Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking

1. For each reading (all 4), please pick a claim from the article and apply a critical thinking principle/tool. Reminder: for this class, we mean something specific by critical thinking (ruling out rival hypotheses, falsifiability, replicability, extraordinary claims, Occam’s razor, correlation vs. causation). Ask me if you have questions! You should use a different one for each reading, but one repeat is fine. You do not have to conclude that the readings are wrong – if there is evidence of replicability or falsifiability, you can say so, just provide evidence to back up your claim and explain why. If you use direct quotes, you must also state the quote in your own words immediately to demonstrate your understanding.

2. For any of the readings (pick one), connect what you have learned to your own experiences and potential biases. This is the “look into the mirror” part of the class. I’m asking you to consider ways in which you might have shown or could show these biases. If you’re uncomfortable listing real things you have done in the past (understandable!), you can use the “could”/hypothetical tense but still describe something that actually happened. In other words, imagine a way—based in the readings—that your future self could act that you would guard against, if your goal was to not exhibit bias or discriminatory behavior. For example, if the reading shows a way that people are biased, how might you act in that way, and how might you (try) to guard against it?

3. Connect what you have learned from this section to social justice and fairness. How would you define social justice, given what you now know about how different disciplines approach justice and injustice? Make sure to use citations and evidence from the readings to build your response.