
exercises to destress before her speech, but she should not
avoid her speaking engagements.

After the Aztecs performed rituals offering human

sacrifices to the gods, their harvests were bountiful.
Therefore, the sacrifices brought the bountiful
harvests.

The concurrence between sacrificial offerings and the

bountiful harvests is circumstantial since agricultural
science has already laid the requisites for a more bountiful
harvest. Human sacrifice does not influence harvest
productivity, and it is an unnecessary and horrendous waste
of human life.

My office rival Sandra gave the boss a nice Christmas

gift, and in January, she was promoted. Wow, that gift
sure paid a lot of dividends!

The gift Sandra gave and her subsequent promotion may or

may not have a causal relation, but no conclusion is possible
absent substantial proof. Sandra may have been in line for a
promotion for years based on her good work. To judge that
she was promoted just because of the gift is mean-spirited
and in poor taste.

9.2 Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (“With This, Therefore Because Of
This”)

When dogs go for a walk, they poop on the sidewalk;

therefore, it is the walk that causes them to poop.

Going for a walk may provide dogs the exercise they need to
relieve themselves, but dogs are known to relieve themselves
even when they are confined to closed spaces. Some dogs
don’t relieve themselves at all during walks. It is not the
walk that causes the evacuation but the dog’s own bodily
functions.

When John plays music while fishing, he catches fish,

playing the music attracts fish so John could catch
them.

Music may or may not influence the fish, but to conclude,

this would require scientific research possible with the help
of an experiment. There are too many factors present in the
outdoors that influence fishing. What can be determined for
certain is whether John enjoys the music while he goes
fishing because John can respond concerning how he feels
about the music. Otherwise, there is no logical link between
the music and the number of fish caught.

While traveling in their RV, a couple’s dog kept

howling in his traveling case. They thought that the
 dog was disturbed by the trip and did not enjoy riding
along. It took the dog whisperer to convince the
couple that the wife Ana’s anxiety was causing the
dog’s distress.

People often mistakenly interpret their dog’s actions

depending on how she reacts to ongoing stimuli. However,
dog behaviorists and psychologists explain that dogs act the
way they do in response to their owner’s emotions. The
relationship between a dog and its master is not common
knowledge, so an expert may sometimes need to explain the
truth to dispel laymen’s misconceptions.

9.3 Ignoring Common Cause

This fallacy refers to the belief that one thing caused
something while ignoring the possibility that another thing
may have caused both things.

I thought that the roosters’ crowing in the morning

wakes the rest of the farm animals up. But the last
rooster died, and all the animals woke up anyway. So,
the rising sun wakes all the animals up on the farm,
including the roosters.

It is a charming element in stories about farm life that

attributes the waking of the animals to the cock’s crow. The
truth is that diurnal animals will wake with the sunrise,
whether the rooster crows or not.

Rising inflation caused interest rates to rise. Actually,

economic policies tend to cause both inflation and
interest rates to fluctuate.
Economic analysts expect interest rates to rise when
inflation rates go up. This is true because the monetary
authority uses its policies to control the money supply. But
there have been times when increasing inflation does not
result in increasing interest rates. Economic indicators
respond to the effects of broad economic policies.

The homicide rate is increasing, which the mayor

blames on the rise in illegal firearms in the city. She
should admit that they are both the result of poor law
enforcement under her watch.

This fallacy is independent of people’s views on gun control.

The clue lies in the words of the argument itself. Both
homicide and the possession of illegal firearms are against
the law. The number of illegal firearms is not the ultimate
cause of the rise in homicides, which could be carried out by
means other than a gun. But both point to lax law
enforcement, which is the true cause of the rising crime rate.

Addressing The Fallacy

The false cause fallacy can be difficult to identify because for
some cases, the subject may be nuanced and require special
knowledge (e.g., dog psychology and economics in the
previous examples). Sometimes, they are easy to detect
because they openly defy logic (e.g., human sacrifice). To
address false cause fallacies involving difficult issues or
claims, you must do some research and consult reliable
experts about the true causes of some phenomena. Combine
both logic and information to resolve a false cause fallacy.
10. Red Herring
This fallacy occurs when the arguer throws out an irrelevant
issue to distract and confuse the listener into agreeing with
the claim. The name comes from a practice escaping
prisoners allegedly did during prison breaks. They threw the
odorous red herrings in different directions to distract the
chasing dogs away from their human scent and off their
trail. In this fallacy, the red herring is the irrelevant issue 22.

Ian was caught driving the wrong way down a one-

way street. Oblivious of the nearby street signs, Ian’s
response to the arresting officer was, “But officer, I
did not know this was a one-way street.” The officer
asked for his driver’s license, which turned out to be
expired. “Really? I was not aware!” Finally, the officer
told Ian that the car he was driving was reported
stolen. “No, you don’t say! I borrowed this car from
my friend, but I just forgot to ask his permission.”

All three reasons Ian gave were red herrings. First, ignorance
of the law excuses no one. Second, all drivers should be
responsible for their documents. Third, possessing another
person’s property without permission creates a presumption
of theft. So, all three reasons given by Ian are irrelevant to
his defense.
Here are other common red herring fallacies.

Teacher, the dog ate my homework.

The dog eating one’s homework is irrelevant. Prudence

dictates one should always have a copy for submission. No
homework still means no grade.
 I’m sure there is no global warming, The ice age we
learned about in the seventies hasn’t even come yet.

One scientific theory’s validity cannot hinge on the validity

of another, possibly irrelevant, scientific theory. Citing one
debunked theory to disprove another theory is a red herring.

Hollywood types are not trustworthy. Actors and

actresses know how to pretend, so they can make you
believe anything.

The artistic portrayal of other people is not tantamount to

deception and therefore is irrelevant to weighing the
trustworthiness of people.

When the majority of Marvel superheroes were killed

off in Avengers: Infinity War 23, there was a spike in
grief counseling sessions by fans upset with the
demise of their favorite stars. Therefore, films with
tragic endings are unhealthy for the viewing public
and should be outlawed by media regulators.

Confusion of on-screen personas and the actors who play

them happen more frequently now that visual entertainment
has approached new heights in realism. But avid fans
possibly take “suspension of belief” to extremes. Using
transient abnormal reactions to justify censorship of the
media is a red herring.

Addressing The Fallacy

Since a red herring aims to distract and confuse, resist being
distracted and confused. You should suspect a red herring
when you feel that the argument makes no sense. Since the
issue the arguer raises makes no sense, ignore it altogether
and go straight to a resolution. (The officer in the first
example should simply give Ian a ticket.) You do not need to
argue down a foolish proposition.

11. Slippery Slope

The slippery slope fallacy argues that taking one small step,
although seemingly harmless, would eventually lead one to
increasingly harmful situations. This is why the first step
should not be taken at all. The “slippery slope” is that
unavoidable path towards more danger, even when there
may be no strong reason for this to happen 24.

Marijuana is a gateway drug. Once you get used to it,

you’ll look for methamphetamine, cocaine, then
heroin, in search of new highs.

Cannabis is not justified as a gateway drug. The research

established that the vast majority of those who used
marijuana does not necessarily progress to more potent
substance abuse 25.

Don’t even think that it’s okay to tell white lies. You’ll
get used to telling bigger and bigger lies until you
can’t tell the truth anymore.

Some research tends to support this, but research also

suggests social lying (white lies), which is sometimes
resorted to because people fear inflicting emotional harm
with an honest but negative comment 26. Compassion is the
driver for some white lies, suggesting that people cease to lie
in other situations where the altruistic motivation is absent.

We should guard our liberties against encroachment

by an increasingly tyrannical government. Today, it’s
masks and lockdowns. Tomorrow they’ll come after
our freedom of speech and religion. We should not
give an inch.

This rather dramatic suggestion of masks gradually

encroaching upon the eventual abolition of the bill of rights
is somewhat far fetched but not entirely irrelevant. It is a
slippery-slope fallacy because of its allegation that wearing a
mask (i.e., to avoid disease contamination) will eventually
lead to dictatorship, a speculation without reliable proof,

Addressing The Fallacy

A slippery slope fallacy may be countered by proving that the
alleged future outcome is not the necessary conclusion.
Research, such as the survey conducted for the use of
cannabis or narration of past events that ended up with
different results, may rebut the fallacious argument.

12. False Analogy

This type of fallacy draws a false comparison between two
things. It states that if A and B are the same regarding a
certain quality, they must also be the same regarding other
qualities. The next three arguments are false analogy
fallacies because the criterion for comparison does not
support the conclusion.
 Timmy and Tommy are both Navy Seals. Tommy is a
good husband and father. That means Timmy will
likewise be a good husband and father.

Timmy and Tommy being Navy Seals may mean they are
both well-trained, but this has no bearing on their
inclinations for marriage and family.

Filipinos and Indonesians are both warm, hospitable

Asians. Filipinos are mostly Catholic. Indonesians are,
therefore, mostly Catholic, too.

Filipinos and Indonesians are closely related ethnically and

culturally, but their historical difference resulted in
Indonesia being mostly Muslim and the Philippines being
predominantly Catholic.

Aspirin is a French invention. So was the guillotine.

Aspirin is beneficial to mankind; therefore, the
guillotine must also be just as beneficial to mankind.

Inventions made in the same country may be good or bad

depending on their use. Aspirin is a medicine to alleviate
pain, while the guillotine is an instrument for mass
executions.
The false analogy can refer to two items or persons in the
same category but with different levels of the same
characteristic. The analogy fails because a different reason
underlies the same thing being compared.

Dr. Phillip caught his student Jill opening her

handbook during a test. He called her attention and
asked her why she was cheating. “I’m not cheating,
 Doctor. When I was your intern, I noticed that you
consulted your handbook when you wrote a
prescription for a patient. Since you’re already a
doctor but still have to read your handbook, then I
think I should be able to do the same since I am still a
student and much less knowledgeable than you.”

Dr. Phillip consulting his handbook is an act of diligence to

ensure that he is providing the right treatment for his
patient. That is part of due diligence. Jill, on the other hand,
is a student who is taking an exam to test her knowledge.
Therefore, Dr. Phillip is right to prohibit her from consulting
her handbook because it will defeat the purpose of the test.
Their purposes for doing the same are not comparable.

My wife forbids me from drinking because she says

alcohol is the drink of the devil. I don’t see what’s
wrong with it. Our parish priest is a saint compared to
me, and he drinks wine in front of the whole
congregation every Sunday.

The husband drinks wine as an act of self-indulgence. The

priest drinks the wine during mass as part of the celebration
of a religious sacrament. The act of drinking wine in the two
cases is not comparable.

Addressing The Fallacy

Again, it might not be easy to spot a false analogy fallacy
because you will need to analyze the thing being compared.
If the criteria for comparison are not relevant to the
conclusion, then it is a false analogy and disregarded.
13. Sunk Cost Fallacy
The term “sunk cost” in economic terms refers to an
investment that has already been made. The sunk cost
fallacy pertains to a person’s behavior due to investing time,
effort, or money on something 27. The conclusion they arrive
at is for them to “get their money’s worth,” to try to derive
the value of what they had invested even if it may put them
at a further disadvantage.
Another name for this fallacy is the Concorde Fallacy. It is an
open reference to the Concorde supersonic airliner whose
project proponents continued to pursue even though the
future returns were bound to be unstable 28. Sunk cost
relates to loss aversion (the psychological pain of incurring a
loss) and status quo bias (the urge to keep things as they are)
29.

Chris already spent a lot of money dating Shiela in

terms of fancy lobster dinners, Broadway plays, and
expensive gifts. He now expects her to accept his
marriage proposal because he deserves it, after all the
money and time he gave her.

The fallacy in this argument rests in the implication that

Shiela owes it to Chris to accept his proposal because he
already spent a large sum in courting her. However, the true
justification for accepting the proposal should be her
willingness to become his spouse. A variation of this case is
more sinister:

Ron is going out on a hot new date. He’s going to

treat her to a movie, a lobster dinner, and expensive
 drinks. He’s hoping that he’ll get his money’s worth
if she invites him up afterward.

Courting expenses should not be relevant to the acceptance

of a more permanent relationship. Even more so, the price of
a date should not be the reason to expect an after-date
romance.

Randy bought a membership in a resort hotel where

he agrees to pay a fixed amount to use the property
for two weeks a year. At first, he thought this was a
good idea. Later on, Randy felt that he did not want to
vacation in the same place every year, or even
vacation. But since he already paid for it, Randy
continued staying in that resort home for two weeks
every year.

Randy has several options, such as exchanging this

membership with others selling off his share at a slight
discount if he wanted to. But Randy wanted to get the value
of his money and so went on vacations he did not really
want.

Despite having tried the catering business for a year,

it was obvious that this was a failing venture from the
start. Still, Alice insisted on pushing on, reasoning
she still wanted to recover what she already invested.

This last situation is much the same as the Concorde project,

where the project proponents refuse to give up on the dream.
Alice refuses to admit that the business was a bad idea and
still looks to recover though it is highly unlikely.
Sunk cost fallacies are relatively easy to identify because
they involve investing some discernible value in terms of
time, money or effort, and refusing to take a loss on it when
that would have been a more sensible decision. However, the
sunk cost dilemma is not as easy to resolve because it is
essentially behavioral.

Addressing The Fallacy

The best decision-making guide to avoid getting caught up
in a sunk cost fallacy trap is to set a cut-loss limit when
investing, and having the discipline to follow this plan if it
materializes. A cut-loss limit is a point at which one is
willing to assume a loss – 20% of the investment value, one
year into the venture, or any measure in time and resources.
Having set this, one should develop the resolve to cut clean
when that point is reached, and not look back in regret.

14. Appeal To The People

This type of fallacy relies on the listeners’ desire to be
associated with a large group of people or people of a
particular type as the basis for persuasion. There are three
such fallacies: the Bandwagon Fallacy, Appeal to Vanity, and
Appeal to Snobbery, but the Bandwagon Fallacy is the more
popular of the three 30.

14.1 Bandwagon Fallacy

As the name suggests, this fallacy seeks to persuade the
listener to accept a claim because many others accept it.
 The year’s best-selling car in the United States is the
Ford F-Series, so you should consider buying one.

Purchasing a vehicle is expensive. Therefore, the buyer

should be guided by the reason for the purchase when
choosing what to buy. Just citing it as the best-selling car
does not say anything about cost-effectiveness,
performance, or special features (i.e., four-wheel drive) that
the owner might particularly like.

Everybody uses credit cards for online transactions

these days, so it must be pretty safe.

Not everybody uses credit cards, and in certain applications,

it is not safe, as the rising instances of card shows. The
popularity of a particular service or product does not prove it
is safe, therefore, precautions must be ensured.

14.2 Appeal To Vanity

When the argument associates the claim with a preferred
status or lifestyle, it is an Appeal to Vanity.

Men who lift weights and build their muscles attract

more women at the beach. If you want to be a ladies’
man, do gym workouts three times a week.

A specified frequency of gym workouts does not guarantee

that a man will attract more women. Many women are
attracted to men who are smart, charming, and amiable. A
well-defined physique may be an image that a gym
enthusiast may work towards as its own reward.
 If you eat only plant-based food and avoid meat, you
will not only become healthier but happier. There are
benefits to becoming a vegetarian.

Slim and healthy is an image one can work towards, but it is

the person’s disposition that will eventually determine
whether or not he/she will be happy.

14.3 Appeal to Snobbery

Another common argument links the claim to being a part of
an elite group. This is known as Appeal to Snobbery.

A graduate from Harvard is respected as an

intellectual giant, therefore, I will go there for my
college degree.

The choice of school should depend on the enrollee’s

selected degree and his/her parent’s ability to pay. Going to
an expensive school for bragging rights is impractical and
unwise.

You should accept his marriage proposal. He is the

prince, so you will be a princess and live happily ever
after.

Agreeing to marry to gain a title does not bring happiness.

This has been born out of several real-life personalities. The
conclusion does not logically follow the premise.
Appeal to Vanity and Appeal to Snobbery are quite similar,
but they differ in intention. The Appeal to Snobbery aims to
convince the listener to acquire a desirable status by joining
an elite group. In contrast, the Appeal to Vanity aims more to
convince the listener to adopt a desirable lifestyle.

Addressing The Fallacy

The appeal to people or popularity fallacy is misleading
because it substitutes a reference group’s opinion for our
own. It implies that we cannot decide for ourselves, so we
accept others’“better sense” to decide for us. When faced
with this argument, we must decide what degree we wish to
be defined by that reference group. The best choice is,
always, to decide according to our best lights.

15. Straw Man

This fallacy gives the illusion of refuting the proposition
being made when the argument covertly replaces the
original proposition with another, weaker proposition (“the
straw man”) and attacks that instead. This leaves the
original proposition cunningly unaddressed.

15.1 Distortion
Distortion substitutes the real issue with an entirely
different and unfounded issue that totally misrepresents the
situation.

Your daughter Daisy complimented my son Robert on

his family’s history and status. She obviously wants
to marry my son because he comes from a rich and
socially respected family. She is merely interested in
 our wealth and fame. Therefore, this wedding should
not push through.

Many parents in families of high social stature have made

this straw man’s argument. The arguer confounds the
genuine respect and appreciation shown by Daisy with the
accusation of having a shallow interest in their social
standing and affluence. By ascribing this malicious intention
to Daisy, Robert’s parents can make their objection to the
wedding more acceptable.

Arlyne wanted to join the volleyball team, but her

mom informed the coach that she does not have her
parents’ permission. “Her arm was fractured when
she was younger, and her doctor advised against her
playing competitively until her bones are stronger.”
When her coach told Arlyne, she vented her anger
against her mother. “You’re always against
everything I want. You just don’t want me to be
happy!”

Parents, as a rule, want their children to pursue their

dreams, but occasionally there is a good reason for them to
call a halt. Older children may feel resentful when their
elders tell them, “No,” and lash out by distorting the issue
and painting their parents as domineering. This makes them
feel justified in their rebellion.

15.2 Oversimplification
For this straw man, the larger issue becomes minimized to
cover only a portion of it or only one of many contributory
factors,
 McDonald’s serves very hot coffee. My client
positioned the coffee cup between her knees as she
took the lid off her coffee cup. The scalding hot coffee
spilled on her, and she had third-degree burns
requiring a visit to the emergency room. The warning
sign printed on the side of the cup is so tiny that
anyone can hardly see it, but it proves McDonald’s
knows its coffee is very hot. The accident is,
therefore, McDonald’s fault.

In this instance, many contributing factors led to the

customer’s injury. The lawyer arguing the case disregards
his client’s lack of care and her failure to take precautions,
instead of simplifying the issue to McDonald’s making the
coffee too hot. It is more complicated because the customer’s
negligence contributed to the accident.

To determine custody of the children in a divorce

proceeding, the parent who is better off financially
and has a steady source of income should be given
sole custody of the children. It is for the children’s
benefit.

The complex considerations involved in parental custody

include the children’s welfare, the parties’ parental skills,
their availability to tend to the children, the proximity of the
residence to school and hospital, community conditions for
raising children, etc. Making it a matter of who has more
money is an oversimplification of a complicated decision.

15.3 Overextension
Whereas oversimplification reduces the scope of the issues
involved, overextension includes issues related but not
relevant to the true issue involved to direct the cause
elsewhere.

When the suspect was a boy, he was abandoned by his

parents. He became a ward of the state and
transferred from one foster home to another. He did
not receive the proper upbringing and moral
instruction that all children are entitled to. Now that
he has committed a crime, it is not his fault but the
fault of the state.

The failures of the foster care system do not negate the

personal responsibility of all mature individuals over their
own actions. Others have gone through the same system and
emerged as responsible adults, even taking the initiative to
reform the system based on their experiences 31. The suspect
in the above case remains culpable.

Modern high-rise buildings are energy inefficient

and, therefore, contribute significantly to the city’s
carbon footprint, a major cause of climate change.
Therefore, the city council should order a retrofitting
of all its high-rise buildings. Its energy sources
should use only solar and wind.

In a case of overreach, new regulations should not work

retroactively to include changes to structure compliant with
the code existing at the time. It becomes a penalty to
property owners who will need to undertake expensive
repairs for no fault on their part.
Addressing The Fallacy
To identify a straw man fallacy, remember a fine line
between a reasonably reformulated argumentative criticism
and a strategically concocted straw man 32. The arguer
misrepresents the opponent’s strong proposition and
substitutes it with a weak one. The arguer successfully
attacks the weaker proposition while ignoring the original
claim. Distortion, oversimplification, or extension beyond
the claim’s original limits results in duplicity 33.

16. Appeal To Force

The Appeal to Force is similar to Appeal to Fear, except that
in the former, the arguer threatens the harm, while in the
latter the fear is inspired by a source other than the arguer.
Strictly speaking, an Appeal to Force is not a fallacious
argument or an argument at all 34 because it does not rely on
logic but coercion. However, it rightly earned its place
among the fallacies because it effectively wins arguments
when the side threatening force is losing the logical debate.

Wally told Ida that if she insists on working as an

airline attendant, he will call the wedding off.

From an independent perspective, this is an appeal for force.

Deciding to marry should be based on whether two people
feel so strongly about each other to want to live their lives
together “for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in
sickness and in health,” so what their occupations are
should not matter to each other.
The threat is, therefore, for Wally to force Ida to do what he
wants. However, if Wally were to issue such a groundless
threat, then this gives Ida a reason to call off the wedding
herself. Obviously, Wally is not into it “for better or worse.”

You better believe that climate change exists, or we

will put you on social media as a denier 35.

This particular appeal to force applies to nearly all unpopular

acts any person with a social media presence may commit.
Online bullying has become an effective threat that can
“persuade” anybody to comply even if the appeal goes
unsaid.

In the sixties, we strictly complied with our father’s

orders, or else he threatened to spank us with his
leather belt.

The threat of corporal punishment is an Appeal to Force as

children could not question parental authority. Logic does
not play a role in this type of strict upbringing.
The threat of force mustn’t be the one that is reasonable or
normal to expect in light of the premise. If the “threat” is
actually a fact or reasonable consequence of the conclusion,
then the argument becomes logical. The following are
examples of such non-fallacies.

I am an IRS agent. Make sure to report all your

income, or I will have to come after you.
You have to submit your thesis before starting the
Christmas break, or I will give you a failing grade.
If you don’t brush your teeth every day, tooth decay
will set in. I’ll have to take you to the dentist, who will
 have to pull out all your rotting teeth!

Addressing The Fallacy

This fallacy can be identified by the nature of the act the
arguer threatens to inflict upon the listener. The
consequence of non-compliance or failure to agree has no
logical link to the argument. The only way to counter the
fallacy is to use logical reasoning to explain why the
agreement is impossible. Remember, though, that standing
your ground may result in the infliction of the harm
threatened. If the risk is great and the harm is severe,
recourse to a legal remedy might be necessary.

17. Fallacy Fallacy

Also known as the Argument from Fallacy, this fallacy relies
on the justification that since the claim was argued poorly
(i.e., the argument rests on a fallacy), that the claim itself is
wrong when in fact, it may be right.

Cecilia told Susan that turmeric tea cured her arthritic

knees, but Susan later found out that Cecilia had knee
surgery. Susan now believes that turmeric tea really
has no benefit for arthritis.

The fallacious assertion is that Cecilia’s knees healed

completely due to turmeric. This is an overstatement, as
turmeric reasonably claims only to alleviate, not cure, the
condition. Susan commits another fallacy in completely
denying any benefits turmeric may have.
 Alan wanted a dog. His parents heard that dogs make
good pets because some dogs, like Yorkshire terriers,
don’t cause asthma. They got Alan a French bulldog,
which unfortunately worsened his asthma. The
parents decided that dogs do not make good pets after
all.

The claim is that dogs make good pets, which is true since
dogs are man’s best friend. The initial fallacy is that dogs
make good pets because they don’t cause asthma. This is a
hasty generalization fallacy because only some dogs are
hypoallergenic.
The fallacy fallacy is that simply because it is not true that
all dogs don’t cause asthma, then all dogs don’t make good
pets. Sadly, this unsound reasoning may deny Alan the love
of a dog he may have dearly wanted.

Addressing The Fallacy

Fallacy fallacy is a type of fallacy that logic enthusiasts are
prone to fall for. Those who are aware of fallacies may tend
to focus on identifying fallacies and, finding some, may
dismiss the conclusion as false even if it may be true,
To counter the fallacy fallacy, identify why the original
argument is fallacious and address the flaw in its logic. If
this original fallacy came from you, then acknowledge that it
is logically flawed. Then you should show that the fallacious
reasoning does not negate or invalidate the principal claim
in the original argument. The next step would be to retract
the fallacious claim in the original argument, leaving the
valid conclusion intact.
Bringing It All Together
The number and variety of fallacies we have encountered in
this short discussion demonstrate how common fallacies are
and how frequently we encounter them. These are but a few
of the hundreds of possible logical errors identified by the
scholars of logic.
It is impossible to remember them all, and even if we do, we
may not be able to identify them as quickly as we encounter
them. Being aware of only a fraction of them and practicing
as much as possible in spotting them daily will nevertheless
hone our skills in thinking, discussing, and deciding.

Action Steps
Informal fallacies are everywhere in popular literature.
Choose an article or two from a favorite magazine, online
website, or the opinion or society page of a newspaper. Scan
the article while applying the following steps, devised by
Vaidya and Erickson 36, and see how many fallacies you can
find.
1. Examine if the passage contains an argument; if so, state
the conclusion. Knowing the conclusion is the first step to
analyzing its logical supports.
2. Determine if the passage contains a controversial claim.
The current debate about them usually suggests the issues
around controversies.
3. Examine whether any of the central claims rely on
expertise. Gather the established expert knowledge and
opinions as well as matters that are still unsettled.
4. Explore whether options or alternatives suggested by the
passage are exhaustive.
5. Consider carefully whether any of the words may signify
different things. Watch out for double meanings and words
used in different contexts.
Remember, some passages contain more than one fallacy, so
patience and persistence will go a long way.

How Well Can You Spot The Fallacy?

In the following exercise, five situations describe arguments
that may or may not be fallacious. Analyze whether a fallacy
is involved, and if so, which type of fallacy. Explain your
answer. The solution appears at the end of this chapter.
A. They said a flu epidemic is currently spreading over the
country. However, in our town, there is no sign of the flu.
Therefore, it is not true that there is such an epidemic.
B. The family is the building block of a well-founded society
because a healthy society’s foundation rests on communities
composed of strong families.
C. Every time I visit my Chinese friend’s store, his business
quickly picks up after, so he calls me his lucky charm and
invites me to visit often.
D. The same company that handles the Disney theme parks’
advertising campaign also does the advertising for the
carnival rides in our town. I am sure that our rides are just as
safe as those in the Disney parks.
E. John called in sick, so his boss Alan gave him the day off.
At noon, Alan went to the nearby mall for lunch. There he
saw John with his wife. Alan asked a little pointedly, “John, I
thought you were sick.” John replied, “My doctor’s clinic is
on the fourth floor.”

Moving On
Informal fallacies result from unsound reasoning just as
formal fallacies result from construction errors in framing
arguments. Many logical mistakes are impulsive - like
parents’ mental panic attacks when their pre-schooler
mentions “sex.” But some are wickedly intended to mislead
and confuse. Therefore, it is important to know how to avoid
such errors, which the final chapter will discuss.

Key Takeaways

Informal fallacies are created by unsound reasoning.

Some fallacies rely on weak evidence, such as appeals
to emotion, authority, and the people.
Others are fallacies of weak induction, such as straw
men, red herrings, middle ground, and false causes.
Still, others are fallacies of ambiguity that make a
weak connection between premises and conclusion,
such as begging the question, slippery slopes, false
analogy, and appeal to force.

Solution To The Exercise:

1. Appeal to Ignorance
2. Begging the Question
3. False Cause, Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
4. False Analogy
5. No Fallacy
 6

MAKING THE CHANGE: HOW CAN WE BECOME

RATIONAL THINKERS?

The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most

slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them
already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to
the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that
he knows already, without a shadow of a doubt, what is
laid before him. 1
— LEO TOLSTOY, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU, P.
49

I n the poem by John Godrey Sage, “The Blind Men and the
Elephant” 2, there were six men of Indostan who went to
“see” their first elephant. The fact that all of them were
blind led to some interesting outcomes when they
encountered this magnificent beast. For those who are
unfamiliar with the story, here’s a quick summary.
The six men approached the elephant from six directions
and therefore touched different parts of its body. The first
touched its broadside and said that the elephant was like a
wall. The second felt its tusk and pronounced that it was like
a spear. The third held its trunk and said it was like a snake,
and the fourth felt its knee and said it was like a tree. The
fifth touched the ear and announced that it was like a fan,
and the sixth groped its swinging tail and exclaimed that the
elephant was like a rope.
To the six blind men of Indostan, the elephant was six
different things. And it is a good bet that none of them could
convince the others that the elephant was anything other
than what they came to conclude for themselves.
Now, none of them were lying. They were very sincere
because they based their opinions on their first-hand
experience. All of them perceived the truth, but only a
portion of it. None of them appreciated the whole truth, not
having had the opportunity to examine the whole elephant.
Leo Tolstoy was convinced that people whose minds
resembled a blank slate could be taught anything, but those
who have their own experiences would have difficulty
accepting a different view from others. In short, we are
biased in favor of what we already know to be true.
Overcoming that bias requires evidence and logical
persuasion, yet some prefer to cling to their biases even with
the best arguments.
But before we discuss biases, let’s recall the logical concepts
in the previous chapters.

Recalling The Key Concepts

Humans are rational beings. We use our reasoning to make
sense of our surroundings, and what we learn through
reason we commit to memory. Reasoning is instinctive and
informal. Logic is systematic reasoning according to the
principles of validity. All people reason, but not all people do
it logically. Logic enables us to structure our reasoning into
arguments, composed of premises and a conclusion.
Arguments are the means to convey ideas logically. Their
main goal is to persuade others of the truth of one’s claim.
Not all arguments are valid, and even if they were not all
valid arguments are sound. Some arguments do not lead to
the truth; they are fallacious. Fallacies are defects in
arguments that result from unsound reasoning. Some
fallacies are logical mistakes and are therefore unintentional.
However, some fallacies are devices unscrupulously
employed by insincere arguers to win the discussion but not
seek the truth.
In the real world, our decision-making processes involve
dealing with arguments within ourselves and with other
persons. We weigh the claims and their proofs to resolve
multiple levels of complex arguments. The process is
difficult and often confusing. We are often tempted to fall
back on past experiences and stock knowledge to make
short-cuts in arriving at a decision. It is in making such
short-cuts that our biases take over, leading us to often
make the wrong decision.

Recognizing Our Biases

Thinking rationally involves consistently abiding by logical
principles, whether we do so intentionally or instinctively.
Sometimes, we fail to apply these principles due to biases
that we are subject to. A few of them are discussed here.

1. Confirmation Bias
This is one of the most common biases that we are all
probably guilty of. We tend to favor ideas that confirm our
existing opinions and the information we already accept as
truth. It refers to “unwitting selectivity in the acquisition
and use of evidence,” an “unwitting molding of facts to fit”
one’s beliefs 3. Philosophers and psychologists have
determined that people find it easier to accept claims that
align more closely with what they already believe to be true,
rather than those propositions they want to be false.
Confirmation bias in real-world contexts exists in the fields
of policy rationalization (politics), medicine, judicial
reasoning, and science, among others. For instance,
traditional Chinese would prefer to be cured through
acupuncture and the application of Chinese herbs and
medicines rather than Western forms of treatment.
Confirmation bias exists because people want to believe,
because their frames of reference are already conditioned,
and people have a pragmatic desire to avoid error 4.

2. First Impression Bias

This type of bias refers to “a limitation of human
information processing in which people are strongly
influenced by the first piece of information that they are
exposed to, and they are biased in evaluating subsequent
information in the direction of the initial influence” 5.
Studies have shown that first impressions are formed around
certain constructs in social cognition, such as character
traits, trustworthiness, and competence; facial appearance,
and simple behaviors (e.g. judging one is possibly lazy or
slow-witted), or their goals, values, and beliefs.
In the real world, first impression bias is often manifested
during the personnel recruitment or hiring process.
Employers tend to ask questions that confirm their first
impressions about the candidates and treat them accordingly
6. The way to avoid first impression bias is to suspend
judgment after the first few meetings and wait until all
relative information is available before concluding.

3. The Dunning-Kruger Effect

In 1999, Kruger and Dunning 7 observed that in many social

and intellectual domains, people generally have an overly
favorable opinion of their abilities. They suggest that this
overestimation takes place partly because those who are
unskilled in such domains tend to carry a dual burden. First,
they reach faulty conclusions and make erroneous choices.
Second, they are unaware that they are doing so because
their incompetence hinders their metacognitive ability to
realize it. “Metacognition” is knowledge of one’s thinking
and learning, an awareness of their own higher-order
thinking skills 8.
Most people are deficient in their metacognition that they
exhibit a bias towards the validity of their own erroneous
beliefs. An example would be students’ assessment of how
they performed in an exam or class activity. When they
receive a failing grade, they are convinced it is unfair and
argue that they deserve a higher grade. To avoid the
Dunning-Kruger bias, the metacognitive competence of
individuals may be improved by improving their skills and
recognizing their limitations in the specific domain.

4. Fundamental Attribution Error (Fae)

This type of bias is a social error involving an overestimation
of an actor’s personality while at the same time
underestimating the situational factors when trying to
explain the cause of an event or behavior 9. According to the
study by Berry, we tend to commit the FAE many times a
day. A typical example is when an employee comes late to
work and is reprimanded by her manager. That same
manager arrives late at a subsequent meeting and offers
excuses for being late. More recently are the frequent
occurrences of officials chastising and sanctioning people in
their jurisdictions who failed to comply with local orders and
who themselves are found violating the same orders they
were enforcing on their constituents.
The FAE is typically an error caused by somebody using
limited information to make judgments. There are several
things one may do to avoid the FAE. One is to list down five
good qualities of the individual towards whom you are
beginning to feel resentful. Practice empathy by discussing
with other people about their lives and getting to know them
better. Broaden your perspective and examine the situation
more closely before passing judgment about the actors in it.
Develop self-awareness and objectivity in assessing behavior
and happenings 10.

5. Decline Bias (Declinism)

This bias tends to view the past as overly positive and the
present or future in an extremely negative light. This bias is
typically applied to one’s view of a country, society,
institution, or any similarly general context. Humans have a
propensity to focus more on negative information than
positive information, such as conveyed in the news, and this
negativity shapes the worldview of some people 11. Declinism
is a negativity bias, a feeling shared by many that their
society is in decline 12.
Part of declinism is the tendency to romanticize the past.
Men and women who grew up in the 50s and 60s may feel
that men and women’s traditional roles (men worked,
women kept the home and raised the children) reflected a
much better time because lives were simpler. Today the
opposite is likely to happen, that women who chose to stay
at home full time are scorned because their gender is now
expected to balance career and family.
The first step towards avoiding declinism is to be aware of
our emotional attachments to the past. From that awareness,
a greater focus should be devoted to the positive things in
the present surroundings 13. Go so far as to make a list of
how society is better now than in the past. When some
things are worse off today, keep a reminder that the
difficulties today are merely challenges, not a sign that an
apocalypse is approaching.

6. Diagnostic Bias
Also known as diagnostic suspicion bias or provider bias,
diagnostic bias occurs when one’s perception, prejudice, or
subjective judgment affects one’s diagnosis. As its name
suggests, this is a bias committed by medical or health
professionals. These are the professionals who diagnose
illnesses or injuries by examining the symptoms or
diagnostic tests results. Knowledge of exposure to some
chemical agent or contagious disease are examples of factors
that may influence the perception of a physician in making
her diagnosis. She may schedule tests or look for specific
symptoms in that group that she would not normally do for a
non-exposed group 14.
The diagnostic bias is a specialized category that traces its
causes back to the more generic types of bias, including
anchoring, availability, confirmation, framing, and
premature closure biases. The following are the descriptions
and corrective strategies for the types of bias that form the
root causes of diagnostic bias 15.
• Anchoring – Sticking with a diagnosis after it is debunked.
The health professional will insist on continuing treatment
consistent with the first diagnosis instead of adopting a
treatment more appropriate to the real malady. The
corrective strategy is to examine the patient’s
unresponsiveness or seek new information to refine the
original diagnosis.
• Availability – The professional refers to what most readily
comes to mind. The physician makes a diagnosis similar to
that of a previous patient who manifests the same
symptoms. A more alert professional would know the
statistical likelihood and baseline prevalence of the
diagnosed condition.
• Confirmation – Applied specifically to diagnostic bias,
confirmation bias refers to the preference for findings that
support an already-suspected diagnosis or strategy. For
instance, urine test results that may indicate another
condition are taken to confirm the patient’s self-diagnosis
of a kidney infection. The countervailing strategy is to refer
to an objective source such as a diagnostic checklist) in
evaluating how strongly the diagnosis matches the technical
findings.
• Framing – Refers to gathering or assembling elements that
support a particular diagnosis. An example is assuming that
coronavirus symptoms in a patient who recently came from
the UK result from the more infectious UK variant. The
corrective strategy is to gather different perspectives by
expanding the patient’s history beyond recent events or
validating clinical methods rather than merely assuming.
• Premature closure – Consists of failing to seek more
information after a diagnosis is concluded. The illness or
injury may have a subsequent development, such as the
occurrence of a second fracture after identifying the first.
The corrective strategy involves conducting a review of the
case and seeking the opinions of specialists in other fields
(for instance, radiology backup in the case of a fracture). It
also helps to consult objective resources – in this case, an
orthopedic review that mentions a common concomitant
fracture 16.

How To Think Rationally By Avoiding Biases

1. Make it a habit to research. Look for evidence that
disconfirms your initial position.
2. Think of the problem on your own and create a tentative
opinion before consulting others. Do this to prevent being
anchored to others’ ideas.
3. Think outside the box, and do not be limited by the status
quo. However, before disregarding the current system or
situation, evaluate how elements of the status quo may help
or hurt your objectives. Avoid overstating the cost of
changing from the status quo.
4. Engage with people whose positions are contrary to yours.
Consult people with as many different ideas or opinions as
possible, rather than focusing on a group with homogeneous
positions.
5. When working with other people, avoid being defensive
and argumentative when they have opinions that differ from
your own. Seek a Devil’s Advocate. Hear them out. Ask
clarificatory and neutral questions. Do not ask leading or
confrontational questions.
6. When faced with a problem defined by another, do not
merely accept the initial frame in which it is construed. Try
to reframe or turn the problem around to view it from other
angles. Try to adopt different perspectives. Check to see if
you are viewing the problem positively or negatively. Try to
be objective.
7. After reframing the problem, redefine it and discard the
old problem. Use the new, redefined problem to avoid
digging yourself deeper into an unnecessary commitment or
emotional investment. Avoid making public commitments.
8. If the problem is continuing or protracted, create a
systematic or periodic review process that allows for an
“out” when you need to cut your losses or admit a mistake.
Keep in mind that situations may change over time, which
may affect the decisions you have made and will still make.
9. To avoid being overconfident in your initial decision,
always begin by considering the full range of values, the
highest to the lowest possible, to avoid being anchored to
one option. Imagine circumstances that will result in
outcomes below your lowest estimate or above your highest
estimate.
10. Document your decision-making process whenever
possible to avoid changes in memory recall. Gather logs,
statistics, records of procedures already undertaken, facts
and details. They will help reconstruct your decision-making
when it is needed during a future review.
With what we have learned about biases, why are we
predisposed to making poor or bad decisions when we have
the intellect to make good ones? The answer is that humans
are complex beings. Our psyche is the sum of our cognitive
faculties that includes our consciousness, memory, thinking,
perception, judgment, and language. It enables recognition,
appreciation, and imagination, processes feelings and
emotions, and manifests through actions and attitudes.
People will think, feel, and act differently, according to how
they have processed their varied experiences, knowledge,
and information. The decisions we make are relative, so
some are done erroneously, while others turn out to be right.

Action Steps
In this chapter, we were introduced to several biases that we
frequently encounter. The following situations involve at
least one type of bias. Could you name which one? (Give it a
good try before looking up the answers at the end of the
chapter).
1. Pamela arrived in class just as the teacher was handing out
examination questionnaires. Realizing she did not have the
yellow pad paper required for the test, she whispered to her
seatmate Andrew if he had an extra sheet. The teacher
caught her whispering and immediately sent both Pamela
and Andrew to the principal’s office for cheating during an
exam.
2. Francis was the third child to get sick in his family. His
sisters just had the flu, and when he came down with a fever
the doctor dismissed it as a matter of contagion. Francis was
given medicine for the flu. After a week, however, his
condition worsened. He was brought to the hospital for some
tests. It was only then that the doctor discovered that Francis
had the dengue, and immediately ordered a plasma
transfusion.
3. Vincent loved teaching. After he got his accreditation, he
went back to the little town he grew up in and applied to
teach in the same high school he went to. He was taken
aback when he observed that the students were rowdy and
undisciplined. They no longer stood at attention to greet the
teacher and did not give due deference to the school officials.
It was much better during our time, Vincent thought.
4. Elsa was in line for a promotion, along with some other
employees who were similarly qualified for the position. Elsa
was sure she would be granted the position, but in the end,
John was awarded the promotion for his astute leadership
abilities. Feeling betrayed, Elsa spread the rumor that the
company was biased against women and therefore promoted
a man.
5. During Cecile’s first day in college, two classmates
immediately showed an interest in getting to know her
better. Tom was athletic and a sharp dresser, Bill looked dull
and a bit nerdy. Cecile quickly favored Tom over Bill because
“he looks geared for success.” A decade after graduation,
Tom was a salesman in Bill’s billion-dollar cybernetics
company.

Moving On
Tolstoy was keenly perceptive when he observed that
simple-minded people are easier to teach than those who are
already knowledgeable. Biases are a hindrance to the search
for truth because they prevent us from accepting it even if
we find it. We must, therefore, vigilantly guard against
biases in ourselves and others. Unlike the six blind men of
Indostan, we must diligently gather and assess all relevant
information and weigh our options well before deciding.

Key Takeaways

Confirmation bias, the most common of biases, leads

us to accept information aligned with our own
perception of the truth.
First impression bias limits information processing to
the opinions formed during the first encounter.
The Dunning Kruger Effect refers to people’s
favorable estimation of themselves during an event or
encounter.
Fundamental Attribution Error overestimates an
actor’s traits while underestimating the situational
factors.
Declinism sees the past favorably and believes
society’s future is headed toward a decline.
Practice caution and vigilance to avoid biases and
think logically.

Solution To The Exercise

1. Fundamental Attribution Error
2. Diagnostic bias – confirmation bias
3. Declinism/Decline Bias
4.Dunning Kruger Effect
5. First Impression Bias
 AFTERWORD

We live in a confusing world that is burdened not only by

information overload but also opinion overload. The people
we meet in person and online are only too eager to convince
us of what they believe in and what they “know” to be true.
We are too often swayed by the arguments they make. “He
sounded so credible!” “Her statements are so convincing!”
That is until the next credible and convincing argument
comes along that contradicts what went before.
This little book sought to candidly and concisely unlock the
secrets to logical reasoning and right thinking. Hopefully, it
helps us win debates in school, present our best arguments
at work, and set our relationships to rights with friends and
families. But first and foremost, this book aims to help us to
make the best possible decisions when facing the
commonplace problems we encounter daily.
Throughout this book, we emphasized our minds’ inner
workings when faced with the logical proofs and the
propositions they claim to support. Why is this right and that
wrong? How can something that seems initially doubtful
become acceptable once carefully examined?
Since humans are complex beings, our minds are sometimes
predisposed to rushing to judgment and making mistakes in
the process. We arrive at the wrong decisions because of
biases, emotions, misconceptions, and false presumptions.
We tend to commit logical errors that we could avoid if we
were made aware of them.
Awareness of our propensity to commit logical errors is the
first step towards correct reasoning. The second is to gain
familiarity with the tools necessary to develop logical skills.
This book acquainted us with these tools. First is the
classical laws of logic: the laws of identity, excluded middle,
non-contradiction, and sufficient reason. Next are the
elements of logical reasoning, which are claims, inference,
and arguments, the latter consisting of premises and
conclusion. We gained acquaintance with the types of
arguments, valid and invalid, sound and unsound, deductive
and inductive. We came to understand why we would
sometimes quarrel rather than seek the truth.
Armed with these tools, we learned the two types of errors,
Formal errors violate the patterns of argument construction
and render the argument invalid. Informal errors are
mistakes in reasoning, called fallacies, that make an
argument unsound. We then scrutinized six common types
of biases that hijack our thinking process. Finally, we
discovered ways to avoid these logical errors to arrive at
better decisions.
Now that we have the fundamentals of logical thinking, we
need to practice them if we are to benefit the most from this
knowledge. Reading the book is easy. Applying what we learn
from it is like learning to ride a bike. Our first clumsy
attempts will meet with bumps and scrapes as gravity pulls
us back to old and familiar habits. But like biking, once you
learn how to do it, you will never forget it. Between start and
finish, what is indispensable is practice, practice, practice.
Recall the theory. Apply it to real-life situations. Learn from
it. And at the next encounter, use it. That is the secret of
learning how to think rationally to make logical decisions.
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6. Making The Change: How Can We Become Rational Thinkers?

1 Tolstoy, L. (1894) The Kingdom of God is Within You. Cassell Publishing Company
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Error. American Family Physician, 84(9):1042-1044.
16 Wellbery, C. (2011) Flaws in Clinical Reasoning: A Common Cause of
Diagnostic Error. American Family Physician, 84(9):1042-1044.

1. How To Think Like A Thinker

1 Paul, R. W. (2005, Summer). The State of Critical Thinking Today. New
Directions for Community Colleges, 27-38. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/
abs/10.1002/cc.193
2 Kahneman, D., Thinking, Fast and Slow. Penguin, 1st Edition (10 May 2012)
3 Paul, R. and Elder, L. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools
(Thinker's Guide Library) Eighth Edition. The Foundation for Critical Thinking;
(September 20, 2019)
4 Cohen, M., Critical Thinking Skills for Dummies. For Dummies; 1st edition (May 4,
2015)
5 Lovell, O., Sweller's Cognitive Load Theory in Action, John Catt (23 Oct. 2020)
6 Raul, R. and Elder, L., Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning
and Your Life. Pearson (2013)
7 Kahneman, D., Thinking, Fast and Slow. Penguin, 1st Edition (10 May 2012)
8 Haig, M., Notes on a Nervous Planet. Canongate Books Ltd; Main edition (5 July
2018)
9 Babin, J. and Manson, R., Critical Thinking: The Beginners User Manual to Improve
Your Communication and Self Confidence Skills Everyday. The Tools and The Concepts
for Problem Solving and Decision Making. (March 9, 2019)
10 Paul, R. and Elder, L. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools
(Thinker's Guide Library) Eighth Edition. The Foundation for Critical Thinking;
(September 20, 2019)
11 Cohen, M., Critical Thinking Skills for Dummies. For Dummies; 1st edition (May 4,
2015)
12 Botello, J and Roulet, T., ‘The Imposter Syndrome, or The Misrepresentation
of Self In Academic Life’. Journal of Management Studies, vol 56, issue 4, June
2019, p854-861 https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12344
13 https://www.inc.com/larry-alton/7-mental-exercises-to-make-you-a-
better-critical-thinker.html (Jan 2021)

2. What Habits Are All About

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Psychological Stress Reduces Working Memory-Related Activity in the
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healthier behavior: psychological basis and potential solutions for enhancing
adherence’. Clinical Cases in Mineral & Bone Metabolism. May-Aug2018, Vol. 15
Issue 2, p158-162.
3 Clear, J. Atomic Habits. Random house business, 1st Edition (18th Oct 2018)
4 Anselme, P., Robinson, M., Berridge, K., ‘Reward uncertainty enhances incentive
salience attribution as sign-tracking’. Behavioural Brain Research, Volume 238, 1
February 2013, Pages 53-61 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2012.10.006
5 Clear, J. Atomic Habits. Random house business, 1st Edition (18th Oct 2018)
6 Scott, S.J., ‘Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes or Less’,
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2 May 2014.
7 Muniz-Pardos, B., Sutehall, S., Angeloudis, K. et al. ‘Recent Improvements in
Marathon Run Times Are Likely Technological, Not Physiological’. Sports Med (2021).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01420-7
8 https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/inside-the-race-to-
break-the-two-hour-marathon-eliud-kipchoge (accessed 18/02/2021)
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Milwaukee Vol. 40, Iss. 2, (Feb 2007): 47-48
10 Mindell, J., and Williamson, A. Benefits of a bedtime routine in young children:
Sleep, development, and beyond, Sleep Med Rev (2018 Aug);40:93-108. Epub (2017
Nov 6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2017.10.007
11 Taub, J. Behavioral and psychophysiological correlates of irregularity in chronic sleep
routines. Biological Psychology, Volume 7, Issues 1–2, September 1978, Pages 37-
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12 Stranges, S., Tigbe, W., Xavier Gómez-Olivé, F., Thorogood, M., Kandala, N.,
‘Sleep Problems: An Emerging Global Epidemic? Findings From the INDEPTH WHO-
SAGE Study Among More Than 40,000 Older Adults From 8 Countries Across Africa and
Asia’. Sleep, Volume 35, Issue 8, 1 August 2012, Pages 1173–1181. https://doi.org/
10.5665/sleep.2012
13 Pope, N., ‘How the Time of Day Affects Productivity: Evidence from School
Schedules’, Review of Economics and Statistics, Volume 98, Issue 1, March 2016,
p.1-11 https://doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00525
14 Gibson, S., Gunn, P., ‘What's for breakfast? Nutritional implications of breakfast
habits: insights from the NDNS dietary records’, Nutrition Bulletin, British Nutrition
Foundation, Volume 36, Issue1, March 2011, Pages 78-86 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.
1467-3010.2010.01873.x
15 Masento, N., Golightly, M., Field, D., Butler, L., & Van Reekum, C. (2014).
‘Effects of hydration status on cognitive performance and mood’. British Journal of
Nutrition, 111(10), 1841-1852. http://doi:10.1017/S0007114513004455
16 Wójcik, M., Boreński, G., Poleszak, J., Szabat, P., Szabat, M., Milanowska, J.,
‘Meditation and its benefits’, Journal of Health, Education and Sport, Volume 9, No.
9 p. 466-476, sep. 2019. http://www.ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/
view/7424
17 Kumar, A., and Jhajharia, B., ‘Effect of morning exercise on immunity’,
International Journal of Physiology, Nutrition and Physical Education 2018; 3(1),
p1987-1989. ISSN: 2456-0057
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1797071541 18/02/21
19 Patterson, C., Critical Thinking Beginner's Guide: Learn How Reasoning by Logic
Improves Effective Problem Solving. The Tools to Think Smarter, Level up Intuition to
Reach Your Potential and Grow Your Mindfulness Paperback – January 1, 2020
20 Wilson, J., Critical Thinking: A Beginner's Guide to Critical Thinking, Better Decision
Making and Problem Solving. Paperback – February 9, 2017

3. Turning Critical Thinking Into A Habit

1 Stanovich, K. E., Cunningham, A. E., & West, R. F. . ‘Literacy experiences and the
shaping of cognition’. In S. G. Paris & H. M. Wellman (Eds.), Global prospects for
education: Development, culture, and schooling (p. 253–288). American
Psychological Association(1998). https://doi.org/10.1037/10294-009
2 Murnane, Richard, et al. Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century:
Introducing the Issue. The Future of Children, vol. 22, no. 2, 2012, pp. 3–15. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/23317408.
3 McCutchen, D., Teske, P., & Bankston, C. ‘Writing and cognition: Implications of
the cognitive architecture for learning to write and writing to learn’. In C. Bazerman
(Ed.), Handbook of research on writing: History, society, school, individual, text
(2008) p. 451–470. Taylor & Francis Group/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
4 https://www.process.st/systems-vs-goals/#:~:text=Systems%20are%
20almost%20the%20antithesis,how%20you%20achieve%20your%20goals.
(21/02/2021)
5 https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7wmjw/how-to-make-a-life-changing-
decision (21/02/2021)
6 De Bono, E., ‘Six Thinking Hats’, 3rd Edition, Penguin Life (28 Jan. 2016)
7 Bechdel, Allison. ‘Dykes to Watch Out For’. Firebrand Books (October 1, 1986).
ISBN 978-0932379177
8 Power, Nina (2009). One-dimensional woman. Zero Books. pp. 39 et seq. ISBN
978-1846942419.
9 https://howtosavetheworld.ca/2010/03/23/the-value-of-conversation/
(22/02/2021)
10 https://conversationstartersworld.com/250-conversation-starters/
11 Hayes, C., Magana, P., ‘Critical Thinking Hacks 2 In 1: Why You Should Be Skeptical
Of People You Disagree With But Even More Skeptical With People You Agree With’
Independently published (10 Nov. 2019)
12 Dyer, W., ‘Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking
Habits’ Hay House, 4th Edition (June 2009)

4. Make It Stick Today, Tomorrow, And Next Year

1 Kondo, M., ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish
clutter forever’, Vermilion, 1st Edition, 3 April 2014
2 Bray. G., ‘The organized Mum Method: Transform your home in 30 minutes a day’,
Piatkus, 5 Sept. 2019
3 Schlam, Tanya R et al. “Preschoolers' delay of gratification predicts their body mass
30 years later.” The Journal of pediatrics vol. 162,1 (2013): 90-3. http://doi:10.
1016/j.jpeds.2012.06.049
4 Koomen R, Grueneisen S, Herrmann E., ‘Children Delay Gratification for
Cooperative Ends’. Psychological Science. 2020;31(2):139-148. http://doi:10.1177/
0956797619894205
5 Tangney, J.P., Baumeister, R.F. and Boone, A.L., ‘High Self‐Control Predicts Good
Adjustment, Less Pathology, Better Grades, and Interpersonal Success’. Journal of
Personality, 72: 271-324 (2004) https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00263.x
6 Burkus, D., ‘Friend of a Friend . . .: Understanding the Hidden Networks That Can
Transform Your Life and Your Career’, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 1, 2018
7 Christakis, N, Fowler, J., ‘The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32
Years’, N Engl J Med 2007; 357:370-379 doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa066082
8 Christakis, N, Fowler, J., ‘The Collective Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social
Network’, N Engl J Med 2008; 358:2249-2258 doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa0706154
9 Fowler James H, Christakis Nicholas A., ‘Dynamic spread of happiness in a large
social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study’
BMJ 2008; 337 :a2338
10 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/grounding-techniques
(03/03/2021)

5. Building A Better Brain - Push Those Habits Higher

1 Rosenshine, B., ‘Principles of Instruction; Research-based Strategies Every Teacher
Should Know’, American Educator, Spring 2012, p12-39
2 Delic, Haris & Bećirović, Senad. (2016). ‘Socratic Method as an Approach to
Teaching’. European Researcher. 111. 511-517. 10.13187/er.2016.111.511.
3 https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/critical-reading-online
4 http://www.bonzapuzzles.com/bwp/
5 https://elevateapp.com/
6 https://www.lumosity.com/en/
7 https://www.logiskstudio.com/
8 http://i-love-hue.com/
9 https://www.peak.net/#
10 http://www.happy-neuron.com/brain-games#memory
11 https://www.braingle.com/

6. Critical Thinking Habit Aids: Trackers, Calendars, Apps And More

1 https://www.hellodayplanner.com/
2 https://www.uniqueplanners.co.uk/
3 Clear, J. Atomic Habits. Random house business, 1st Edition (18th Oct 2018)
4 https://monday.com/lp/projectmanagement/bundle/?utm_source=mb&
utm_campaign=natural_intelligence&utm_medium=UppGkKSmsy
5 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pocketuniverse.ike&hl=
en_GB&gl=US
6 https://clickup.com/
7 https://habitica.com/static/home
8 https://momentum.cc/
9 https://streaksapp.com/
10 https://www.stickk.com/
11 https://chains.cc/
THE HABIT OF CRITICAL THINKING

POWERFUL ROUTINES TO CHANGE YOUR MIND AND

SHARPEN YOUR THINKING
 INTRODUCTION

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the
point is to discover them’’ - Galileo Galilei
How many times do you feel like you have to choose between
professional and personal success? That life is an
unwinnable compromise that leaves you feeling that you are
falling short despite your best efforts?
You want to do your job well, to get things perfect, working
efficiently in time and money. You may be responsible for
leading by example to others, keeping them motivated,
delivering good results without dropping the ball or causing
too much stress. You don’t want to be pushy or greedy, just
to be the best you can be. You have probably trained hard and
considered your options carefully along the way.
There is often that catch, that to be who you need to be at
work means sacrificing who you want to be at home. Missed
opportunities may haunt you at times, and the thought of
getting out of the rat race taunts you on bad days. Some
people seem to have it all by luck or inheritance, but where is
the fair reward for decent hard work?
You can use your brain to win back that balance. You already
have the skills, but those skills need to be recognized and
then practiced just like anything in life. You can succeed at
work without constantly sacrificing your home and social life
for your career. And it is easier than you think, as well as
free. You just need to identify old auto-pilot behaviors that
do not help you and replace them with smarter, upgraded
ones.
Think about it as an update on your phone or computer. It
helps things to run more smoothly. If you still used the
original operating system, your device would be very slow
indeed. It doesn’t mean you have to get a new phone. You
just have to acknowledge that an update is needed then set
aside a short amount of time for that update to occur,
resulting in saving plenty of time down the line.
This book is your guide to your brain update. By learning
these critical thinking habits, you will improve your
approach to challenges, make more reasonable choices
professionally and personally, and improve your outlook to
solve future problems more effectively and independently.
So, what do I know about learning? Why have I written this
book? I am a scientist, a teacher and I still love the challenge
of learning. I have seen what works, what doesn’t and had
plenty of opportunities to make mistakes and try a different
way again. If you have ever heard the saying ‘if you need
something done, ask a busy person,’ that has been my life. I
have been that ‘busy person’ who constantly expands their
to-do list. It hasn’t sunk me yet.
After turning 30, I got a promotion to run a large secondary
school science team in a new school, co-ordinate the moving
of the lab equipment and teaching material to a new building
within the first term of the job, moved house myself, got
married, and ran my first marathon. As I am still in my job,
house, and marriage and having a few more marathons
under my belt, I deem that seven-month spell successful. It
was crazy, but it taught me how to use the skills I had more
efficiently and gave me the chance to learn many new ones. I
had more fun and achieved more than I ever had previously
imagined possible in such a short time frame.
My academic background and love of learning lead me into
teaching, and I still read widely on the latest research and
success stories about how people learn best. For me,
teaching and education are much more than a means to a
grade on a piece of paper. Education is about discovery and
about learning to use your mind effectively.
To succeed in life at anything, you need to learn new facts,
skills, and methods constantly. To learn effectively, you need
to be able to think critically. I love the sciences for being a
direct way to investigate the physical world around us, but
every subject requires an investigative approach to dig
deeper and discover more.
This is what this book is about. Identifying the skills you
probably already know about makes them more explicit and
turns them into habits that will serve you well for many
years to come.
Are you ready to update your brain and refresh your auto-
pilot thinking? Keep reading.

Claire Johnson
 1

HOW TO THINK LIKE A THINKER

Your Holidays Are Really Experiments

“T he scientific method is just the normal working of the

human mind” – Thomas Henry Huxley.
Think the science experiments you did in school were just
about getting a good grade, drawing neat diagrams of
strange equipment, and plotting graphs? Think again! You
can use the skills you learned in the classroom to reveal new
choices and opportunities. All you need to do is a bit of
revision.
My role as a science teacher is to get students to learn
scientific facts and use the scientific method to help them
solve problems. Essentially, to be a good scientist, you need
to have critical thinking as your default setting. This does
not, however, mean acting like a Vulcan!
You can be entirely logical in your approach to life and be in
touch with your emotions. Empathy is crucial in being a true
critical thinker. 1 Critical thinking is not about choosing to
follow your head over following your heart. It is about
considering them both to arrive at the best conclusion.
Scientists have a reputation for having the emotional range
of a teaspoon, but this is just a stereotype. And stereotypes
represent the opposite of critical thinking.
So, what is our scientific method? In short, a scientist will
first observe something unusual, like penicillin mold
stopping bacteria grow around it. They will then pose a
question to investigate, such as ‘can I repeat this to stop
different types of bacteria growing near the mold’ or ‘if I use
more mold, will that kill more bacteria?’. They will make a
plan to test this by doing experiments and gathering data,
which they will use to come to a conclusion and answer their
original question. In reality, it is common in science, as in
life, that in finding the answer to one question, you open the
doors to many others and can then seek more answers.
This method is not just for science. You have probably used it
without even consciously thinking about it.

Observing And Questioning

Let us think about your next holiday. Whether you’ve been
saving for it or not, when you start planning it, your main
goal is to get right. You probably start by ‘observing’ what
you and your family need. Is everyone tired and needs to
relax? Do they need to go on a big adventure and see
something new? Have you all been fed up with your weather
and want to go somewhere different? Essentially, why do you
need that holiday? What need are you trying to fulfill?
Establishing the aims of the holiday means that you have to
honestly question yourself about that, but you need to seek
the opinions of whoever you are traveling with. If you want a
successful holiday, you may need to compromise on the
aims. Going into the process already having decided for
yourself where you want to go and then persuading others
that you are right is rarely going to meet everyone’s needs.
When you decide your holiday destination and aims, you may
ask friends, or Google, to suggest somewhere that fits the
bill. You may ask about price, weather, transport,
accommodation, entertainment and more. It is best to do
both critical thinking and holiday planning with an open
mind.

Testing And Concluding

Choosing your destination is like choosing which experiment
to do. You don’t know if it will meet your criteria; you are
testing and gathering information by going on holiday. The
holiday is your investigation! Is it going to serve the original
purpose or not?
At the end of the holiday, you can form your conclusion. Are
you more relaxed, more energized, or more tanned? We all
do this automatically; we decide if it was a ‘good’ holiday
and if we would consider going there again. We recommend
it to our friends or tell them to steer clear.
Sometimes holiday ‘experiments’ do everything we hoped
they would. Sometimes they do not! When I was about
twelve, my parents decided to take us on holiday to Spain.
We had been there before in October, and there was a lot to
see and do, plus there were amazing beaches! It seemed like
a smart plan. The ‘experiment,’ the holiday itself, proved
that there was a problem with this plan. Spain is very hot in
the summer. We are English and not great at being that hot.
In the afternoons, we needed a siesta, and the only time we
could cope with exploring the area was late in the evenings
and into the night. I remember being at a funfair at 1 am! My
parents said they got less sleep on holiday than if we had
stayed at home, and the conclusion was that, for our family,
Spain was not the best option for a summer holiday.
I still use this information now to plan holidays. I learned
that I do not enjoy being in scorching places. Building a solid
understanding of yourself supports the critical thinking
process. It is like knowing a few more of the rules to use to
make your future decisions.
If you can plan a holiday, you can think critically. The skills
are all there already. All you need to do is to make them your
new autopilot.

Why ‘Being Right’ Is The Wrong Path To Take

When was the last time you went hiking? If it was a popular
route, there must have been plenty of paths leading to the
top. Nonetheless, the question is: have you done any
research before getting to the starting point? When you
decide to take any action, do you first consider your abilities
and the means you have to achieve your goal? For instance,
before going on a hike, having a good look at the available
paths, where they lead, and what kind of equipment you
need will make the difference between a great experience
and a painful one.
You don’t want to choose a path that means you have to do
some rock-climbing to the summit if you have only got your
hiking boots and don’t know how to use a rope. You don’t
want to choose a path just because it starts from the closest
car park, or it looks the shortest on the map, without getting
a little more evidence and without considering the
alternative routes. That short path may be the steepest and
most dangerous. Choosing a path on a hunch may be pretty
dangerous!
Our default way of thinking is often like taking that short but
unresearched path. We will choose an option that looks
easiest at first glance. If we put no more thought into it, fail
to ask any questions, seek no evidence, we end up on a
randomly chosen path, potentially dangerous.
To think critically, we need to change our autopilot to one
that runs through the scientific method. Think about the
aims, questions, plan, experiment, and conclusion required.
To do this effectively, we must start with an open mind. You
do not plan an experiment by deciding what the conclusion
is in advance. Experiments are all about finding out the
answers and being prepared to be surprised!
This is the first key to critical thinking: do not decide on
your conclusion before you start thinking. You need to think
before you form your arguments and decisions, rather than
seek evidence to fit what you have already decided is your
truth.
It sounds very obvious when you see it written down, but
this is the biggest barrier most people face. This is because
most of us like to be right. We like to seem smart. Thinking
and making decisions with an open mind means there is a
real possibility that the way we have been operating so far is
not the best path to take. Maybe someone else has a better
idea. Maybe we have been heading on the wrong path
because we took a default decision, and we have found out
halfway that this was not the best option. Is it better to carry
on regardless, knowing that the path ahead is uncertain and
potentially dangerous? Or take the time to turn back and try
another way?
The latter means that we have to accept that we did not
make the best choice. It may even mean we have a friend
saying ‘I told you so!’ as we make a new plan. It means being
humble enough to consider the opinions of others genuinely.
Thinking critically entails practicing this sort of ‘slow
thinking’ 2 that stops us from jumping to conclusions and
then being too proud to back down.
Critical thinkers are truth-seekers. They gather the evidence
before forming their conclusions. They are open to new
perspectives and to admitting they are wrong without taking
it personally.. It should not be shameful to agree that
someone else had a better idea, but our modern society often
makes it feel like we have failed. However, just believing
something is right does not make it the best decision. The
truth, as is said, will set you free, so embrace it even if it
didn’t come from you.

Skill Up To Shake Up Your Thinking

It is human nature to think, but not human nature to think
well. We get very easily misled and distracted. 3
To be a truth-seeker means re-tuning how you think. It
takes the right mindset, certain character traits, awareness
of predispositions and limitations, and plenty of practice to
enhance the traits that make a critical thinker. This is not as
much hard work as it sounds; we are all born with these
skills. We just live in a busy world where we take shortcuts
that become our habits, and we stop thinking properly. With
a few tweaks, we can form a new and improved auto-pilot.
Learning is not thinking, just the same as knowledge is not
understanding 4. I can get a student to recite a definition to
get the marks in a test, but that only tests their memory, not
their scientific understanding. In our world, where it is
possible to look up most facts in a matter of seconds, we still
get tricked into believing that someone who knows lots of
points has a real understanding of a topic.
Knowledge does have a crucial role; a solid basic knowledge
is a foundation for understanding. The ability to read and
write a language does not make you a poet. However, you
cannot be a poet without having that knowledge first.
Our minds cannot hold loads of facts in our short-term
memories and use that information to solve complex
problems. It is our cognitive load 5 that determines how well
we can solve problems. If you want to improve your ability to
solve problems in a particular area, you need to make sure
you have the required knowledge..
Just like a scientist who has done their research and is ready
to start their experiment, to build the ability to be a critical
thinker, you need to build your scientific skill set. If you
master these, then critical thinking becomes the default
pattern embedded in your long-term memory for all your
decision-making. Before that point, just like learning a new
phone number or a routine, you need to practice.
Your skillset will involve mastering the following:
identification, analysis, interpretation, interference,
evaluation, explanation, and self-reflection. You might
already use these most days, in your job or with your
thinking. The trick is to apply them consistently to your
personal as well as professional life.

Identification Is Key
Identification sounds easy, but it is often the hardest skill to
do well. Think about a problem you want to solve. Most of us
think big. Then we either panic about the enormity of the
task ahead and do nothing, or we make a huge to-do list and
get increasingly anxious as we struggle to make progress
with it. This is why most New Year’s resolutions fail.
The most common New Year’s resolutions are to get
healthier, which are broken down by many into ‘to do more
exercise’ and ‘lose some weight’. These may sound good but
they are terrible goals! There is no identification of the
actual root problem and achievable solutions in these
resolutions. They are too broad. Most people will give up
when they first decide to eat some cake or when they won’t
feel like going for a run.
Think about the path up the mountain again. The most
important thing was to start on the right path. That tiny
decision to identify the right starting point, the correct place
to park and start from, is what everything else hinges on.
If your resolution is to lose weight, then the best way is to
identify one small aspect of your life that will help. Maybe
you identify that you need to eat breakfast at home rather
than grab a less healthy snack with a coffee before work.
Perhaps you identify that you need to change your sugary
drinks for versions with less sugar. Maybe, like me, you
decide that the best way not to be tempted to eat chocolate is
simply to stop buying chocolate?! One small, manageable
change can have big effects. That alone means that you are
more likely to succeed and then be able to identify your next
issue.
Identification is your hinge point. Identify your problem
clearly, and you will find the right path. Everything gets
easier from there. But start by thinking small and specific.
Your next skill is analysis.

Analyze That
The analysis is where your Vulcan logic comes in. It is about
looking at the data or the language used with no
preconceptions, no emotion, no bias, no excuses. Think
about the scientists who have to note all trends or patterns
in their results, including the ones they weren’t expecting.
Or, how the lawyers have to analyze the information
provided to them and summarize their findings, even if it
means acknowledging something their client has done,
which they would prefer had remained unknown.
It is pretty much the same if you want to lose weight - you
need to analyze your diet. You have to be honest about what
you are eating, how much, and when. You need to note if you
eat more when you are out, stressed, or with friends. Critical
thinkers see all of this as cold, hard data. Analysis means
seeing the overall picture and patterns, even if we don’t like
what we see.
For this reason, many people think they are good at
analyzing their lives but are not. They only analyze the bits
that they allow themselves to see. If you are a scientist, you
can only analyze data after the conclusion of the whole
experiment. You need all your data to draw a good graph.

Open To Interpretation
After you have analyzed what is going on, you can start to
form a conclusion. This is often called inference. Remember,
it comes after data gathering, not before!
Remember the last time you were going through your
finances? Did you write down (or use an app) what you
spend, when, and where? Perhaps your data told you that
you spend a lot on eBay at night. Or maybe that all of the
little cups of take-out coffee add up to a large proportion of
your food bill. If that was the case, you might have concluded
that you are more likely to overspend when you are tired
(late at night, early in the morning) and not focussing on
your spending. The spending is an effect of your state of
mind.
Conclusions often require you to choose your future self. It
may mean deciding to do something new or stopping an
existing habit. This is why it is important to follow the
method; a wrong conclusion may lead you into the wrong
future actions.
Life, however, is not usually as simple as providing black or
white conclusions. You and a friend can see the same data
and arrive at a different conclusion. It doesn’t necessarily
mean that either of you is wrong or that either of you is
right! To think critically, you need to open your eyes to this
possibility of alternative interpretations.
For example, my husband often looks out of the window and
exclaims, ‘it’s pouring with rain outside; I’ll go for a run
later.’ I can look outside at the same weather and class it as
merely ‘drizzle,’ which would be no reason to avoid going
out for a run. We can see the same evidence and draw very
different conclusions. Neither of us can say our ‘truth’ is the
only possible one. We just come to different conclusions.

Evaluation And Bias

As a critical thinker, whenever you draw a conclusion,
particularly one that requires a change in your behavior, you
need to ask yourself a question: is what you have found out
the truth? As far as possible, you need to be sure it is
accurate and free of bias. This is an evaluation.
This skill means that you often have to play devil’s advocate.
Do you trust that data? Could the data lead to a different
conclusion? Is there anything missing or anything that you
know but didn’t reveal? Think back to the spending example.
Do you pay for some coffees with cash so that they wouldn’t
have shown up on the credit card bill? Or are you the person
who makes the office coffee run, and many of those coffees
were not for you?
Anyone can analyze data and come up with a conclusion.
Total strangers could look at your bank statements and
conclude. Some may be true. Others may not be. You are the
only one who can evaluate these conclusions because you are
the only one who knows the full picture.
After the evaluation, you can choose whether to accept or
reject the conclusion. If you reject it because the conclusion
was flawed, you would typically go back to the start and
make sure you collect a better set of information to come to a
more accurate conclusion the next time around.

Explanation
If you apply the steps above, you will sometimes come out
with conclusions that do not seem obvious.
While marathon training, I wanted to improve my times. I
thought that if I ran more frequently and for longer
distances, this would do the trick. It worked, but only up to a
certain point. I could not get my half marathon time under 2
hours. I got it to 2 hours and 10 seconds, 2 hours and 4
seconds. But I never really made gains. It was frustrating! I
looked at a wider variety of training plans and focused on
including hill sprints and 5k park runs each week. It worked,
but it only took about 5 minutes off my time. My conclusions
did change my actions but didn’t change the results.
I then realized that I had only focused on analyzing data
from my runs. It sounds sensible, but it led me to a blind
spot—my diet. I have always been healthy, so I ignored
treating my diet as potential data. I didn’t think it would
affect my times, but I was wrong.
Convinced there was something else going on, I got some
medical advice and found out I have a lactose intolerance. So
I quit dairy, and every race I ran was a new personal best
from that point onwards. My husband missed me at plenty of
finish lines because I often finished ten minutes ahead of
when I thought I would!
Others asked what I had done to change my race times so
much suddenly. I had to explain that I was doing nothing
differently; apart from that, I had quit dairy products, which
wasn’t going to work for most people. It invited questions,
so I had to learn to explain my conclusion to people who
thought it sounded like a fad or a joke. It was not the running
tip they had hoped for!
Practicing intense exercise for prolonged intervals puts our
bodies under stress and makes the gut more sensitive. This
means that even mild food allergies can become an issue
during hard training or racing.
Explaining your actions clearly, particularly those that do
not seem like the obvious decisions, is another critical
thinking skill. It is like writing a synopsis of a book. You need
to communicate your reasoning and conclusions before the
listener switches off. Explain too briefly, and you will just
invite more questions. Explain in a lengthy manner, and
people will tune out.

Self-Reflection
The final skill in the critical thinking toolkit is not about the
decision-making process. This one is more personal.
Scientists choose to study particular sciences for many
different reasons. It may be an exceptionally interesting
topic; they may aim to discover something new or add to
their career options. I did not choose chemistry for any of
these very valid reasons. I picked my A-level subjects and
then my degree, based on what I had to do the least amount
of writing.
The irony of this, as I write a book, is not lost on me. I love
writing now, but in my early twenties, I chose numbers over
words every time. Apart from the odd dissertation, this
worked well; labs were mostly maths, and organic chemistry
involved a lot of drawing. Then I did teacher training. We had
to do lots of essays, particularly self-reflective essays. I felt
like a bunny in the headlights. I wanted to teach science to
kids. Why did I have to write these pieces?
I couldn’t see it at the time, but the essays were useful. Self-
reflection is about being aware of your intentions and
motivations. It is a skill that is rarely taught, certainly not in
a chemistry degree, but one that is often the difference
between making progress in any area of your life or
stagnating.
To be skilled at self-reflection means asking one question to
yourself a lot, and that question is ‘why’?
Why do you want certain things? Why do you feel the way
you feel? Why do you have certain goals? Why do you think
your life would be better if ‘X’ happened?
To do this, you need to know yourself and step outside of
yourself in equal parts. You may have completed a ‘360’
analysis or worked out your Myers-Briggs personality type
in your professional life. These are good places to start, but
you need to understand how they apply to your private and
professional lives.
A good way to practice self-reflection for your daily life is to
imagine playing a reality game like the SIMS. You are doing
the self-reflecting for the characters you control. You can do
this well because you know the exact characteristic
breakdowns and the needs of those fictional pixel beings.
You can see if they are extroverted and need to socialize
more, if they are low on energy and need to relax more, or
they are fun-loving and need to play more. You can also see
what they need to do to get to the next stages of their careers
and relationships. You know their needs and have the overall
picture to direct them to do what is best for them at any
particular time.
What if you could ‘check’ your own needs and motivations
this easily? How much simpler would it be to choose the next
right thing to do? This level of reflection allows us to be
efficient in developing the best habits to suit our lives.

Winning Characteristics
Critical thinking skills are a toolkit that helps to structure
and guide the decision-making process. They are something
for you to do and practice doing.
The critical thinking characteristics are something for you to
be and practice being. Without developing these
characteristics, the skills will always feel a bit forced.

The critical thinking experts Richard Paul and Linda Elder 6

describe the goal as becoming an ‘accomplished thinker’ by
practicing the techniques and developing certain
characteristics until critical thinking is your autopilot. Both
are required.
The big barriers to this are, unfortunately, both ourselves
and our society. 7 But you can overcome these barriers easily
when acknowledged! As Matt Haig writes, you cannot put out
a fire by ignoring the fire 8.
So what is your society? How can it shape the way you think?
Spend a minute on what you would consider ‘normal.’ What
does it look like? If you had a ‘normal job,’ ‘normal family,’
‘normal house,’ what would that look like? The irony is that
most of us want to be normal and to stand out from the
crowd, at the same time. We want to be just the right amount
of normal to feel like we fit in but still feel unique.
This is natural; we are social creatures, and society evolved
by having set expectations and rules for the group for it to
succeed. Some rules still stand (don’t murder others), and
some don’t (you should always carry a bale of hay in your
cart).
However, to be normal enough to be accepted, we often end
up like sheep without even realizing it.

Be Skeptical
A friend recently updated her location and marital status on
Facebook, about two and a half years later than the events
themselves. One person said congratulations,
understandable when many of us have acquaintances on
social media who are not up to date on our personal lives.
Then, someone else wished her a happy anniversary,
knowing she had been married and assuming that the update
was on the anniversary of this. Suddenly she got loads of
messages wishing her a happy anniversary. Some of these
even came from people who had been to the wedding!
We see others' messages online and we copy, not wanting to
be the one who fails to note a significant date. We don’t
always check first, not even when we should know better
from the first-hand experience! The more people claim that
something is true, the less likely we are to contest it. We
doubt ourselves more readily than we doubt mass opinion.
Conformity is not always a bad thing; however, it can lead to
bad habits and strongly held stereotypes if done in an
unthinking manner. Critical thinkers hold autonomy over
their thoughts and beliefs. They dare to do so even when it
flouts the ‘normal’ in their society.
Many amazing new ideas would not have taken hold if their
inventors had been shy. Think about the printing press, a
huge leap in spreading education amongst all people
regardless of class. However, it was strongly opposed, with
Conrad Gessner writing to authorities to ban it as he was
concerned that it would lead to a “confusing and harmful
abundance of books.” What is new or different is often
feared.
Having the courage to question the normal is a healthy form
of skepticism. It does not mean you are a negative person! It
means you want to be sure someone gives you the correct
information. To do this well, simply ask yourself, ‘am I sure
this is true?’ for a given topic. Pretty easy!
A word of warning; healthy skepticism may be taken as
mistrust by others. It may mean asking for evidence rather
than blindly accepting a statement, even from someone
whom you trust. Ask to see articles and generally ask
awkward questions if you are not convinced! A good question
to ask yourself (and others): ‘is this a fact or an opinion
pretending to be a fact?’.
A good place to practice this is any social media platform. Do
you trust that the posts you see represent the unbiased
truth?

Be Curious
A small step from skepticism is curiosity and inquisitive
thinking. Once you stop automatically accepting the
information presented to you by society, it means you can be
more curious about your world. It gives you the mental
freedom to ask ‘what if…?’ more often.
Galileo is a great example of this. He (correctly) went against
popular opinion at the time to say that the Earth orbited the
Sun rather than the other way around. While other
astronomers were devising increasingly complicated models
to explain the planets’ movements across the night sky,
Galileo used his new ‘telescope’ to support his alternative
idea. He stopped assuming that the current theory was
correct, and this allowed him to be inquisitive while others
were desperately trying to make their data fit an existing
conclusion. Those in power at the time refused to look
through his telescope; they would not even consider the
evidence. Galileo was not popular for his discovery, but he
was right.

Be Open-Minded
Open-mindedness is the opposite of lazy thinking and is
often another victim of the expectations of our society.
Stereotypes are humanity’s way of making decisions faster
about who to trust. 9 But they are the enemy of critical
thinkers and the epitome of lazy thinking. 10 Stereotypes are
there to stop us from having to think, which is why they are
so dangerous.
To be open-minded, you need to be aware of the stereotypes
you hold. Everyone has them; it is a consequence of the
society we grew up in. So question yourself. Ask yourself why
you assume someone would act in a particular way. If you
find it hard to do this on yourself, look at those closest to
you, your family, and close contacts. The chances are that
you hold the same stereotypes to some extent. Stereotypes
are catching. Make sure you know yours and then challenge
them by asking questions and answering with honesty.

Be Objective
After you have worked on eliminating your personal bias,
you can use the critical thinking toolkit of skills to look at
the issues objectively. It means seeing reality, not a mirage.
Objectivity is a fruitful state of mind to practice using, even
when shopping! What do you need, and what are impulse
purchases? Which things are you buying based on what
others expect from you? Take the emotion out of these small
decisions to see the effect on your choices.
Be Fair-Minded
The other barrier to critical thinking comes under our sense
of self. Mastering these characteristics is the difference
between being a ‘self-serving’ critical thinker and a ‘fair-
minded’ critical thinker 11. I’m sure you know which one you
would prefer to be just by looking at the titles!
The self-serving critical thinker is highly rational and can
use critical thinking well but does so for their advantage.
They use arguments to confuse and manipulate others on
purpose. You will be better than that, for the downfall of
self-serving critical thinkers is that there is always a bias to
their thinking. So it isn’t critical thinking at all, just an
illusion of it.

Be Humble
There is so much to know that considering what you have yet
to learn and what you may never be able to learn is tough. It
is sometimes easier to pretend that we know everything on a
subject. This is where being humble helps. Humility means
not assuming you know best or that the right solution is the
one that is in your favor.
It is a strange truth that the more able a person is at a task,
the more likely they are to underrate themselves and
underestimate their ability. There is increasing research into
‘imposter syndrome,’ where ‘high-achieving individuals
ascribe their accomplishments to luck and contingency
rather than individual skill and merit’ 12. This is not what
being humble means either; you can acknowledge your
strengths, but you need to know your weaknesses. It is a
balance.

Be Tolerant
When you can accept different views and perspectives and
not take those as a blow to your ego, you know you are
getting close to mastering critical thinking characteristics.
Finding that you are wrong in the process of discovering a
truth is exciting to critical thinkers. It broadens the horizons
and opportunities.

Be Flexible
Finally, in a world where talking about flexibility usually
means discussing a yoga class or an admission to ‘giving in’
to another’s request, this useful characteristic is often
underrated. This summary is given in a (fairly) well-known
quote by Lao Tzu.
“Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and
dry. Thus, whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of
death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life”.
Flexibility does not mean that you cannot hold firm to your
beliefs. It means that when life changes, which it will, you
can realign rather than break.
And whatever you think, life will change. Sometimes by your
choice but more often not. You will have to adapt. Beliefs and
habits that serve you well now will need reviewing and
updating. You may be surprised at the opportunities this can
present if you are ready to open your eyes and look.
Action Steps
You know what to do, so how can you do it? Here is a
selection of brain games to help.
1. Get a puzzle book or app: focus on the logic crosses or
sudoku. These rely on your analysis and interpretation skills
rather than knowledge or observation.
2. Challenge your stereotypes: when you walk past someone
in the street, ask yourself, ‘What do they do for a job? Where
do they live?’. Chances are an answer will pop into your mind
if you hold biases; take note of that, so you’ll know where
you need to check yourself in the future.
3. Find an article online or in a newspaper that you are
interested in; then try to find the same story reported
elsewhere. Are there differences? Can you find the primary
source data? This will improve your awareness of what you
can trust as a valid source while also broadening your
reading!
4. Consider what you chose to wear today: ask yourself why
you chose those items; what image are you aiming to give to
others? It is a good way to start to understand your
motivations.
5. Pick a nearby item: think how it got to being there. What is
it made from? Where did it come from? Who did its
production involve? Who designed it? Why did they design
it? This gets you into the habit of asking questions and
exploring options.
6. Try to keep a running total of costs when you go shopping
or scores when playing a game rather than writing it down.
Not only will it improve your memory, but your numeracy
will improve, so you can analyze information more quickly
and spot potential errors faster.
7. Break down complex problems and solutions by imagining
you are explaining it to a 6-year-old. See how simple you
can make it without losing meaning. You will improve your
explanation skills if you can learn to be accurate but concise.
13

8. Next time you plan a trip out or an evening in, try using
the critical thinking process: identify your aims, ask
questions to form a plan, and then analyze your choices. This
will help you with the process as well as giving you many
opportunities to be self-reflective.

Once you have identified that you want to spend quality time
with a friend, you are less likely to end up binge-watching
TV. You will plan activities that meet your aims. Once you
acknowledge your experience, you will choose a mountain
path that is safe for you. Once you have identified your own
biases, you can appreciate a wider variety of opinions and
form more balanced judgments.
Critical thinking skills will help you take back control of your
time and your path through life. You can start to develop the
habits you want to have and ditch the habits that are holding
you back.
That’s a pretty good reason to revise the scientific method.
Chapter Summary

Think like a scientist – your decisions are like

experiments. Observe, predict, plan, do, conclude,
evaluate.
Think about what you do and improve your toolkit of
skills: identification, analysis, interpretation,
evaluation, explanation, and self-reflection.
Think about how you do it: make sure society’s
expectations or your ego do not control your
decisions.
Keep going back to a few core questions. How do I
know this is true? Why is this the case? Is it fair for all
involved?
 2

WHAT HABITS ARE ALL ABOUT

"W ebutarea what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act,

habit." — Aristotle
Have you ever stood there, by a fridge or a cupboard, eating
something mindlessly as your brain races through the to-do
list for your day? You opened the door and got the food out,
but maybe sometimes it feels like your autopilot is doing it,
and you never really chose it yourself. It is so easy to get lost
in our heads and in our thoughts that we sleep-walk through
even the most basic of decisions. But why? And how can we
snap ourselves back into reality? To take back control of our
lives, we need to hand the reins back to our questioning
minds to prevent us from eating that whole bag of popcorn,
or much more.
Habits are the actions and behaviors that we do
automatically, from the simplest daily routines to physical
and mental activities that we’ve learned over time. Since
habits can be either good or bad for us, we need to learn how
they are formed and forgotten so we can use them positively
in our lives.
You Are Your Habits
We get into bad habits when our auto-pilot is not the one we
want to have. One big reason we often follow the default
behavior rather than stopping to ponder over a particular
choice is related to stress.
You might already know that stress impairs the prefrontal
cortex, the part of the brain that deals with working memory
1. This is why it might be difficult to decide even what pizza

topping you want, despite it generally being a pretty low-

stakes decision. You stop being able to reason.
If these ‘blips’ in thinking were limited to food, then the
only thing that may suffer would be your waistline. However,
we can auto-pilot or decision-freeze in all aspects of our
lives, from jobs to relationships. It is why people talk
longingly about hindsight without realizing that, most of the
time, the situation could have been sorted better by
stopping, climbing off the default-decision travelator, and
thinking properly. Most people are scared of asking
themselves what they want and why they want it. This is
often because it may give them an answer that they are
uncomfortable with or demands them to take action, adding
to the already impossible to-do list.
This is where the famous fast versus slow thinking mode
kicks in 2. Our fast-mode involves default behaviors are
automatic and speedy responses to situations; these can be
good or bad, but it is where our ‘bad habits’ take root. We
can go into the slow mode as well, but it involves, you’ve
guessed it, slowing down to think through a situation
logically. Herein lies the problem. We are not very good at
slowing down, so we are often not very good at thinking
properly about what we are dashing around doing or why we
are even doing it.
So next time you are unintentionally attached to your
favorite snack bag, try to slow down. Try to work out why
you are eating it, what you should do instead of eating it, and
ultimately how you can stop ending up in the same place
again. In my case, this involves hiding the popcorn on the
very top shelf.
You can find out a lot more about who you are, what
motivates you, and where you want to be in life just by
starting to ask the right questions. You can change your
habits over the small choices in life and build up to the big
ones. Your habits shape your future opportunities.
Thankfully tweaking habits is not luck or perseverance.
There are well-researched frameworks you can use to
introduce new habits or eradicate bad ones logically. So what
do you want to change?

Unpicking Your Autopilot

Think of something you frequently do. Perhaps it is what you
do to get ready in the morning or how you leave the house.
The chances are that you perform certain steps in a specific
order. You check that you have your phone and keys as you
leave your home. You put your mug in to wash once you have
finished your drink. You put your gym kit in the wash after a
workout. Or maybe you hit snooze on the alarm for a while
before you get up, and you get breakfast and coffee at the
same shop on your way to work. You will have plenty of
already ‘in place’ patterns that are easy to spot if you look
for them.
If you want to build new habits in any area of life, whether
physical or mental, you can follow a pattern to identify and
understand them. This pattern is a cue, a routine, a reward,
and it’s called the ‘Habit Loop’ 3. For example, you wake up
early every morning (cue), have breakfast (routine), and
have an energized body (reward) ready to greet the day.
Therefore, you know that having an energetic feeling is
associated with waking up and having breakfast every
morning. You are more likely to maintain this habit as you
get a positive response.
We use this habit loop on other people and even animals all
the time. Have you seen someone train a dog to sit? The dog
hears the command (cue), sits (routine), and gets a treat
(reward). In the end, the dog will sit on command even
without a treat because sometimes it may get a treat. The
command makes the dog want to sit as the dog associates
sitting with a reward. Rewards intermittently gained can
even enforce behavior more strongly than rewards that are
always present 4. This is why gambling is addictive; you do
not know if the next play will win. The uncertain but real
promise of a possible win keeps you trying again and again.
Your reward needs to be something you want, but it doesn’t
have to happen every time. So if you have days where you
wake up early, have breakfast, and prepare well for the day
but still have a bad one, then it won’t mean you give up on
that habit. You know that this habit usually gives you a better
day, so you keep doing it.
Habits are, by definition, not one-off behaviors. This is why
the name is the ‘Habit Loop,’ as the positive feedback drives
the continuous cycle. Habits will just keep repeating and
repeating like a broken record, whether they are good or bad
unless the loop gets altered. This is where your critical
thinking skills can help.
Think about the steps in the habit loop. They can all be
broken down into questions to help you identify what is
going on in your head and unpick your autopilot.
Cue - Why do you do it? Make observations in your life. Look
for trends and patterns that precede your action. It may be a
feeling, a time of day, another action, or even a particular
smell that triggers your response. This may take some time
and is an excellent way to improve self-awareness. See it as a
fun challenge to work out what these cues are.
Routine - What do you do? This is the easy bit as it is usually
obviously a physical action you take. This is the thing you
class as the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ habit.
Reward - Why do you repeat it? Habits loop and repeat for a
reason. What is the reason for your identified habit? What is
the reward that makes you want to do the same thing again
and again? It may be a physical reward (a sugar or adrenaline
rush) or an emotional one (you feel relaxed or happy). This is
the powerful part of the habit loop. Without a really good
reward, you may not stick to the habit.
When you know the habit loop, you can rework the habit into
what you want it to be.

The Golden Rule Of Habit Swapping

When you feel a little bored, you will have a routine you
follow. Everyone does. If you want social interaction, you
may check your phone. If you feel a bit hungry, you may find
a snack. Neither of these things is bad in itself, but if the
routine becomes your autopilot for being bored, you may end
up browsing endlessly or snacking unnecessarily without
noticing.
The easiest way out is to ask yourself, ‘what do I do and why
do I do it?’. What is your autopilot for being bored, and why
is that the routine you have ended up with? You may
conclude that your routine is a good one (when you are
bored, you read a book or go for a run), so you want to keep
that habit. You may conclude that your routine is not so
great (when you are bored, you spend hours scrolling social
media and eating through a bar of chocolate).
The Golden Rule is one you can use to amend your habits.
You only need to change one piece of the habit loop. Since
you cannot just decide you will never feel bored again (the
cue), you need to change the bit that matters (the routine)
into something that still satisfies the need (reward). This is
very easy once you have identified your habit loop, so self-
reflection is an important critical thinking skill. You ask
yourself questions to work out why you do a specific thing,
then decide if it is a habit you want to keep or discard, and
finally, pose yourself a new question to investigate… ‘If I do
‘X’ instead, will I still feel rewarded?’. Changing your habits
is the experimental phase. You will find one that works and
fits your habit loop after a few goes and conclude that it is
your best new habit. You may be lucky and pick the optimal
new routine the first time round!
Just like in gene splicing, you aim to cut out the bit of ‘habit
code’ that you do not want and replace it with something you
want.
Here are some common examples of potential habit swaps:
1. You feel low on energy (cue), so instead of eating chocolate
(old routine), you choose to eat fruit (new routine). Both
satisfy a sugar craving (reward), but the new routine is
healthier.
2. You start work (cue), and instead of immediately spending
hours sorting emails (old routine), you make a to-do list of
what you need to achieve that day (new routine). Both satisfy
the need to feel organized (reward), but the new routine
means you start the day being strategic, not reactive.
3. You finish dinner and want to unwind (cue), so instead of
sitting down to watch TV straight away (old routine), you
clear up while listening to an audiobook, music, or podcast
you enjoy (new routine). Both satisfy the need for
entertainment (reward), but the new routine means you have
completed tidying and can stay relaxed.
4. You get paid (cue), so instead of buying some new clothes
(old routine), you put the money aside for a specific desired
item you would not normally buy (new routine). Both still
mean your earnings are going towards a treat, not just bills
(reward), but you will be saving towards a more desired item.
5. You run out of toilet roll (cue), so instead of just telling
this to your partner (old routine), you immediately put it on
a shopping list (new routine). Both make you feel you have
taken action, but the latter is most likely to end up not
getting caught short.
6. After lunch on Sunday (cue), instead of going for a drink
with friends (old routine), you go for a walk with friends
(new routine). Both satisfy your social needs (reward), but
the latter is healthier and saves money.

Do One Get One Free

Sometimes you will want to add in a new habit that does not
substitute for an old one. This is where you can do what is
called ‘habit stacking’ 5 or ‘habit chaining’ 6.
If your dentist recommends that you floss your teeth, you
will not swap brushing for flossing. You attach flossing to
your existing habit by flossing every time you brush your
teeth. It is much easier than trying to establish a new habit
for flossing that is separate from brushing your teeth! Again,
this is easy when you look at it as sticking new habits to
good habits. It just takes a conscious choice to do it well,
using your ‘slow thinking’ mode.
If you want to introduce a new habit, you need to make it
easy to stick to. Good habits are the easy ones to do. You may
have thought that good habits take dedication and immense
willpower. Think back to what a habit is; it is your autopilot,
thus it doesn’t take much thinking time, nor effort. It frees
up your mind to think about other things. So think about
when and how you can make a new habit fit your existing
routines most easily, and you will succeed with your
changes.
You can do most routines at any point in the day. Meditation,
diary writing, reading, exercising - all can fit in with your
life. I always found writing my diary to be a hard one, as I
could do it at any point, which meant that I did not decide on
a fixed time in my day for a long time. It often got forgotten.
I now write it immediately after my daughter goes to sleep; I
have attached it to a fixed cue that happens each day, and so
it is now part of my routine, with minimal effort. This is the
aim of habit stacking. Tick off multiple daily aims in the
same session.
The fastest way to do this is with a quick list, like the one
below.
You can either have a daily list or a weekly list. If you want to
introduce a new daily habit, on one side, list all of the fixed
routines you have in a day; making coffee, brushing your
teeth, having a shower, etc. Try to list them in the order you
typically do them. Then, on the other list, the routines you
would like to add to your day. Imagine you will ‘pin’ each of
the new habits onto an existing routine to make a new,
longer habit chain.
If you want to introduce new habits on some of the days of
the week, but not each day, then make lists with weekly
routines. It may be that you tag a new routine on workdays
only, or after a specific exercise class, or when you go
shopping. List the activities that are regular and predictable
but not daily. Then list the new routines that you want to add
in and ‘pin’ each of them onto the existing weekly routines.

Small But Mighty Changes

You now know your habit loop and plan to either swap
routines to improve your habits or pin a new routine on
existing good ones. Maybe you also want to take some
existing good habits and upgrade them to great ones. At this
point, it may be tempting to ‘think big’ and decide that your
new routine will involve a 10km run before breakfast each
day. Unless you are already running each morning, this is
not likely to be an effective goal. Remember, habits that stick
are those that are easy to implement.
A famous quote from Voltaire is that ‘the best is the enemy
of the good.’ It does not mean that you should lower your
eventual goals, but doing something each good day is better
than occasionally doing something perfectly. If you want to
run 10km each morning, it is better to start by running 2km
each morning rather than only going out once a month to
run 10km and then doing nothing on the other days.
A marathon training plan does not involve doing a marathon
each time you go for a run. You start small and gradually
build up time and distance. You practice incremental gains.
Inventors and scientists are familiar with this approach. If
you want to develop a new product, it is rare to get the
perfect outcome the first time. You make modifications, test
it, modify it again, test again. You improve things, little by
little. This is how people develop everything from medicines
to vacuum cleaners.
WD40 is a successful product resulting from the 40th test
experimental formula. Similarly, James Dyson made 5,126
prototypes of his vacuum that failed before the globally
successful one that has made him millions. Each of the
experiments involved considering which small change could
be made to improve the outcome. If the test worked, then the
inventors made another small change.
Improving your habits is the same. If you want to end up
with something brilliant, then aim to make lots of small
improvements that are simply good. There are a few
fundamental keystone habits to consider checking (more
about that soon), but most of your gains will be from small
tweaks that add up to big changes. It is a snowball effect that
makes bigger goals feel and get closer.
The world of sports has been working with this theory for
many years. It was termed ‘marginal gains theory’ by the
British cycling coach Dave Brailsford, who applied it to
everything from improved hand-washing to working out
what bits of the body his team of cyclists were allowed to get
waxed. They got better results and many gold medals; the
marginal gains all stacked up. They were encouraged to look
for the 1% changes, and now technology is allowing for even
more significant gains when new gear is available.
New trainers with carbon footplates improve marathon
runners’ time by 2% 7, and Eliud Kipchonge even used a V-
shaped formation of pace-setters in his sub-2-hour attempt,
designed by an aerodynamics expert Robby Ketchell 8. So it
pays to think outside the box and look for where to make
these small improvements in your life.
A good place to start is to consider what saves us time, not
just in the short term but long term too. How many times
have you said that you feel you don’t have enough time to do
what you want or need to do? But we all have the same
number of hours each day. It can’t be changed. We can only
control how we use them. So marginal gains that save a few
minutes is one way to ‘make the time’ for your other
projects, or just to occasionally relax without the guilt.
Marginal gains to ‘make time’ would include:
1. Having routines for shopping and meal planning, so you
make fewer trips.
2. Having routines for cleaning so chores do not pile up and
take longer than initially needed.
3. Having routines that maximize the use of each journey out
to reduce the hours spent traveling.
4. Having routines for checking emails and social media
reduces the chance of losing hours stroking a phone screen.
5. Having routines for storing and packing work or school
bags to reduce time spent looking for mislaid items.
Another easy area to apply marginal gains is in saving
money. You can make marginal gains financially via various
apps as well as by using simple comparison websites. If you
bought the cheapest option each time you went shopping,
the savings would increase. A traditional English saying is ‘if
you save the pennies, the pounds save themselves,’ which
sums up the idea of 1% gains very well. You can think
critically about what you really want to be using your money
on and doing that in your current position.
In business, the strategy is called the Kaizen principle, a
Japanese method literally meaning ‘continuous
improvement.’ A business’s productivity and effectiveness
can be markedly improved through a series of logical
marginal gains 9. The backbone saves time and money, but
reducing physical waste directly affects these two, so what
seems potentially purely business-centered has
environmental credentials too.
By optimizing your life, you will also have a positive knock-
on effect on those close to you; consider how your
relationships may benefit if you had more free time. What
new ventures can you try and the opportunities you can
suddenly say ‘yes’ to.

What Have You Built Your Life Upon?

Your keystone habits set the scene for other parts of your
life. Like in the story and song, ‘the wise man built his house
upon the rock’ we can build whole portions of our lives on a
rock or sand. The consequences of such small choices can be
vast. So finding what you are building your life upon is the
key to rapid progress.
Sleep Hypocrites
Anyone with a small child will know the importance of
routine. The evidence shows that bedtime routines help
sleep, improve behavior, and even benefit parent-child
relationships and language development 10. Many parents
heed this advice and stick to a fixed routine as a result. Even
the youngest children can pick up on habits and be affected
by them. The parents know this and act to improve the
outcomes for their children. What about the routines of the
adults, though?
We are much better at identifying good and bad habits in
others than spotting them in ourselves. We know that a
bedtime routine that involves a lack of screen time,
something relaxing to do, and a fixed ‘lights out’ point is
beneficial 11. We know that getting enough sleep means we
think more clearly and use our time more effectively.
Despite all of this, the World Health Organisation has
identified a lack of sleep ‘epidemic’ that started in the
western world and is now prevalent in Asia and Africa 12. So
many of us are ensuring that our children get quality sleep
without setting up the same routines for ourselves. Many of
us are sleep hypocrites. Has your default response when
someone asked you ‘How are you?’ ever been ‘Tired’? It is
considered normal in many cultures. Perhaps you think that
saying otherwise may be a sign you are not working hard
enough? This is a common global problem.
You may have many goals in mind and targets for improving
your life. It is unlikely that sleep is one of them. We overlook
it. However, if you want to develop great habits and become
an accomplished critical thinker, then this is where I suggest
you start. One of your keystone habits, the one that success
depends upon, is your sleep.
Take a moment to consider your bedtime routine. If you have
a wearable smart device, you may even be able to get data on
your waking hours, sleep length, and quality. You should be
aiming for at least 7 hours a night. Every night. Your bed and
wake times should not vary significantly day to day, which
may be unavoidable in shift work, but you can control it in
most professions. Be honest with your analysis. Is it a good
enough foundation to build the rest of your day on?
Now consider what you would like that routine to be and
what you would like it not to be. Work backward from when
you intend to be asleep. Establish some rules. When do you
need to finish work, for example? What makes you more
relaxed and aids sleep? This may be reading, yoga,
meditation, journaling, or listening to music. You may have a
good idea already or may need to experiment.
You can analyze the start of your day in the same way. If you
have a bad habit of oversleeping (keystone), getting up early
in the morning can become a new keystone habit (routine)
that can have a positive impact on your other aspects of life,
such as having breakfast daily without skipping it (routine),
reaching work on time (routine), and accomplishing more
during the day (reward). Often this goes hand in hand with
going to bed late. Establishing a new routine for either
bedtime or waking up time will make the other easier to
change too.

Calibrate Your Mornings

Once you analyze your sleep, then there are other keystone
habits that you can check. Remember, keystone habits are
small choices that have a disproportionate impact on the rest
of your day.
Think back to some of your childhood toys. Most people will
have memories of using Lego sets as children, potentially as
adults too. It is an incredible tool for building many skills,
where you must follow instructions to achieve a specific end
goal at times. If you do not follow one step in the early
instructions accurately, then the entire build may not work.
You may have to take it apart and start again. You can fix
some steps more easily than others. There will be keystone
steps in each project.
The effect of continuing with unchecked errors is not always
obvious in our daily lives but is obvious in another Lego
venture. Lego now has more options than ever, including the
ability to build and program robots. There is an annual
global competition for children to build robots that achieve
specific tasks in two minutes, called the ‘First Lego League.’
Robots have to start from one corner of a game mat, and
players can only handle them in that corner, so they need
programming for directions. Even if the robot starts slightly
off track, the errors accumulate as the robot travels further
across the mat. It ends up missing goals. Teams soon learn
that calibrating the robot at the start is well worth their time.
If the robot starts right, it can go where they intend it to go.
We happily calibrate the technology around us to avoid
errors. You probably set all your clocks around the house to a
known time, calibrate the scales in your bathroom or kitchen
and most of your smart electronic devices calibrate their
location without your help. What is left for you to do is
consider how to calibrate your day.
Calibration is how we ensure a device makes an accurate or
true measurement. You are more complicated than a simple
number to measure, but if you think of what you aim to
achieve in your day as your true measurement, then good
keystone habits are what set you on the correct path to
achieving these aims. So you need to calibrate your day by
setting the correct starting point. Consider what your daily
success rests on, aside from sleep.
Keystone habit (1) - wake early and consistently. This means
a similar time on workdays and days off if your work allows.
Productivity peaks in the morning, and the most successful
people have a routine that starts early. ‘The early bird
catches the worm’ is, for most people, a truth, not just a
saying. This is even the case for teenagers; morning classes
give higher test results than afternoon classes 13. Pick a time
that allows you to do what you need to do that day and
allows enough sleep.
Keystone habit (2) - eat a healthy breakfast. Plan it if this is
not already your morning routine. You can have the quick
cereal option, batch cook, freeze low sugar muffins, or even
cook something from scratch. Sometimes simpler is better,
as research shows that the quick cereal-based breakfast
option leads to 30-90% more micronutrient consumption
across the day and lower fat intake 14.
Keystone habit (3) - stay hydrated. If you think you are
hungry, check that you are not simply thirsty first. It is easy
to get dehydrated if you are too stressed or busy to
remember to drink. Drinking water is the optimal way to
rehydrate; some coffee or tea is ok, but these should not be
your only sources. Better hydration improves cognitive
functions such as short-term memory, visual awareness,
and general mood 15. It is a simple thing to do well, so add it
to your habit list!
Keystone habit (4) - visualize and meditate. Meditation can
take a variety of forms, including prayer and yoga. The
benefits of regular practice are that stress, depression, and
anxiety are lower during the rest of the day 16. The time
spent does not have to be significant, and you know that
lower stress means better decision-making later on. Think
of what that would mean for your work or home
relationships or how you come across in a presentation! This
practice is a case of making time now to save time later.
Keystone habit (5) - exercise. You do not have to go for a
morning 10k run for this to be effective; plenty of apps and
routines that are only 5-10 minutes long can get your heart
pumping and increase endorphins. Studies suggest that
morning exercise can improve your immune function 17 and
academic scores, as your brain is in a better state for
learning and processing information 18.
Keystone habit (6) - ask yourself ‘Why’ when you take small
actions. Learn to stop and think 19, 20. This is the first step to
improving rational thought. What is that the future you
would thank you for doing, or not doing? Slowing down and
asking ‘Why’ is the bedrock for the critical thinking habits
you will be embedding.

Action Steps
After you have checked through your existing habits, using
the daily and weekly lists to identify known routines, you can
get a second point of view from a close friend or family
member. Sometimes we have bad habits that we do not
notice but are very obvious to others!
There are two ways in which you can get input from another
person to help you modify habits. Firstly, they can be your
inquisition, helping to ask the tough questions you may not
want to ask yourself. Secondly, they can be an accountability
partner to help motivate you in continuing with a new habit.
Inquisition
You can ask yourself these questions if you do not want to
discuss them with another, but remember that you might be
a bit biased. If you see another person’s opinion as
information gathering rather than as a criticism, you will
make more progress than you can on your own.
1. If you are trying to replace a bad habit, what are the
emotions attached to the ‘cue’ and ‘reward’? Someone who
wants to stop smoking may know the cue is going outside
after work, but to identify an appropriate swap, you need to
identify the emotions that drive that choice.
2. What is the reason you want to change the habit in the
first place? Even if it is for another’s benefit, you need to
find something that will feel like a win for you. You may
want to read more so that your kids see you are more
literate, but reading more will also improve your
comprehension skills and broaden your knowledge. The
‘selfish’ aim is important for long-term achievement too.
3. If you stick to a new habit, what can you do to reward
yourself beyond the immediate reward in the habit loop?
This is essentially a grown-up version of a sticker chart.
There are many ways to log habits (see Chapter 5), but you
need an ultimate reward to improve motivation, especially if
you give up something you like.
4. Who can support you, and how can they support you?
Would you like to share your progress with another (as many
apps allow you to do), and if so, who? It sounds harsh, but it
means you cannot hide your choices and you’ll have to face
your decisions. It is the habit-tracking equivalent of a swear
jar.
5. What technology can you use to help remind you? This
may be an app or a post-it note. New habits take a while to
set even if they are well planned and easy to do. Reminders
give you the edge and free up your mind for other things.
6. What will you do when things don’t go to plan? You will
have bad days, and facing this in advance means you can
plan for it. A general rule is to avoid having two bad days in a
row, so a ‘miss one’ day means you make an effort to do
something the next one as a priority.
7. What things may go wrong and make you feel that it is
better not to try at all that day? Remember that practice
makes perfect. It is better to follow your new habit
imperfectly but do it each day than only do it perfectly or not
at all.
8. Make a list of habit swaps or stacks you want, then put
them in order. What is the most important starting point for
you? Do not try to do them all at once. You may have a
sequence to slowly build a new habit to where you want it.
You can use this list as proof of your progress too. Take baby
steps. If you need more time for one habit, you need to
consider your other routines since you cannot make more
hours in the day. Saying yes to one thing still means saying
no to something else! Make sure you know what your most
important routines are and plan around them.

Accountability
If you can get a trusted accomplice to support you, then
establishing a habit quickly is more likely. Better yet, sharing
the evidence that you have accomplished your daily or
weekly goal is an additional reward that makes it more
desirable to accomplish! An African proverb says, "if you
want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
Habits are long-term goals; if you just do something for a
few days, it is not a habit. You are planning for an improved
future.
So how can you make accountability work for you?
1. Choose who you partner with wisely. It may be a friend,
partner, colleague, or family member. They do not need to be
an expert in what you are aiming for, just someone who
cares about your progress and can make checking up on you
a priority. Children can make surprisingly good
accountability partners as you are likely to want to set a good
example to them by doing what you say you will do.
Outsource if you need to. There is a reason people pay money
to go to Slimming World classes rather than get their
partners or friends to check in on them. Personal trainers
mean you are accountable to someone for your physical
progress. Plenty of businesses exist to help keep you on
track.
2. Be specific about the habit you want to keep, how you will
share this with them and when you will update them.
3. Decide on what will happen if you do not do what you have
committed to doing. Make sure it is not judgemental but
encourages you to get back on track. Something very basic
like giving a third party (not the accountability partner!) a
small sum of money may suffice.
4. Work through a likely list of excuses with your
accountability partner and plan for what to say to each one.
You will just be hearing your own words back at you in the
event you try to make excuses.

Once you are familiar with using the habit loop and habit
stacking to amend your behavior, you can practice it to
achieve personal and professional goals. You can also start to
apply it to the skills and activities that actively promote
critical thinking development. Good habits are not only the
basis for better physical wellbeing to stop you from eating
the whole bag of popcorn but are crucial to mastering critical
thinking techniques. The process of identifying the habit
loop can become a habit itself and, therefore, a tool you can
use with minimal effort.
Chapter Summary

Know your autopilot habit loop and identify it in your

daily life:
Why do you do it? (cue)
What do you do? (routine)
Why do you repeat it? (reward)
To amend habits, you can follow these strategies:
Use the Golden Rule - swap an old routine out and a
new routine in its place, leaving the cue and reward
intact - making the new routine easy to follow
Pin a new routine into an existing habit to make a
habit stack or habit chain - making the cue obvious
Make sure you know why the change benefits you
directly and sell it to yourself - make the reason for
the swap attractive
Ensure the reward still fits your original desires and
put in place bigger rewards if you establish the new
habit.
Plan for marginal gains to get increasing returns.
How can you improve by 1%? This also leads to easier
habit changes that grow over time.
Identify your keystone habits to amplify the
effectiveness of the rest of your day. These often
relate to:
Sleep
Nutrition
Hydration
Mindfulness
Exercise
Consider getting an accountability partner for any
changes you expect to be tougher to stick to. This can
be someone you know well, a support group, or an
app.
 3

TURNING CRITICAL THINKING INTO A HABIT

“T ime given to thought is the greatest time saver of all” -

Norman Cousins
Complete the sentence ‘If only I had the time I would…’.
Perhaps you would renovate your house, write a book, learn
an instrument, socialize more, play with your kids rather
than working on the weekends, go to the gym. What is your
wish, if you had another hour each day?
That deepest desire is what you will make time for, without
using a time-turner, by training your autopilot to think
critically. Good habits save time and reduce uncertainty and
stress. So by putting in a bit of time to get into good critical
thinking habits, you will free up the time to do what you
want to do in life.
You now have a structure for how to build habits as well as
which skills and characteristics you need to improve your
critical thinking ability. This chapter deals with putting
those two together. When you turn these into routines, you
will positively change how you think and interact with the
world.
Critical Thinking habits do not just entail strengthening and
training your brain to always think logically. Still, they also
involve using more tools and techniques for thinking
rationally in a habitual way. Adopting these habits enables
you to constantly open up your mind and effectively deal
with a wide variety of problem-solving situations, both in
your personal and professional life.
Why do we need to plan for these consciously? It goes back to
fast and slow thinking, to our 21st-century autopilot. It is
often easier to stick with the same thinking patterns, just
like it is easier to eat the same thing for breakfast each day
or order the same type of coffee each time. The new routine
is not harder, but it takes a little effort to create the
headspace to consider a change.
Most people who do not think critically tend to do so by
choice because of the mindset that critical thinking involves
more mental effort to set up new habits. It also requires self-
reflectiveness and taking responsibility for your decisions.
Mastering critical thinking skills takes practice, and like any
other habit, this means being consciously aware of the need
for the skill and then knowing what to do to acquire it.

Turning Hobbies Into Habits

Your goal is to master the ability to think critically. Just as
putting on your shoes before you leave the house is a
physical autopilot, the critical thinking skills in Chapter 1
will become your mental autopilots. So what routines should
you work into your daily habit loops to develop these skills
and move towards mastering them?
For each hobby you want to turn into a habit, you are likely
to be at a different starting point. You will need to either
establish the hobby as a new one, embed it in the habit you
have, or extend the habit to get more from it. For each habit,
first, consider your starting point to be able to work it into
your day effectively.
Establish - this is for what you do not already do. Remember
to start small, pinning the new routine to a rock-solid
existing habit. You may need to use reminders, apps,
accountability partners, or visual cues to establish it.
Embed - this is for a habit you already have, but you struggle
to maintain consistently. You need to consider if the routine
is in the right place in your day or week and unpick the habit
loop to make sure you understand the cue and reward. You
may need to remind yourself why you do it or find a stronger
reward or more obvious cue.
Extend - this is for an established habit that you want to
build on further. The habit loop you have in place works well
for you already. You need to consider what else you want to
achieve and how it is best done. Do you need to spend more
time, more money, or change the routine’s substance? For
example, you may read a significant amount but want to
challenge yourself to read more widely. Amend your routine
to allow for this. More on different ways to do this in Chapter
4.

Read Widely And Daily

“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a
refuge from almost all the miseries of life.” — W. Somerset
Maugham
Why?
Reading keeps you well-informed, but it also sparks
curiosity and makes you see things from multiple
perspectives. It allows you to comprehend the different
meanings of words and interpretations of ideas. Reading
takes you inside someone else’s world, giving you a new
perspective and the ability to empathize with people you may
never meet. It stokes your curiosity, opens your mind to
places you have never considered, and shows you how to
communicate in various situations you may not have
experienced.

Literacy is fundamental in improving cognition 1 and

supports improved academic achievement. If you read more,
you acquire more knowledge, allowing you to analyze new
problems due to reducing cognitive load. You will naturally
broaden your vocabulary, getting to know more words, and
consider the text’s deeper meaning. This is known as the
‘Matthew Effect’ from the book of Matthew 25:29 in the
Bible, which says that ‘For whoever has will be given more,
and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what they have will be taken from them’.
This is true in many areas in life but particularly true in
knowledge acquisition. Educators focus a lot of attention on
this as there are still significant socio-economic gaps in
academic outcomes correlated to varying parental literacy
levels 2. Whatever your background, it is never too late to
start to develop a reading habit. It is always beneficial.
How?
This depends on your starting point and your goals. Do you
need to establish, embed or extend the habit? Do you keep
meaning to read but never get round to it? Do you read
irregularly and want to embed it as a habit, not a hobby? Do
you already read a lot but want to expand the genres you
cover? Do you read but want to go a little deeper into
analyzing texts?
1. If you rarely read books but want to start, pick a topic you
would like to know more about or as a friend with similar
tastes to recommend a book. It doesn't matter if you start on
fiction or nonfiction. You can buy a book, new or second-
hand, borrow one from a friend, or use a library. Reading can
be a very cheap habit! If you are still unsure what book to
start with, look at the New York Times bestsellers list or
online for popular books.
2. If you prefer bite-sized non-fiction, then investigate
newspaper or magazine subscriptions. Most are available
electronically as well as in the traditional paper format. It
may be tempting to use social media. Still, the quality of
language is often at a much lower reading age. Besides,
algorithms work in such a way that you may end up in an
echo chamber, where accessing differing points of view can
be tricky.
3. If you have plenty of reading material already, but most
remains unread, pick something that will be a quick win.
Moby Dick is probably not the best choice here.
4. Join a book club. There are plenty of online options if you
do not know of any. Alternatively, set one up with friends,
family, or colleagues. Book clubs are great for improving
reading habits; you are told what to read, when to read it,
and have ready-made accountability partners who will know
if you haven’t finished. You are also likely to read the
material you would not always choose on your own.
5. Put the reading material where you will read it. Put a book
on your pillow when you get up each morning or by the sofa
before leaving for work. If you are using a digital device, then
ensure your routine includes charging this device. Nothing
puts a stop to a good reading habit like an e-reader
repeatedly running out of battery.
6. Audiobooks can be a great option if you are short on time.
Multi-tasking is rarely successful, but this is one of the
exceptions; you can listen to an audiobook and benefit from
it if you listen to it while doing physical tasks. You can listen
when doing housework or gardening while commuting to
work, or going for a run. To be able to listen properly,
however, you need to make sure you do not need to read or
talk simultaneously. You cannot listen while reading or while
talking and take in what you hear. Although audiobooks give
you the book’s content, they do not give you the word
recognition you get from seeing the written form, so if your
goal is to improve your use of written language, it is best to
stick to visual media.

Write It Down
“Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what
happens. Most of my friends who are on that diet have very
pleasant careers.” ~ Ray Bradbury
Why?
Writing, paired with reading, helps us learn how to think.
Many experts would also argue that writing IS thinking that
helps us in separating what we know from what we think we
know, and in seeing and evaluating our thoughts more
clearly. That’s a pretty fast way to improve your self-
reflection skills alongside your communication. You learn to
write and then write to learn 3. You learn about yourself,
your opinions, your feelings, and how you make decisions.
When you commit something to words, you have an
opportunity to be honest, and track changes and attitudes
over time. These are all skills that make it easier to be aware
of your habits and be more informed when making decisions
about the best next step for you.
How?
Evaluate if you need to establish, embed or extend this habit.
Does your daily writing consist only of emails? Do you
occasionally fill in a journal on holidays but not as part of
your usual daily life? Do you regularly write a journal but
want to be more analytical? Do you want to write on paper, a
tablet, or type?
1. If you want to keep a diary but feel daunted by the many
blank pages, aim for a diary with very short sections for each
day, such as a 5-year diary. Going for a pre-dated version
helps structure the diary and means that you can fill it easily
with limited space. You do not need to wait for January 1st;
there are plenty of customizable diaries where you can pick
the starting point.
2. Alternative activities that can introduce a quick daily
writing habit are journals with a specific purpose, for
example, a gratitude, a prayer, a health, or exercise journal.
This can fit with another habit you want to build - an
exercise journal can help you develop a better exercise habit.
Again, there are plenty available to buy or print at home with
appropriate headings for various activities to help prompt
you.
3. Develop writing a bit further by allowing more open-
ended pieces. Write about yourself. This is not a self-
centered task but a self-reflective one. This can be for your
benefit or for that of another. You can write about your
holidays or how you developed your career to have stories to
read yourself in the future. You can write about your
childhood to record stories to tell your children. When he got
married, my brother’s wife got a short book about him titled
‘An idiot’s guide to guiding an idiot.’ Neither are idiots by a
very long way, it must be said, but the idea of writing a ‘how
to’ guide about yourself or someone close to you can be very
revealing and a more humorous way of writing. If that feels
too personal, then have a go with writing a ‘how to’ guide
about your pet or a hobby.
4. If you want to improve your ability to communicate to an
audience, write some letters or articles for magazines,
platforms, or newspapers you read. It will make you consider
your choice of words and tone of delivery, with the bonus of
the potential of getting a more obvious reward than simply
the satisfaction of having communicated your thoughts.
5. If you already have a solid self-reflective writing habit,
you can combine writing with research to write a piece on a
place, topic, or person. This may be one you are familiar with
or want to find out more about. You can do this for yourself
or aim to write with a publication in mind. Set a realistic
time or word limit for each day.

Build Systems To Achieve Goals

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of
your systems. Your goal is your desired outcome. Your system is
the collection of daily habits that will get you there.” - James
Clear
Why?
A common ‘bucket list’ goal is to run a marathon. You
almost certainly have friends who have done this or talked
about doing it. Some people do it, like it and then do it again.
Most do it once, get the T-shirt and settle for more sensible
runs after that point.
One of the reasons marathons are popular is that they are a
clear and obvious goal. Something to tick off the list. It
sounds good to tell yourself you are training for a marathon.
However, choosing to run a marathon is not the best way to
develop a good running habit. Your focus is on the goal, and
you can get overwhelmed with what your time will be, how
you will stay injury-free in the runs just before, and how
others judge you. When we set big goals, we set ourselves up
for big falls at the same time. 4 This can lead to anxiety or a
mental block, not what you need when trying to make
progress in an area of your life!
There is nothing wrong with having goals, but they are not
the key to successful habit building. For that, you need to
focus on systems instead. Systems are the micro changes
that go on in the background. If your goal is to run a
marathon, you will not automatically develop a running
habit. If you develop a running habit, you are much more
likely to successfully run a marathon. The goal is the result
of the presence of a good system.
When you focus your attention on a system, you set yourself
up for success in small increments each day rather than
spending the time worrying about the potential failure of one
final task. You are succeeding by going on your daily runs,
and the marathon is a consequence, not the defining feature.
It also means that if an event gets canceled (hello 2020) or
you are ill or injured, you do not feel like you have failed to
achieve your goal. The new goal is the system leading to a
still intact habit and carries beyond race day.
How?
First things first: consider if you need to Establish, Embed or
Extend this habit. Are you a very ‘goals orientated’ person
who needs the thrill of a big win? Do you consider the
practice and preparation phases as important as the final
event? Do you define your success by daily routines or one-
hit events? How much research do you do before a big
decision?
1. List your current goals. What system is needed that
underpins that goal? From this point, you can work out what
habits need establishing or embedding to lead you to your
goal without the goal being your focal point. Tracking the
habits and rewarding yourself for keeping to your plan can
be your new ‘goal’ and achievement source.
2. Consider specific areas in your life. Have you considered a
career shift? You may base this on a gut feeling, but to
critically approach the issue, you need to move the focus
from the goal of a new career to developing systems that
pave the way for it. For instance, you can employ different
thinking processes such as researching (on the new career
you are thinking of adopting), questioning (asking people in
the same career you want to have), and comparing views
(reconciling the opinions of various people you talk to),
instead of just aiming to shift careers because you want to.

Double-Check And Question Yourself

“Often, the most tricky questions are the ones we secretly know
the answers of. What are you running from? What are you waiting
for?” ― Sanhita Baruah
Why?
Have you ever wished that you could try out a few parallel
lives to see which decision works out best for you? Or
perhaps that you could rewind time and make a different
decision with the benefit of hindsight? While there is no
100% futureproof way to make big decisions, you can
develop habits to reduce the odds of making a choice you
regret.
You don’t just use questioning to gather evidence from
others. One of the most powerful habits you can develop is to
question yourself. Not in a way that promotes self-doubt,
but in a positive manner that reassures you that you have
left no stone unturned in your quest for the best option.
Use critical thinking on yourself: question arguments,
actions, facts, and ideas; test or counter your arguments and
thoughts until you are left with the strongest argument
based on the knowledge you have.
How?
Do you need to establish, embed or extend your questioning
habit? Do you make key decisions by only asking others what
they think you should do and not asking yourself? Do you
ever prevent yourself from considering an alternative
outcome just to make life easier? Do you use questioning
already but need to consider the weighting of the ‘evidence’
you collect?
1. Ask the opinions of others, but ask yourself too. It is
common to ask someone you trust to make decisions for you
when you are under pressure, and then you compile evidence
to fit their choice. Make sure you ask yourself first.
2. Be a little selfish at times. It is important to consider how
your decision will impact other people, but you also need to
consider how they impact you. If you choose something that
makes everyone else happy but makes you miserable, you
will regret it, however much you love those other people 5.
You need to question yourself about what you want to do and
why you want it.
3. Use the concept of De Bono’s Thinking Hats when you
have a big decision to make 6. This involves approaching a
decision or problem from six separate perspectives. It is an
excellent way to make sure you cover all possible angles
before concluding your approach. The six hats are:

The White ‘Objective’ Hat - Purely finding facts and

figures, no bias or emotion
The Red ‘Emotive’ Hat - Emotions only
The Black ‘Cautious’ Hat - Identifying potential
dangers or weaknesses
The Yellow ‘Optimistic’ Hat - Positive thoughts and
hopes
The Green ‘Creative’ Hat - Where could it lead, what
new opportunities could arise
The Blue ‘Organized’ Hat - Overview of the process
and organizing the evidence.

4. Seek adversity and play Devil’s advocate. You can enlist a

trusted friend to do this with you as long as they do not start
to offer their opinions. Deliberately pitch yourself against
yourself. Make a list if you need it.
5. Consider having coaching sessions. Coaching is not
mentoring; it is another person asking you questions that
help narrow down what you really think and feel. This can
help if you have particularly big decisions to make, and
sounding them out loud is not an option with people you
know. A coach is neutral and will not steer you in any
particular direction to meet their desired outcome.
6. Do not accept what others expect of you. Feel comfortable
veering from the expected structure, learning how to defy
the rules, or breaking free from your previous
understanding, to get to what is true and rational. Have you
had someone assume that you would do a certain job, live in
a certain type of house, have a certain number of kids, and
have life looking like they expect it to by a certain age? How
many of your decisions so far have been your own rather
than what someone else expected you to do? This does not
mean you should rebel against any familial or societal
expectations; many have logical groundings, but you should
question them and decide if they really apply to you at this
time. Be an active thinker, never believing anything easily.

Seek Good Conversations

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small
minds discuss people” - Eleanor Roosevelt
Why?
There is a reason that gossip magazines do so well. It takes
very little effort to comment on someone’s dress size or the
color of their new car. Passing on observations is part of
being human, but it is easy, and a conversation about the
love life of a celebrity is unlikely to challenge our minds.
This lack of conversation of substance is part of popular
culture. Films now can get a Bechdel–Wallace test, which
measures the representation of women in fiction. The test is
inspired by a cartoon by Alison Bechdel, where women
discuss their rules for choosing a movie. Their rules are 1)
The movie has to have at least two women in it, 2) who talk
to each other, 3) about something other than a man 7. It now
also requires the women to be named characters. About 60%
of films pass this test, and many do so only due to women
talking about marriage and babies 8. There is nothing wrong
with these benign conversation points, but it does not
encourage a variety of discussions.
If you look at greetings cards, you will see the topics society
expects us to talk about. Women apparently should talk
about family, flowers, and cakes. Men apparently should talk
about sports and cars. Having conversations beyond people
and objects is valuable to us all, as we feel like we can
surpass the age and gender divides in our verbal interactions.
Engaging in conversations is more than just about
exchanging ideas and sharing dreams. In the end, it can help
enhance deep listening, impactful learning, and action
planning. Seek to understand before being understood. A
good conversation should have us looking differently at
others and ourselves. It should inspire us to think broadly
and view things more wisely.
Conversations are ways to unpick misunderstandings, clarify
our intentions to prompt action, and improve empathy 9. To
this end, we need to move beyond talking about people and
events.
How?
Do you need to Establish, Embed or Extend this habit? Do
you have more conversations in text form than face to face?
Do you see talks as an opportunity to gather information or
just for you to share information? Do you remember and
think back over conversations you have had?
1. Set time aside for conversation in your personal life,
whether face to face in reality or virtually. You can set this up
as a new routine pinned to an existing habit if you need it.
You may decide to have a family video call after Sunday
lunch or make a point to talk with those you live with over
breakfast without the distractions of phones or TV. You may
choose to walk with a colleague to get lunch and talk on the
way or jog with a friend to catch up at the same time.
2. Consider who you regularly speak to. Are you exposed to a
variety of opinions, or only an echo chamber? Try to strike
up a conversation while waiting in a queue, for a bus, or with
someone at work you often pass by but rarely speak to. Aim
to speak to people of different ages and from different
cultural backgrounds. Even short conversations can give
lasting memories.
3. Unplug occasionally. While it is useful to use a commute or
shopping trip to listen to a podcast, audiobook, or relax with
some music, it is also an opportunity to observe and interact
with others. Plan for a balanced approach. If you go
everywhere with earphones in and speaking to no one, you
should reconsider the opportunities for a conversation you
are missing out on.
4. Take the time to speak to children. Most will be very
happy to tell you about their latest obsession. It is an
excellent way to practice your listening skills and add real
value to the child. Many children get overlooked in
conversation but can give remarkably astute observations if
you take the time to chat with them.
5. Equally, plan occasions to speak to those from an older
generation. They have lived through massive changes and
can be an amazing source of information and perspective.
Consider family, neighbors, or just those you see out and
about.
6. Plan to have deeper conversations with some of those
close to you. We often cover superficial details when we meet
others and, just like a sugary snack, the high does not last
long. Conversations of substance cover more than just the
weather and what you are having for dinner. Try to move
from talking about people to talk about events and then
ideas. Have a look at a list of conversation starters online if
you need inspiration 10.

Change Your Opinion When Needed

“Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot
change their minds cannot change anything.” -George Bernard
Shaw
Why?
Another habit that improves critical thinking is to change
our views or decisions in the face of better data. This does
not mean you should lack confidence in the way you think or
the decisions you reach. It is about being open-minded and
accepting when you are wrong and repositioning yourself if
necessary. It is about putting accuracy and truth above your
ego.
We live in a world bursting with information. You can
research thoroughly and still find that new evidence surfaced
after you’ve made your decision and that your conclusion
would now differ. Scientists have to do this all of the time; if
we did not have people who found and then accepted new
evidence, then there would be very little technological
progress in our world. Critical thinkers see this habit of
decisions as open, rather than closed cases, as a positive that
leads to improved outcomes, rather than a slight on their
abilities. It is a harder habit than it sounds! To master it, you
need to be more concerned about getting it right than about
being right. 11
How?
Do you need to Establish, Embed or Extend this habit? This
habit is often a matter of personal pride above anything else.
Changing our minds is seen by some as a weakness and is
undervalued in society. How do you feel if you have to
change a decision? If someone comes to you with new
information that goes against your previous conclusions, are
you grateful or frustrated? The degree to which you cling to
past decisions is a marker of how well you have already
developed this mental habit.
1. Try to view decisions you make as ‘a decision’ not ‘my
decision.’ When new evidence arises, it feels less personal to
change the choice, and your ego is less likely to get in the
way.
2. Imagine the choice was one a friend or relative was
making. What would you advise them to do?
3. Sometimes changing our minds is hard as it means
changing a path we have already set out on. Like the example
earlier, it is much easier to go back down the path and
choose the correct route than to carry on the wrong one. The
short-term time spent correcting yourself is likely to be less
significant than the long-term impact of the wrong decision.
Choose the future you will thank yourself for.
4. Try to view the decision as a scientific experiment or a
legal case. If new evidence came to light, you would expect
scientists and lawyers to adjust their stance accordingly. The
same applies to your life choices. Very few decisions are truly
finite.
5. Identify the excuses you make and question if you made
them to defend a point of view that needs to be re-examined
12.

Avoid Jumping To Conclusions

“I learned to have the patience to listen when people put forward
their views, even if I think those views are wrong. You can’t reach
a just decision in a dispute unless you listen to both sides” -
Nelson Mandela
Why?
Becoming an expert critical thinker means training yourself
not to jump to conclusions, particularly in data absence. It is
a conscious effort to look at various information and aspects
of a problem, issue, or situation before deciding.
Nelson Mandela was an expert in the art of respectful
decision-making and leadership. “How did you become such
a good leader?” someone asked him. “Because I learned to
speak last,” was Mandela’s reply. He had been raised where
the decision-maker listened to the opinions of others before
entering the conversation. He saw the leader’s job was “not
to tell people what to do but to form a consensus.” He
advised others, “Don’t enter the debate too early.” He would
summarise points at the end of a meeting and subtly steer it
to what he believed led to the best decision, even if this was
different from his original opinion.
How?
Think of a situation where you had to decide on something
significant, not just what movie to watch next. This will help
you to decide if you need to Establish, Embed or Extend this
habit. Do you usually decide immediately what you want to
do and then persuade others? Do you do a quick check of
information but usually only from sources that will support
your original thoughts? Do you check some decisions
thoroughly but leave other significant ones to chance as you
are too tired or it takes too much time?
1. By listening to others before speaking, you can gather
unbiased information. By researching before you voice your
opinions, you can resist acting on stereotypes, emotions, or
choosing the path of least resistance without considering
alternatives. Do what Mandela did: listen first and speak last.
2. Ask yourself what the most obvious answer is when facing
a decision, and then ask yourself why. Is that because it is
the choice others expect you to make? If so, who is expecting
you to make that choice? Could you justify your decision to
your future self with evidence?
3. If you know there are situations where you often make
snap decisions, write them down. Plan your choices.
Sometimes it is easy to predict when you will need to choose,
but it is hard to do the research. For example, at a job
interview, you will need to draw conclusions about the team
you would work with, the location, and the role. You can do
some of the preparation in advance, but you often have to
gather some evidence on the day. However, you can plan the
right questions to ask about the workplace or the team in
advance. It is easier to make a better decision without relying
on gut feelings and stereotypes due to the lack of solid
information.

Action Steps
For each critical thinking skill, work out your starting point.
You may want to use a grid like the one below to organize
your thoughts.

Make sure you are honest about what you do already and
consider how you will continue to grow that habit in the
short, medium, and long-term by committing to specific
steps. Decide which one to start on first. Rome was not built
in a day, but by slowly laying bricks each day. You can build
excellent new mental auto-pilots that will save you time and
effort when navigating the world in the long run.
Consider using a habit tracking app or chart, as you would
with physical habits.
Chapter Summary

Aim to establish, embed and extend critical thinking

habits over time. Identify your starting points for
each habit to work towards your new autopilots.
Habits to develop are:
Reading daily and widely
Writing
Building systems to reach goals
Double-checking and questioning yourself
Having good conversations
Changing your opinion when needed
Avoiding jumping to conclusions
Plan for the habits using the habit loop and pinning
them to existing habits.
 4

MAKE IT STICK TODAY, TOMORROW, AND

NEXT YEAR

“H abit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at

last we cannot break it” - Horace Mann
Imagine you buy a new car. It is scratch-free, clean, and runs
smoothly. And you want to keep it that way. You wash it each
weekend, don’t eat or drink inside but still vacuum the seats
and carpets. You check the fluid levels and electrics. You
check the tire pressure before each long drive.
Fast forward five years, with the same car. Do you look after
the older car in the same way you look after the brand new
one? Do you clean it, check it and protect it as much?
Habits change over time if we let them. Even the most
ingrained habits can fade away over months or years if there
is no conscious effort to keep them going. This is why kids
can be great at cleaning out a new pet, adults can be great at
putting aside time to get to know a new date, and anyone can
be committed to a new workout routine or a new hobby for a
few months. When the novelty of a situation fades, then you
have to embed a habit you have started to establish.

Making It Stick
Sometimes life changes and your habit cues may shift. You
change jobs, and the gym you used to visit each day on the
way home is no longer on the route you take, so you don’t
go. You have a baby and your new morning routine means
you forget to brush your teeth.
You must make a conscious effort to keep your existing
habits going, even when life changes. This chapter deals with
maintaining habits over time to prevent them from getting
stale, to help you feel the benefits enough that when life
changes, you keep the habits going.

Organize What You Do

How do you approach grocery shopping? Do you make a list
or just go to the shops when it looks like you are running out
of food? What you do here tells you a lot about your general
organization levels.
You can save time and reduce wasting both money and food
if you get a little organized. Plan your meals for the week and
make a shopping list reflecting what you do not already have
in stock. You can batch cook to have leftovers already there
on busy days. Best of all, if you build in organizational habits
like this, to streamline daily tasks in this way, you free up
time and headspace for other things. It’s hard to get excited
about meal planner sheets but avoiding last-minute meal
panic, extra take-out bills, and late-night shopping trips to
get essentials are outcomes worth celebrating.
Putting a semblance of order on tasks and setting their
priority level is a great way to make a complicated day more
streamlined. When we have a sense of order, we are often
able to accomplish more. Since part of adopting good critical
thinking habits means organization and prioritization, try
getting into the habit of using lists for busier days.
An easy way to do this is to buy or make a life planner,
combining a diary and a to-do list. You can have monthly,
weekly or daily tasks and fit them around your schedule
easily. If you have tasks that need doing as a household, this
allows shared viewing and usage too. Planning when pets get
cleaned, bins get taken out and other trivial tasks save you
time and headspace. Get your house ordered to get your head
in order too. Various methods such as the ‘KonMarie’ way to
tidy 1 or the Team TOMM housework plan 2 can also help
guide you in organizing the mundane aspects of life and give
you thinking space and time back.
When the daily essentials are in order you can cope better
with change. You will have less chaos to distract you from
the new critical thinking habits you want to embed.

Work On Your Mind And Body

Think of the last application form you filled in. Whether it is
for a University course or a job, chances are the form asked
about extra-curricular activities. Not just grades, not just
previous roles. No one wants to hire a slacker, but very few
want to hire someone who has no life outside of their work
or studies either. It may seem like a good idea to refuse all
social events to further your studies or work late, but a
balance is needed to prevent burnout.
You can plan your life to the minute, but sometimes your
heart isn’t in it. There will be days you feel more energized
and happier than others. This is normal and is not a failure.
Know your limits and do not push them too hard. You can
work out how much time you need for sleep, social contact,
exercise, spirituality, and quietness to think clearly. This is
different for everyone. Make a conscious effort to work out
your limits, and then make sure your daily plans allow for
this.
By maintaining a broader perspective in life, you will support
the development of tolerance, open-mindedness, and
generally being more empathetic. Your new habits will be
easier to stick to if you are not feeling drained or like you are
sacrificing something else that is critical for your wellbeing.
Deciding to quit a workout to read more is not the aim and is
unlikely to be beneficial to you.

Find Your True Passion, Reason, Purpose, Or Goal

If you could choose to do anything at all with your life, what
would it be? Would you do more of something you are
already doing or change course entirely? Everything you do,
especially your habits, should be purposeful and lead to what
you want in life. If everything you do, including the way you
think, is anchored on what you love doing and what you
want to achieve, habits like critical thinking are easily
doable.
Maybe you love to work with young students running career
workshops. You realize you have a passion for reaching out
to and helping people, which gives you a sense of
achievement. You know that you would be more effective in
that role if you always practice rational thinking, good
questioning, active listening, and other critical thinking
skills. When you actively link developing these skills to the
ideal role, you have given yourself another extra ‘reward’ in
the habit loop. The habit is about your future potential and
that of others too.
This applies to personal relationships too. Your greatest goal
may be fulfilling the role of a parent or as a partner. There
are obvious benefits to not jumping to conclusions, being
fair-minded and humble, and developing clearer
communication in your personal relationships and
professional goals. The fact that critical thinking habits have
such a positive effect on all aspects of your life, and are not
limited to one ‘season’ of life only, is why they are key ones
to develop.

Be Proactive And Take Responsibility

‘The dog ate my homework” is not just a mythical excuse. It
is on a list of many different reasons, some probably true,
some definitely not, for lack of work produced on time.
Teachers have much more respect for students who own up
to not having finished the work and who put a plan to
remedy the situation than those who try to avoid any blame
or responsibility. The students who make excuses a habit
rarely succeed.
Critical thinkers falter in their decision-making process, just
like everyone else. To maintain any habit, whether physical
or mental, you need to avoid making excuses. If you miss a
day, learn from your mistake, and bounce back easily. If you
allow excuses to be your habit, they will end up as the
routines you implement. You end up giving up before you
have started.

Enhance Your Willpower And Self-Discipline

Perhaps the most basic and important abilities in habit
change and formation are these two. Willpower can be seen
as a rather sudden and momentary burst of focused energy,
while self-discipline is structured, well thought out, and
consistent.
The marshmallow test, devised in 1972, shows how this
starts early and has been used to track self-discipline from
childhood into adulthood. Pre-schoolers were shown a
marshmallow on a plate. They could eat it if they wanted to.
If they could wait for 10 minutes, they could eat that one and
get a second one. Success rates in the test correlated with
future success and improved health even 30 years later 3.
When children had to work together to achieve the goal, they
were more successful at being self-disciplined 4. As it turned
out, accountability works from very young ages!
Studies show that self-control is one of the most significant
markers for success both personally and academically 5.
Practice small acts of self-control each day (when to stop
eating cookies or when to put down your phone) to be able to
resist distractions and temptations that could derail your
habits.

Surround Yourself With Critical Thinkers

You may have heard the saying that ‘you are the average of
your closest five friends,’ attributed to Jim Rohn. Maybe you
have checked your closest friends, and they seem up to
scratch… no bad habits to try to derail yours. This is a good
start, but sometimes simple rules are too simple; the effect
on your life goes beyond your small close circle of friends to
people you see a little of and even those you have not met 6.
It turns out that if your friends’ friends gain weight, start
smoking or are less happy, then the ripple effect spills over.
You are more likely to gain weight, smoke, or be unhappy
even if you have never met them 789. The effects of your
immediate and your extended social circle on your life are
measurable.
How can you use this to help embed your habits? You can
work with existing friends to achieve common goals, use
them as accountability partners, and consider extending
your social network to include those who already have these
skills, if necessary. Just as spending time with friends who
read widely encourages you to try new literature, spending a
lot of time with critical thinkers helps you train your mind to
think like them.

Avoid Over-Thinking
Have you ever found yourself staring at the ‘Loading’ screen
for a video, upload, or update to take effect? Just like we can
get stuck looking at a screen without any logical reason to do
so, we can also get stuck in our thoughts. Think of it as a
mental traffic jam. Thinking well is good and helps you get
to your destination smoothly. Overthinking is what happens
when you try to do this in rush hour.
Critical thinkers tend to think more deeply and in doing so
they avoid the so-called analysis paralysis and information
overload tendency. You, too, can avoid this pitfall, much like
you can avoid getting stuck in a traffic jam if you plan your
journey time and route carefully.
If you get stuck in your head, the first thing to try is to bring
yourself back into the room. This works for anxiety and
overthinking; anytime you need to ground yourself back in
reality. Use the 5-4-3-2-1 method: deliberately notice five
things you can see, four that you can touch, three things you
can hear, two things you can smell, one thing you can taste
10.

Once you are ‘back in the room,’ you can refocus on the task
at hand. This often goes hand-in-hand with planning, as we
can get overwhelmed if we are trying to multitask or to
complete tasks in impossibly short time frames. Remember
to do one thing at once, identify what that thing is and why
you are doing it. If you focus on embedding one habit at
once, that will usually do the trick. Sometimes you just need
to ‘do the next right thing.’
When overthinking persists and becomes a habit of its own,
you can draw upon other skills to help unpick the root cause.
Writing it down or talking it through can be beneficial.
Taking time out for a run, a walk, or reading may clear your
head. Take note of what works for you to find a constructive
way of processing any worries or negative thoughts.

Practice Makes Perfect

Repetition is key to imbibing any habit. Do not plan for
perfection. Plan for practice and ‘perfect’ may eventually
follow. If a couple wants to conceive a child, it is better for
them to… ‘practice’ rather than spend lots of time
calculating the odds each day to try only once when they
think conditions are perfect.
Habits are, by definition, regular occurrences, not one-off
events. They are not a case of ‘one shot to get it right,’ and
many people fail to embed habits if they are expecting each
day to be perfect. If you want to embed a habit long-term,
accept imperfections and make sure you have a go each day
anyway.
Simple Steps To Embed Critical Thinking Habits
Embed A Reading Habit
Set aside thirty minutes every day to read the news from at least
three different sources and compare their stories:
1. List key takeaways from each news site.
2. Compare what they have in common (if they’re saying the
same story) and where they differ.
3. Analyze what you’ve gathered from them.
4. Find other related information if you feel something is
still lacking.
5. Make your own conclusion about the subject.

Embed A Writing Habit

Set aside a time each day to write in a physical or electronic
journal.
1. Identify key events in your day; consider what you may
find significant when you read it in the future.
2. Note down in your own words key insights on news and
articles you’ve read each day.
Have a development diary for work and/or personal life.
1. Have a different journal entry for problem situations that
you encountered each day, whether major or minor, what
steps you took to approach the problem, and the outcome
(e.g., if the problem was resolved or remains unresolved).
2. Review your journal on a weekly basis and identify your
thinking patterns, your defeats, and small wins.
3. Analyze your patterns and use these discoveries to make
positive changes. Your writing can lead to shifts in other
habits.

Embed The Systems (Not Goals) Habit

Go beyond physical system setups for your day. Use what you
have learned to set out systems of thinking to improve other
critical thinking skills.
Consider ‘soft’ goals such as feeling more thankful, more relaxed,
and happier. Plan systems that will support you to achieve these
‘feeling’ goals. This is often much harder than systems for
physical goals.
1. Identify the factors that feed into your ‘soft’ goals, such as
time with family, taking walks outside, or doing a hobby.
2. Choose a goal that you could do easily. For example, you
could choose to take three deep breaths before you respond
to a difficult email or phone call, in order to improve your
emotional control and ultimately make you feel more relaxed
when handling challenging situations.
3. List ideas you could act on that would improve the level of
this ‘soft’ goal in your life.
Make the systems a talking point at work or in your home life;
explain to others what you are aiming for by switching your focus.
This way, you solidify the reasoning for your systems while
getting support.
1. Choose a phrase to easily explain your focus. Make it clear
to yourself and everyone else that you are focussing on the
practice rather than the perfect.
2. Write down the reasons for your system being beneficial,
without referring to the goal.
3. Put these reasons where you can see or find them easily.
4. Share with your family, friends, or colleagues the reasons
for the system, rather than the motivation for the goal.

Embed A Questioning Habit

Take time to do an options appraisal, either out loud or written
down, next time you have a big decision to make.
1. Deliberately include options you normally write off; one
should maintain the status quo as a comparison (or ‘control’
if you are scientific).
2. Make yourself find pros and cons for each one.
3. Ask others for potential solutions as they may come up
with ideas you have not had.
4. Summarise each option, then rank them.
If you have more time before making a decision, write down your
reasons for a choice, each day.
1. Try to think of a different reason each time to justify your
choice.
2. Identify possible reasons to make a different choice. This
will help you to think more broadly.
3. Try out some of these alternatives when appropriate.
4. Analyze your choices and reasoning. Have you discovered
you were stuck in a rut or have missed some great
opportunities?
Prompt yourself with notes in key locations asking ‘why…?’ These
can double up as reminders for other habits while getting you to
double-check your choices as a good mental habit.
1. A note by your phone charger could say, ‘Why do you want
to look at social media right now?’
2. A note by your cupboard could say, ‘Why do you want a
cookie right now?’

Embed A Deep Conversation Habit

Identify a news site for current affairs that interest you.
1. Identify a friend or relative you would be open to
discussing; perhaps they already have expertise in that area.
2. Actively plan a time to chat with them about articles you
have both read each week or fortnight.
3. Keep your conversation open without an agenda. Really
listen to what they have to say.
Find out when the local town hall and council meetings are on.
You will find a wide variety of people you can have conversations
with about policy and principles.
1. Write the dates in your diary, so you commit to going.
2. Identify any others who can go with you. This will feel
easier if it is a new situation and doubles as accountability
for your attendance.
3. Read in advance on the topics to be discussed so you go
prepared.
4. Decide on questions you want to be answered in advance.
5. Plan to listen to those with opposing opinions and aim for
conversations, not arguments.

Embed A Fluid Opinions Habit

Identify a big news story, such as climate change, trade, gun laws,
or taxes.
1. Track the story over time and note down your opinions on
it.
2. Note what evidence changes your feelings.
3. Identify the opinions of others close to you or the politics
at the time.
4. Analyze your opinions over time; if they did not change at
all, why not? If they did, what evidence changed your
thoughts?
5. Identify what evidence would be needed to change your
opinion and do not avoid seeking it.
Identify a more minor opinion that you would be willing to
investigate. Perhaps you avoid a certain type of food as you
believe you dislike it all?
1. Try examples to test whether this opinion is still valid or if
you have just had one bad experience that colored your
vision?
2. Plan to expand your testing as appropriate
3. Write a note in a journal to identify the point at which you
changed your mind and why this occurred.

Embed A Forming Fair Conclusions Habit

Unpick news stories when you read them or watch them.
1. What conclusion are they trying to get the reader to make?
We often jump to conclusions as we are guided there by
others or by the media.
2. What sources have been used? Why? Learn to identify
when a source is taking you down their path rather than
letting you choose your own route.
3. Decide if you feel additional evidence is needed and make a
note of the publications that you find lack this rigor.
Experiment with your friends. What people define as ‘the best’
leads to their conclusions, but our definitions of what is best can
vary considerably.
1. Ask yourself and others what they look for in the best
house, car, partner, job, holiday, etc.
2. Analyze the responses, particularly your own and those
closest to you.
3. What different conclusions would easily be reached, and
misunderstandings arise if you do not ask for the reasons
behind a choice first?

Action Steps
1. Work out if you are in the position to extend any of your
existing habits. Use the grid from Chapter 3 to plan for this.
Decide on dates to check back on your plan and ensure that
you are not letting things slip or stagnate.
2. Plan your strategies in advance for your keystone habits
and any new critical thinking habits you are embedding.
Identify where and when you are most likely to give up or
feel like it is too much effort. Write down your plan and put
it where you can see it.
3. Remember that you want to keep those habits as shiny,
new, and exciting as they were when you planned and
started them. Just as with a new car, you want to stop these
habits from devaluing and being taken for granted. Make
your maintenance plan a habit too.
There are many ways by which we can develop our critical
thinking skills and turn those skills into habits that last
longer than a season. Just like good car maintenance can
keep an older model looking and running like new, good
long-established habits can keep your mind active and ready
to learn whatever new skills and information you need to be
at your best.
Chapter Summary

Be aware that habits can slide over time if there is no

maintenance plan for your tasks, body, and mind.
Work out the value of your habits by reminding
yourself of your true passion and drive.
Your friends and your own mind can boost you or set
you back. Control these both to focus on positive
influences.
Tell yourself this is your new long-term system and
treat it as important. Habits that get dropped will do
you little good in the long term.
 5

BUILDING A BETTER BRAIN - PUSH THOSE

HABITS HIGHER

“K nowing a great deal is not the same as being smart;

intelligence is not information alone but judgement, the
manner in which information is collected and used” -
Carl Sagan
Can you imagine you suddenly stopped learning? From this
second on, you would not be able to do anything you have
not already worked out. No asking questions to find answers
to unknowns, nothing. Life would get really hard, very
quickly!
We naturally learn new names of new acquaintances, new
routes to new locations, new lyrics to a new song, new
techniques for new technology. There is a certain
satisfaction when you achieve any of these, from working
out a shortcut that makes your journey home a few minutes
faster to perfecting a dance move. Humans are wired to learn
and very much enjoy it.
It is always surprising that given this natural ability to build
and improve previous understanding and skills, people often
use common language against learning. They make out that
learning is a chore, something only students do, something
that is just hard work and boring.
Learning is what we get excited about in life, that new
discovery feeling, except when we call it learning! When you
consider learning, does it sound like a drag or does it fill you
with joy? If you can make learning sound like a treat for your
mind, then building on your new critical thinking habits will
be much easier.
Critical thinking habits also need to extend, just like a good
exercise routine, to continue to challenge you.
To succeed in learning anything, you need to keep at it and
push yourself further little by little. Once you have
established the habits using the habit loop, and embedded
them by using trackers or accountability methods, you need
to extend them, so they challenge you.

In ‘The Principles of Instruction’ 1, widely considered a key

summary of good practice in teaching and learning, the key
figure for assessments is an 80% success rate. 70% means
the assessment is too hard. 95% means it is too easy. You
learn best when there is a bit of challenge in the tasks you
do, but not so much that you feel like you are failing.
Extending your critical thinking habits is learning that skill
in more depth. You need to increase the challenge of that
routine slightly so it hits your 80% mark. Your aim is to keep
it motivating. Too hard and you are likely to give up, and the
habit will not become embedded. Too easy and you will not
feel like you are making progress; the habit will lose value
and eventually fade away. Remember, good habits are those
that are easy enough to do and rewarding. Keep pushing
yourself to gradually improve your limits.

Think Greek
One method you can weave into many areas of your life is the
Socratic method. Socrates, the Greek philosopher credited
with being a pioneer of modern moral thinking, developed
this over 2,500 years ago and it is a framework for successful
high-level conversational ‘arguments.’ These can be internal
debates or external ones with others.
Socratic ‘arguments’ do not mean arguments in the more
modern sense; this is not about shouting or getting your own
way. It is about a cooperative argument, where you ask
questions to get the person you are conversing with to think
more deeply. You are working together to get to the truth of
a matter, even if you have different starting points.
The mindset you need to adopt is similar to that in coaching.
You are aiming to ask questions that help the other person
discover the answers for themselves. You are not there to tell
them answers. Ideally, they will do the same to you.

Here is a summary of the method 2:

Step 1 ‘wonder’ - what is the question you are

searching for an answer to?
Step 2 ‘hypothesis’ - what do you think the answer
may be and why?
Step 3 ‘cross-examination’ - questions are asked and
evidence is drawn out to help decide on the validity of
the hypothesis. This is the bulk of your discussion and
is also called ‘elenchus,’ the Greek word used to
describe this style of debate.
Step 4 ‘reach a verdict’ - decide if the hypothesis
stands up to scrutiny or not.
Step 5 ‘what next’ - you may need to take action, or
ask another question, or pose another hypothesis.
You may notice the similarity with the critical thinking and
scientific methods from Chapter 1 and this is no coincidence!
The Socratic method is the basis for both of these. You can
still use the original method as a framework for excellent
debates, to structure your conversations and your thinking.

HITT Train Your Brain

Many activities and games can support your developing
critical thinking skills. Many of them are highly sociable and
class as leisure rather than learning time, but in reality
double up for both. The best thing about choosing your
pastimes wisely is that the critical thinking skills are then
not just for the development of work or an academic pursuit,
but are part of your whole life. This is how to make thinking
a habit and a thread that is woven through all aspects of life.
Many activities will also enable you to find like-minded
people, making it easier for you to have meaningful
conversations. You will develop a more varied social network
and expose yourself to more varied opportunities.

Extend A Critical Reading Habit

1. Join a book group or have a reading partner with the
deliberate expectation that you will choose more demanding
texts and review them in detail. Plan time for this. Many
books have questions available online to facilitate group
discussion, some have them at the end of the book itself
specifically for this purpose. You can use the Socratic method
to explore key themes and interpretations if you want to
extend the discussions. If a discussion with a real person
feels like too much, you can find podcasts or videos of many
book reviews and discussions of classic and popular books
alike.
2. Enroll in a literature course, either formally if you have the
ability and desire to, or informally if you prefer. Many
Universities have online courses to support this, some of
which are free. Oxford University, UK, for example, has a
specific online course for developing critical reading skills 3.
3. Play word games. Look in a news report and identify what
choice of word is fundamental to the message they are
communicating. A good way to do this is to think of which
word could you change to give the story a new spin? It is a
fun way for you to develop your analysis of text in short
bursts.

Extend A Critical Writing Habit

1. Write reviews for products and services online. Aim for a
professional standard response and audience. This will help
you to consider word choice and develop a wider variety of
descriptive language.
2. Take a real or virtual class for writing or for editing. What
matters here is to have set assignments as part of your job or
professional development. Writing about a topic chosen for
you and a specific audience helps you learn new writing
techniques.
3. Try your hand at some freelance writing; even if you do
not get much pay for it, you will have to use a new style and
target audience for your journal. Whatever forces you to keep
learning and attuning your skills will improve your abilities.
Extend A Critical Systems Habit
1. Join a committee, PTA, local group, or another forum. Take
on a responsibility for one of the long-term goals and turn
that goal into a system that would lead to that goal as well as
longer term success. Plan with others to implement the
group or organization’s changes to become more systems
focussed in that area.
2. In the same manner, you can strike out on your own or
with friends to identify a local issue that would benefit from
a long-term strategy rather than one-off goals. Plan what
can be done and liaise with others to make it a reality.
3. Contact a local charity or an NGO to see what their long-
term goals are and identify what you can do to put systems
in place to support them. It may be organizing a routine
fundraiser to provide a more consistent income for them or a
regular awareness campaign.

Extend A Critical Questioning Habit

1. Read science journals. Critical thinking mirrors the
scientific method. In particular, if you are not trained as a
scientist, immersing yourself in the logic of developing
discoveries is a great way to improve your questioning of
what you take for granted. It is a fun way to discover future
possibilities, as much of what is being investigated sounds
like science fiction.
2. Watch news night interviews - live or archived versions.
There are some famous examples out there of both the good
and the bad! Identifying what style of questioning draws out
key information and what closes down conversations is
beneficial to developing your ability to ask good questions.
3. Use the Socratic method on yourself as well as others. If
you are able, get a friend to practice using the debate style to
improve your ability to cross-examine yourself and others.
How you ask questions is just as important as what you ask.
You can listen to podcasts or read books that discuss the
great philosophers’ theories to develop your questioning
abilities to explore a subject and debate effectively.

Extend A Critical Conversation Habit

1. Listen to a variety of podcasts. There is an ever-growing
number of sites to discover these on and most are free. Many
of the most established podcasts have new material available
each day or each week, depending on the subject matter, so it
is easy to form part of a regular routine. TED talks are a great
starting point, as there are diverse topics discussed that will
make you think hard, and make great conversation starters
with others. You can choose ones to support other skills too;
such as debates to extend questioning skills, talks to
challenge your current opinions, and tutorial style ones to
help guide you in critical reading and writing skills.
2. Search for webinars or in-person seminars to attend on
topics you are curious about. There will be talks, which are
great opportunities to listen, but there will be chances to
discuss others’ ideas. This is the opportunity for
conversation.

Extend A Critical Opinions Habit

1. Challenge yourself to a conversation with someone you
know holds an opposing opinion but with who you have a
good relationship (to keep things civil). Listen and identify
the evidence they are using to come to a different conclusion
than you. Ensure the aim is to understand the other opinion
and not that either of you aim to force the other person to
change their mind. Again, you can use the Socratic method
as your framework.
2. Look back at old school books or speak to an older relative
about what you wanted to do when you were younger.
Consider what made you change your mind if you followed a
different path.
3. Watch political debates, either live or videos or past
events. Identify your opinions before and after; has anything
changed, and what evidence made the change? Look up the
claims made, using alternative sources.

Extend A Critical Concluding Habit

1. Analyze the decisions of those in authority, either through
media or autobiographies. This is an excellent way to unpick
how they made decisions and determine if they identified
any regrets. Understanding more about the decision-making
process of others allows you to apply the ideas to yourself
gradually.
2. If there are particular thinkers or historical figures whose
views you aim to mirror, you can ask yourself, ‘what would X
do?’ when deciding. This is not someone you can physically
ask, which is just passing the buck, but a set of ideas or
ideals that you can add to your mental checklist to prevent
hasty choices.

Brain Games - No More Mindless Scrolling

Sometimes the best way to improve your skills is to play a
game. We all need some downtime, and if you can find
something you enjoy doing that improves your mental
acuity, then it is a double win. Whether you prefer a physical
game or a digital one, this list should hold something for you
to enjoy:

Traditional Games
Chess – whether you do this with a real board and a real
opponent or you go digital, chess is an easy game to learn
and a hard one to master. There are plenty of apps available
and you can play against AI or other users.
Go – believed to be the oldest board game that is still played,
this was first recorded as being played 2,500 years ago. It is
simple enough that a child can learn it but mastering it is
harder than chess. Again, there are online versions if you
prefer digital to physical gaming. The game helps to identify
logical sequences and patterns in a similar way to chess.
Crosswords – there is a good reason these are still popular.
There are plenty of books for a good paper copy, and even
the New York Times has an app so you don’t have to buy the
paper to get access to the famous crossword. Try cryptic
crosswords for an extra challenge to your brain, where the
clues require you to unpick the language and potential
double-meanings in the clue before you can start to consider
an answer. If you want a different approach you can try the
app ‘Bonza’ 4, where you have to arrange the fragments of a
crossword puzzle.
Sudoku – from simple to fiendish, these number puzzles are
excellent for developing logical sequencing skills. You
develop patterns of working to help solve the puzzles and
they also improve your attention span. Whilst the puzzles
contain numbers, they are not just for those with a love of
maths; as long as you can count to ten you can do a Sudoku.
There are plenty of puzzle books and apps to choose from;
you may want to start with a paper format, as it might seem
easier to develop your own way of marking the puzzle in the
process of working it out.

Apps

Elevate 5 – This app is meant to improve your literacy and

numeracy skills in a way that doesn’t feel like school. You
can choose mini-games to play that are all practical tasks
but in a gamified setting. The app customizes your tasks over
time to continue to challenge you and has a variety of
different areas to work on, including dictation, memory,
vocabulary building, estimation, averages, and
comprehension. The tasks can be very quick so are easy to fit
into your existing habit loops to help form a new routine.

Lumosity 6 – If you want to improve your transferable skills

such as prioritizing, problem-solving, and memory, then try
Lumosity. The games score you on speed, memory,
attention, flexibility, and problem-solving. You can easily
see a training calendar that can double as a habit tracker,
and with desktop, iOS, and Android versions you can play on
most platforms. The tasks are more game-like than on
Elevate but often tune the same skills.

Orixo 7 – If you want to chill out while still doing something

that is more brain-building than randomly tapping at a
screen, try Orixo for thinking puzzles with relaxing
soundtracks attached. There are a number of similar games
made by Logisk Studio, all with multiple levels to increase
the challenge without making you feel stressed.

I Love Hue 8 – If you need to improve your attention and

refocus, this visual puzzle app works well. It is simple and
aesthetically pleasing; it can be used to introduce daily
meditation in a non-threatening way if the idea of looking at
nothing is a struggle for you. A peaceful way to subtly build
some key skills.

Peak 9 – the ultimate HITT workout of brain training. Short

but intense workouts for your mind to improve your focus,
memory, problem-solving, mental agility, and more. The
games are backed up by research conducted by scientists at
top UK and US universities. They definitely look and feel like
games, rather than educational tasks with nice graphics, but
you get a coach to push you. So it's pretty serious brain
training.

Happy Neuron 10 – a program with highly personalized

feedback; you get a coach who directs you to the most
suitable games for your profile and supports with motivation
and tracking for embedding the habits. The areas of focus are
memory, attention, language, executive functions, visual,
spatial, and cross-function links. The games are beautifully
constructed and available in a wide variety of languages.

Braingle 11 – If you like brain teasers and riddles this is one

for you. An online collection that is constantly being added
to and rated by users, this includes a wide variety of puzzles
from codes and ciphers to trivia quizzes and strategy games,
with an online community and a daily email option. It is
web-based, not app-based, so is a good option for the
desktop whilst still functional on mobile devices.
Action Steps
1. Use the grid from Chapter 3 to identify which habits are
already embedded and that you need to extend.
2. Use the suggestions to guide you, but choose one way to
extend one skill. Remember to make it easy and rewarding so
that it triggers the Habit Loop!
3. Use the Socratic method on your inner thoughts and then
on others.
4. Plan the necessary steps into your routine, as you would
with a brand new habit.
Chapter Summary

Aim to extend your critical thinking habits over time

to improve your critical thinking skills. Just like a
good exercise routine, you need to keep challenging
yourself to achieve more.
Make sure you are realistic about the correct level of
challenge. Too easy and it will feel unfulfilling and
will not elevate you. Too hard and it will make it more
likely you will give it up.
Plan your action as you would plan to embed a new
habit.
You can extend critical thinking skills in many
enjoyable and sociable ways. Take your pick and
choose activities that are satisfying to you.
You can develop critical thinking skills through
games. These are particularly useful if you have a less
productive gaming habit you want to replace.
 6

CRITICAL THINKING HABIT AIDS: TRACKERS,

CALENDARS, APPS AND MORE

“P eople do not decide their futures, they decide their habits

and their habits decide their futures.” - F.M. Alexander
Sat in the middle of nowhere in Croatia, with a group of
teens on an environmental expedition and no wifi, the
conversation soon turned to how much data they had left to
use on their mobile phones. None wanted to pay additional
charges. Surprisingly, many were saving their data for
‘Snapchat streaks.’ Unaware of what this was, I asked why it
was so important.
It turned out that most had conversations going with friends
on Snapchat that meant they had to message every day to
keep up their ‘streak.’ If they failed to message, the counter
went back to zero days. That was enough for the continued
messaging to be a priority for them. They did not want to be
responsible for dropping the streak, with potential
consequences for that friendship, despite their remote
location and lack of facilities.
Using Snapchat was a well-embedded habit for the students,
and the streaks could log were key to this. Technology
companies use our desire to visualize our ‘achievements’ to
get us to use their products for longer, to see more of their
adverts. We can all use the same techniques to embed our
own habits though, making it much more fun to do so.
There are plenty of paper-based and electronic apps that you
can use for planning your days and tracking your progress in
breaking an old or making a new habit.
So, briefly, why do they work so well? Techniques that help
the most do the following:

Give you a visual cue that can remind you to act.

Give you motivation when you see the progress you
are making.
Give you satisfaction by recording your success at the
moment.

Using any of these tools can help you because, while new
habits can form between 18 and 254 days (with an average of
66 days), they don’t become automatic responses until well
into the 2-month mark for most people. A lot can happen in
that time and so if you can ‘mind trick’ yourself to keeping
up a habit streak by using these tools it will give you an edge.

Plan It
Identifying what you need to do and when to do it involves
planning. This is the starting point for effective and efficient
living. Using a planner, be it a simple calendar, diary, or an
app, will allow you to stay in control. Here are some apps and
techniques:
Using a more detailed calendar or planners, such as the
planners available from ‘Hello Day’ or ‘Unique planners’ by
Pirongs 1
Learn to bullet journal – a method used to both plan and track
almost anything you can think of. There are plenty of
websites explaining the techniques and books that can guide
you through how to set it up 2. You can have bullet journals
with partially set up pages or you can customize them
yourself. If you prefer to use paper and you enjoy being both
creative and organized, this method is one you will enjoy.
You can make it whatever you want it to be and there are
social media groups dedicated to sharing successful ideas
and tips.

The Habits Scorecard – proposed by author James Clear 3, lets

you customize your habits record so you become more aware
of your behavior on a daily basis. You chronologically list
your daily routines and then score each habit as an effective,
ineffective, or neutral habit. This gives you a better
appreciation of your different behaviors to help you become
the person you wish to be. It is useful when planning new
habits as it indicates where existing habits are so you can pin
new ones to them, and which habits may need to go, to make
way for better ones.

Monday project management 4 – for your professional life

planning rather than your personal life. Good habits in the
workplace require good communication, clear tasks, and
tracking of those tasks. Software like this can help your team
build systems that streamline the workflow.

Ike to-do list app 5 – a simple app to help organize your daily
and long-term tasks in one place. As it uses the ‘Eisenhower’
method, it helps you to sort what you need to do according to
importance and urgency, meaning you can prioritize more
easily. A sample grid is below if you prefer a paper version.
You can make one on a reusable board, or just jot them down
in a diary or planner.
ClickUp 6 – an app that works across platforms to help with
prioritizing tasks, project management, time tracking, and
goal setting. You can use it for personal life, professional
tasks, or both, and set up the app accordingly. You can share
it with others and integrate it with Outlook, Apple, and
Google systems so emails and calendars synchronize easily,
minimizing duplication of work.

Track It
The best way to follow through on the effectiveness of habit
formation or change is to simply plot your progress through
a Habit Tracker. Tracking the habit allows you to know if you
have achieved your goal of creating, changing, or replacing a
habit and alerts you should there be any hiccups along the
way. Try a few and, just like with a new habit, don’t be afraid
to change things if you find your first choice doesn’t work
for you.
Calendars – physical or electronic calendars are the simplest
ways to record your progress and let you know if you have
hit your goals. You don’t even need to write anything.
1. You can put a dot in the corner of the day on a wall
calendar or diary to indicate when you have completed a new
routine. Different colors or multiple dots can indicate
different routines if you have a number you wish to track
that way. You can cross days off if you want it to be more
obvious.
2. You can set up reminders on electronic calendars that you
can acknowledge or dismiss to keep a record similarly. They
are less visible than physical ones but may be more suitable
if the habit is one carried out away from your home or desk,
or one you don’t want to tell others in your household about.
Journals – like calendars, they can take the form of physical
paper notebooks or computer files where you record your
habit details and dates. Journals provide more information
and are typically an expansion of calendars. Food journals,
exercise journals, or reading journals are all common
enough to buy a ready-made one, or just download and edit a
template if you want a bespoke version. Journals are
particularly good if you are trying to extend a habit, as it
means you can identify points for improvement much more
easily.

Habitica 7 – an app that works on the most common mobile

platforms to help you track your daily habits. Their tagline is
‘gamify your life,’ and you get in-game rewards for
maintaining the habits you decide to track. You can use a
community to provide support and the potential for you to
use this with friends or family to keep you accountable. If
you like avatars, mini-games, and digital rewards this could
work well for you. There are over 4 million users at the time
of writing, so plenty of support available.

Momentum 8 – a sleek app currently available for ios,

focuses on making sure you ‘don’t break the chain’. You can
set reminders, set weekly targets as well as make notes like
you would in a journal. You can even program in a week off
(if you were ill or on holiday) that will not break your chain,
a feature that would have saved the teens in Croatia a lot of
hassle! If you are a fan of spreadsheets (and who wouldn’t
be?!) you can also export your data for further analysis. With
the ability to synchronize the data across different devices as
well, this app means business.

Streaks 9 – an award-winning app currently just for iOS that

allows you to track up to 12 habits. It encourages you to
maintain ‘streaks’ of a good habit to get you to stay
motivated, and again comes with some sleek graphics and
synchronizing across different Apple devices. Tasks can be
programmed for specific days or a set frequency each week,
and there is a wide range of language options available. It is
quick and simple to keep track of what you are doing, and
easy to spot what you are not doing!

StickK 10 – A ‘commitment platform’ for iOS and Android,

you can set yourself targets and even place a bet against
yourself. There are options to include friends or family as
accountability partners and to set up team goals.

Chains 11 – another iOS app that focuses on the ‘don’t break

the chain’ method to embed habits. It is simple to use and
track with customizable graphics to represent the different
habit chains you build.
Action Steps
1. Consider your decisions so far. Do you need to get support
in planning your days, tracking your habits or some games
to make your brain strain a little? Pick one area to start with.
2. Decide if you prefer pen and paper, web-based or app-
based support for your chosen area. Even if you are tech-
savvy you may prefer a physical journal. If you generally
write things down you may prefer an app-based habit
tracker that is more portable. Think practically as well as
emotionally. What is likely to be the easiest to use?
3. Plan it in. If you are going to write a to-do list, when will
you do that? If you are going to log your daily habits
achieved, when will you do that? If you are going to play one
of the brain games, when will you do that? These are still all
habits that need planning with the Habit Loop. They are
habits that support other habits.
4. Be prepared to experiment. This is only a tiny selection of
what is available to plan, track and play. More options
appear weekly. Find what works for you. Ditch options that
do not suit you. Habits need to be easy and rewarding. So do
habit trackers!
Chapter Summary

Motivation to complete habits can improve by visible

rewards given by habit trackers. One of the most
powerful tools is to try to maintain a ‘streak’ of the
desired behavior.
Planning well increases the chances of success and
can improve the ability to prioritize thoughts and
actions. Physical and electronic aids can make this
faster and more consistent.
There are physical and electronic options for tracking
habits, planning habits, and playing games to support
thinking skills. All have their uses and it is for you to
decide which can best support your journey.
 AFTERWORD

“Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern

the true from the false, the real from the unreal and the facts from
the fiction. The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to
think intensively and to think critically” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Now you can slow down your thinking and break free from
your auto-pilot decision making and stereotypes. You can
develop these critical thinking skills and characteristics.
Building effective habits to help unroll this way of viewing
the world will raise your long-term success, both in your
personal and professional life, without feeling like it is a
chore. You can turn decision-making into a logical process,
saving yourself time, while improving outcomes and
analyzing your own actions more accurately.
By embedding strategies into your life as routines, you will
meet goals without them being a stressful focus. Goals are
naturally achieved when the correct strategies are
implemented. Your relationships can deepen by improving
your ability to discuss rationally and approach issues with a
more open mind; your horizons can broaden by actively
seeking to understand those who are different from yourself
and remove the barriers set up by societal expectations and
pre-conceptions.
You can effectively manage your time using the planning
strategies, use tools efficiently to make maintaining habits
easy and desirable in order to free up your mind and your
time. No more to-do lists stopping you from sleeping in the
middle of the night. Protected time for those who you want
to see. Deadlines that are met easily. This is all possible. A
more balanced life can be achieved hand-in-hand with
personal and professional success if you prioritize tasks and
use the critical thinking toolkit of skills to build habits to
support what you want, remove what you don’t, and
streamline your days.
So, what do you want to do? What would your ideal day, your
ideal year look like? Even if it seems like it is a million miles
from where you are right now, it is possible to start taking
the path that leads to your ideal destination. If you choose
the right path by considering your options carefully, take
things one step at a time by breaking down your goals into
systems, turn these systems into habits and then track them
to ensure that they stick, then you will be able to reach your
ideal destination. It takes a change of mindset from a passive
reacting brain to an active thinking one and then the rest
will follow.
What next? Like any good expedition, you now need to
choose your destination and then work out the skills you
need to develop in order to get there. You can question, plan,
gather evidence, analyze your options, and have the
openness of mind to evaluate your chosen route. You know
how to establish effective habits and which habits will
support a clearer way of thinking. You know how to identify
your old auto-pilot, and how to embed a new, upgraded one.
Remember, your life is your experiment. Experiment wisely
and learn well.
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6. Making The Change: How Can We Become Rational Thinkers?

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1. How To Think Like A Thinker

1 Paul, R. W. (2005, Summer). The State of Critical Thinking Today. New
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2 Kahneman, D., Thinking, Fast and Slow. Penguin, 1st Edition (10 May 2012)
3 Paul, R. and Elder, L. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools
(Thinker's Guide Library) Eighth Edition. The Foundation for Critical Thinking;
(September 20, 2019)
4 Cohen, M., Critical Thinking Skills for Dummies. For Dummies; 1st edition (May 4,
2015)
5 Lovell, O., Sweller's Cognitive Load Theory in Action, John Catt (23 Oct. 2020)
6 Raul, R. and Elder, L., Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning
and Your Life. Pearson (2013)
7 Kahneman, D., Thinking, Fast and Slow. Penguin, 1st Edition (10 May 2012)
8 Haig, M., Notes on a Nervous Planet. Canongate Books Ltd; Main edition (5 July
2018)
9 Babin, J. and Manson, R., Critical Thinking: The Beginners User Manual to Improve
Your Communication and Self Confidence Skills Everyday. The Tools and The Concepts
for Problem Solving and Decision Making. (March 9, 2019)
10 Paul, R. and Elder, L. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools
(Thinker's Guide Library) Eighth Edition. The Foundation for Critical Thinking;
(September 20, 2019)
11 Cohen, M., Critical Thinking Skills for Dummies. For Dummies; 1st edition (May 4,
2015)
12 Botello, J and Roulet, T., ‘The Imposter Syndrome, or The Misrepresentation
of Self In Academic Life’. Journal of Management Studies, vol 56, issue 4, June
2019, p854-861 https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12344
13 https://www.inc.com/larry-alton/7-mental-exercises-to-make-you-a-
better-critical-thinker.html (Jan 2021)

2. What Habits Are All About

1 Qin S., Herman, E., van Marle, H., Luo, J., Fernández, G. (2009) ‘Acute
Psychological Stress Reduces Working Memory-Related Activity in the
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex’. Biological Psychiatry Volume 66, Issue 1, 1 July
2009, Pages 25-32
2 Gronchi, G., Cianferotti, L., Parri, S., Pampaloni, B., Brandi, M., ‘Nudging
healthier behavior: psychological basis and potential solutions for enhancing
adherence’. Clinical Cases in Mineral & Bone Metabolism. May-Aug2018, Vol. 15
Issue 2, p158-162.
3 Clear, J. Atomic Habits. Random house business, 1st Edition (18th Oct 2018)
4 Anselme, P., Robinson, M., Berridge, K., ‘Reward uncertainty enhances incentive
salience attribution as sign-tracking’. Behavioural Brain Research, Volume 238, 1
February 2013, Pages 53-61 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2012.10.006
5 Clear, J. Atomic Habits. Random house business, 1st Edition (18th Oct 2018)
6 Scott, S.J., ‘Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes or Less’,
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2 May 2014.
7 Muniz-Pardos, B., Sutehall, S., Angeloudis, K. et al. ‘Recent Improvements in
Marathon Run Times Are Likely Technological, Not Physiological’. Sports Med (2021).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01420-7
8 https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/inside-the-race-to-
break-the-two-hour-marathon-eliud-kipchoge (accessed 18/02/2021)
9 Manos, A., ‘The Benefits of Kaizen and Kaizen Events’ Quality Progress;
Milwaukee Vol. 40, Iss. 2, (Feb 2007): 47-48
10 Mindell, J., and Williamson, A. Benefits of a bedtime routine in young children:
Sleep, development, and beyond, Sleep Med Rev (2018 Aug);40:93-108. Epub (2017
Nov 6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2017.10.007
11 Taub, J. Behavioral and psychophysiological correlates of irregularity in chronic sleep
routines. Biological Psychology, Volume 7, Issues 1–2, September 1978, Pages 37-
53 https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-0511(78)90041-8
12 Stranges, S., Tigbe, W., Xavier Gómez-Olivé, F., Thorogood, M., Kandala, N.,
‘Sleep Problems: An Emerging Global Epidemic? Findings From the INDEPTH WHO-
SAGE Study Among More Than 40,000 Older Adults From 8 Countries Across Africa and
Asia’. Sleep, Volume 35, Issue 8, 1 August 2012, Pages 1173–1181. https://doi.org/
10.5665/sleep.2012
13 Pope, N., ‘How the Time of Day Affects Productivity: Evidence from School
Schedules’, Review of Economics and Statistics, Volume 98, Issue 1, March 2016,
p.1-11 https://doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00525
14 Gibson, S., Gunn, P., ‘What's for breakfast? Nutritional implications of breakfast
habits: insights from the NDNS dietary records’, Nutrition Bulletin, British Nutrition
Foundation, Volume 36, Issue1, March 2011, Pages 78-86 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.
1467-3010.2010.01873.x
15 Masento, N., Golightly, M., Field, D., Butler, L., & Van Reekum, C. (2014).
‘Effects of hydration status on cognitive performance and mood’. British Journal of
Nutrition, 111(10), 1841-1852. http://doi:10.1017/S0007114513004455
16 Wójcik, M., Boreński, G., Poleszak, J., Szabat, P., Szabat, M., Milanowska, J.,
‘Meditation and its benefits’, Journal of Health, Education and Sport, Volume 9, No.
9 p. 466-476, sep. 2019. http://www.ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/
view/7424
17 Kumar, A., and Jhajharia, B., ‘Effect of morning exercise on immunity’,
International Journal of Physiology, Nutrition and Physical Education 2018; 3(1),
p1987-1989. ISSN: 2456-0057
18 Viadero, D., ‘Exercise Seen as Priming Pump for Students’ Academic Strides’ http://
www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/02/13/23exercise_ep.h27.html?tmp=
1797071541 18/02/21
19 Patterson, C., Critical Thinking Beginner's Guide: Learn How Reasoning by Logic
Improves Effective Problem Solving. The Tools to Think Smarter, Level up Intuition to
Reach Your Potential and Grow Your Mindfulness Paperback – January 1, 2020
20 Wilson, J., Critical Thinking: A Beginner's Guide to Critical Thinking, Better Decision
Making and Problem Solving. Paperback – February 9, 2017

3. Turning Critical Thinking Into A Habit

1 Stanovich, K. E., Cunningham, A. E., & West, R. F. . ‘Literacy experiences and the
shaping of cognition’. In S. G. Paris & H. M. Wellman (Eds.), Global prospects for
education: Development, culture, and schooling (p. 253–288). American
Psychological Association(1998). https://doi.org/10.1037/10294-009
2 Murnane, Richard, et al. Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century:
Introducing the Issue. The Future of Children, vol. 22, no. 2, 2012, pp. 3–15. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/23317408.
3 McCutchen, D., Teske, P., & Bankston, C. ‘Writing and cognition: Implications of
the cognitive architecture for learning to write and writing to learn’. In C. Bazerman
(Ed.), Handbook of research on writing: History, society, school, individual, text
(2008) p. 451–470. Taylor & Francis Group/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
4 https://www.process.st/systems-vs-goals/#:~:text=Systems%20are%
20almost%20the%20antithesis,how%20you%20achieve%20your%20goals.
(21/02/2021)
5 https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7wmjw/how-to-make-a-life-changing-
decision (21/02/2021)
6 De Bono, E., ‘Six Thinking Hats’, 3rd Edition, Penguin Life (28 Jan. 2016)
7 Bechdel, Allison. ‘Dykes to Watch Out For’. Firebrand Books (October 1, 1986).
ISBN 978-0932379177
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978-1846942419.
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(22/02/2021)
10 https://conversationstartersworld.com/250-conversation-starters/
11 Hayes, C., Magana, P., ‘Critical Thinking Hacks 2 In 1: Why You Should Be Skeptical
Of People You Disagree With But Even More Skeptical With People You Agree With’
Independently published (10 Nov. 2019)
12 Dyer, W., ‘Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking
Habits’ Hay House, 4th Edition (June 2009)

4. Make It Stick Today, Tomorrow, And Next Year

1 Kondo, M., ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish
clutter forever’, Vermilion, 1st Edition, 3 April 2014
2 Bray. G., ‘The organized Mum Method: Transform your home in 30 minutes a day’,
Piatkus, 5 Sept. 2019
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30 years later.” The Journal of pediatrics vol. 162,1 (2013): 90-3. http://doi:10.
1016/j.jpeds.2012.06.049
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Cooperative Ends’. Psychological Science. 2020;31(2):139-148. http://doi:10.1177/
0956797619894205
5 Tangney, J.P., Baumeister, R.F. and Boone, A.L., ‘High Self‐Control Predicts Good
Adjustment, Less Pathology, Better Grades, and Interpersonal Success’. Journal of
Personality, 72: 271-324 (2004) https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00263.x
6 Burkus, D., ‘Friend of a Friend . . .: Understanding the Hidden Networks That Can
Transform Your Life and Your Career’, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 1, 2018
7 Christakis, N, Fowler, J., ‘The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32
Years’, N Engl J Med 2007; 357:370-379 doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa066082
8 Christakis, N, Fowler, J., ‘The Collective Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social
Network’, N Engl J Med 2008; 358:2249-2258 doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa0706154
9 Fowler James H, Christakis Nicholas A., ‘Dynamic spread of happiness in a large
social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study’
BMJ 2008; 337 :a2338
10 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/grounding-techniques
(03/03/2021)

5. Building A Better Brain - Push Those Habits Higher

1 Rosenshine, B., ‘Principles of Instruction; Research-based Strategies Every Teacher
Should Know’, American Educator, Spring 2012, p12-39
2 Delic, Haris & Bećirović, Senad. (2016). ‘Socratic Method as an Approach to
Teaching’. European Researcher. 111. 511-517. 10.13187/er.2016.111.511.
3 https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/critical-reading-online
4 http://www.bonzapuzzles.com/bwp/
5 https://elevateapp.com/
6 https://www.lumosity.com/en/
7 https://www.logiskstudio.com/
8 http://i-love-hue.com/
9 https://www.peak.net/#
10 http://www.happy-neuron.com/brain-games#memory
11 https://www.braingle.com/

6. Critical Thinking Habit Aids: Trackers, Calendars, Apps And More

1 https://www.hellodayplanner.com/
2 https://www.uniqueplanners.co.uk/
3 Clear, J. Atomic Habits. Random house business, 1st Edition (18th Oct 2018)
4 https://monday.com/lp/projectmanagement/bundle/?utm_source=mb&
utm_campaign=natural_intelligence&utm_medium=UppGkKSmsy
5 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pocketuniverse.ike&hl=
en_GB&gl=US
6 https://clickup.com/
7 https://habitica.com/static/home
8 https://momentum.cc/
9 https://streaksapp.com/
10 https://www.stickk.com/
11 https://chains.cc/
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